Views expressed are personal.The death of 26-year-old American missionary John Allen Chau, killed by bow and arrow by one of the world’s last isolated tribes, has captured the world’s interest. Madhumala Chattopadhyay was a researcher with Anthropological Survey of India and currently works at the ministry of social justice and empowerment. ![]() The Jarawas there recognised me and called out, “milale milale”, their term for ‘friend’. I last visited in 1999, after Union minister Maneka Gandhi urged me to go. If I got the opportunity to visit the Andamans again now, I would. This was a bright sunny day! But it did rain within half an hour, such is their understanding of nature. For instance, when I was with the Jarawas, I was travelling one day from one village to another, but they asked me not to go since it was going to rain. They understand nature, and that’s all they need. The Sentinelese and other tribes don’t need to be oppressed with religion, because doing so will make them more hostile. It should be through the government only – that way they will start accepting and trusting a small group to help them in times of crisis.Īlso read: Sentinelese are peace loving, leave them alone, says anthropologist who has met them And if we do contact, as we did after the tsunami in 2004. Similarly, if you work in the Anthropological Survey of India, you will be allowed to work only in the region you have been posted to, even if you want to go to the Andamans to study.Įxcept for natural calamities, we should not contact them. If you are Indian by birth, you may still get permissions to study the tribal people, but if your child is born abroad, he/she will not be given access. ![]() Many rules and regulations are now in place to keep these tribes isolated. ![]() But if we interfere, they will die out sooner. These tribes will anyway die out because of their small numbers as well as their limited gene pool. Later, syphilis and other venereal diseases started spreading after the British exploited tribal women, killing off more chunks of the population.Īlso read: John Allen Chau ‘lost his mind’, was aware of dangers of North Sentinel Island, say friendsĬonsidering their dwindling population and vulnerability, it was decided that the Indian government would not interfere in their lives. The remaining tribal people were segregated into ‘Andaman Homes’ where diseases like measles claimed lives. The battle of Aberdeen or Andaman was fought between two groups- one with bows and arrows, another with guns. Angered at British attempts to set up a penal colony, the tribes attacked the British in 1859. When the British ruled India, they tried to contact the 10 tribes in the Andamans, whose population was over 3,000 at the time. Unlike Christians, they make wooden replicas of those who die and leave out food and water for them. But they do not adhere to that religion- when the time for prayer comes, some sit on chairs and protest. Those who pray to the sky, water, and land - what’s Christianity or Hinduism to them? When I visited the Great Nicobar Islands, I saw that most of them had been forcefully converted to Christianity. I saw their practices when I lived with them, months at an end. Most of the tribes in the Andamans, including the Sentinelese, are animists. John Allen Chau must have faced a similar situation. But it’s not like they attack first-off, they show warning signs - through facial gestures, knives, bows and arrows - and then take action if those are disrespected. I don’t know whether the Sentinelese will even allow them to come to the island - they are angry. The retrieval of John Allen Chau’s body is up to the police, Indian and US administrations. In fact, when police personnel went with our contact-teams to these islands, they would have to be dressed in plain clothes. The Sentinelese see no difference between a journalist, researcher, police or missionaries approaching them. When we first reached out, we exchanged fruits like raw bananas (which the Jarawas love roasting) and coconuts (which the Sentinelese used) for hours at an end to gain their trust. ![]() Official tours to the Sentinel islands have been closed for years now because of their small population and their hostility towards outsiders.Īlso read: Madhumala Chattopadhyay, the woman who made the Sentinelese put their arrows down I visited the Sentinelese tribe in the Andamans years ago as a researcher with the Anthropological Survey of India.
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