Posted on 12/30/2004 11:15:57 AM PST by blam
India's Tribal People Safe After Tsunami-Official
2 hours, 50 minutes ago Science - Reuters
By Suresh Seshadri
PORT BLAIR, India (Reuters) - India's dwindling aboriginal population in the remote Andaman and Nicobar islands is safe as most lived in jungles, far away from the coast hit by a devastating tsunami, a coast guard official said on Thursday.
Experts had feared that some Stone Age tribal people, who have been living on the far-flung archipelago for thousands of years, could be on the verge of extinction after the killer waves that have killed more than 120,000 people across Asia.
"There have been several media reports talking about a threat to the aborigines, indigenous people and tribals of the islands," Vice Admiral Arun Kumar Singh, director-general of the Coast Guard, which is involved in rescue operations, told reporters.
"I have personally verified the extent of this claim and let me tell you that it is absolutely rubbish."
The Andaman and Nicobar group is a cluster of more than 550 islands, of which only about three dozen are inhabited.
The island chain is home to about six tribes of Mongoloid and Negrito origin. Many of the indigenous people are semi-nomadic and subsist on hunting with spears, bows and arrows as well as fishing and gathering fruit and roots. They still cover themselves with tree bark or leaves.
Singh said the Nicobarese, the largest tribal group that lives on Car Nicobar and adjoining islands, bore the brunt of the waves, but the exact death toll was not known.
Coast Guard surveys showed the rest of the tribes such as the Shompen, the Jarawa and the Sentinelese had escaped either because they lived in the jungles far from the coast or because their islands were barely touched by the waves.
"In the Middle Andaman the Jarawa tribes are there and there has not been a single report of casualty. The Sentinelese of North Sentinel Island, which some reports say have been completely wiped out, are all very much there," Singh said.
More than 13,000 people are dead or are feared to have died in India from the tsunami, but rescuers are still struggling to assess the toll in the Andaman and Nicobar islands.
Officials said more than 6,000 people were feared dead in the island chain alone, which is closer to Myanmar and Indonesia than the Indian mainland and is home to more than 350,000 people.
Around 30,000 of the islands' total population is tribal, the majority Nicobarese.
The rest are smaller groups. Some like the Great Andamanese are already down to 30 people while others like the Shompen number between 200-250.
The number of the Onge, one of the most primitive tribes, has fallen in past decades to about 100. There are about 200 Sentinelese, probably one of the world's only surviving palaeolithic people, who are generally hostile to outsiders.
"Our helicopter pilot who flew over the island told me that he has seen several groups of Sentinelese on the beach and that when he dropped food packets they threw stones at the helicopter."
Thanks to Shermy for the story
Yeah, but how are the Pygmy Hogs of Assam State doing?
""Our helicopter pilot who flew over the island told me that he has seen several groups of Sentinelese on the beach and that when he dropped food packets they threw stones at the helicopter."
"
Clever of them. Keep the 21st century away and they might just be able to continue in their lives. The minute the anthropologists arrive, the culture begins to erode.
Studying these old cultures seems to destroy them. Too bad. Leave 'em alone.
Smart enough not to live right on the beach.
Yup. The Tibetans have flood stories/myths of the 'mountain topping ' variety. My take is that they migrated from the coastal region in ancient times, probably at the end of the Ice Age when there were numerous large tsunamis.
Assam is a good 500kms from any Sea Coast.The only water problems those folks have to face are floods & drought.
Was it stones or arrows ...
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1041231/asp/frontpage/story_4195754.asp
Arrows bring tribe tidings
BAPPA MAJUMDAR
Port Blair, Dec. 30: For once, the coast guard chopper did not mind retreating under fire.
Around 2 pm today, arrows began flying at the helicopter on a mission to draw up a situation report on the endangered tribals of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The arrow attack was the surest sign yet that the tribe has survived the tsunami.
Spotting a batch of 20 to 30 people on the North Sentinelese Island, the pilot shed altitude to take a closer look. If he had any doubt, it was removed when the tribesmen, known for their hostility towards intruders, fired the arrows.
If a ground count eventually puts the number at 30, it will account for almost all the Sentinelese known to be inhabiting the island.
Thanks for taking care of it, and thanks to shermy for the emailed link.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.