From Outlook India.com/JB
Age old early warning systems saved Andaman tribes: ASI
Kolkata, Jan 3 (PTI) The five aboriginal tribes inhabiting the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, our last missing link with early civilisation, have emerged unscathed from the tsunamis because of their age old "warning systems".
"The tribals get wind of impending danger from biological warning signals like the cry of birds and change in the behavioural patterns of marine animals. They must have run to the forests for safety. No casualties have been reported among these five tribes," ASI Director Dr V R Rao told PTI today.
This has promted the Anthropological Survey of India (ASI) to propose its immediate documentation to save coastal populations from similar disasters in future.
His team in the badly-hit islands reported the well being of all five aborigines tribes -- Jarwas, Onges, Shompens, Sentenelese and Great Andamanese.
Early warning systems developed by their forefathers and adapted successfully by the tribals must have sent the first alarm signals and given them time to run for safety, he said.
These tribes could be traced down to the mesolithic and upper paleolithic era (from 20000 to 60000 years ago), he said. They had inherited a wealth of indigenous knowledge that had not yet been recorded.
"Anthropologists have been recording these aspects for long. But the question is to properly document them and find means to create a national resource base upon which a coastal signalling system can be operated.
"We have proposed to the Centre to take up immediate documentation of these systems and geomorphological changes triggered by the tsunami since these would be fresh in the memory of the tribals now," Rao said.
The team of ASI anthropologists along with government officials of the islands' welfare department, however, had reported some casualties among the Nicobarese tribe, who date back to the Neolithic area (about 5000 to 7000 years ago). They inhabit 12 islands including the devastated Car Nicobar, Charwa and Teressa isles. "We have no confirmed reports on the number of casualties among Nicobarese and would not like to hazard a guess. Since the epicentre of the earthquake was closer to the Nicobar island, the Nicobarese, which are the most populated among the tribes (about 30,000), have been hit," Rao said.
The Nicobarese, he said, were not forest dependant and were primarily horticulturists and agriculturists.
The Shompens, with a population of about 200, were the only Mongoloid tribe in the region while the rest were Negroids and had escaped the watery onslaught as they lived in the higher forest areas.
"The forest areas of both Jarwas and Shompens are intact," he added.
However, the ASI was concerned about the earth eruption in the North Sentenelese island, home to the Sentenelese tribes, which had thrown up huge marine debris hitting the tribe's marine resources adversely.
Earth eruption contributes to increase in coastal land.
"The earth eruption is not allowing them to harvest their marine resources. Relief agencies will have to concentrate on this aspect," Rao added.
According to the latest census figures, the Jarwas number about 270, the Onges about 100 and the Great Andamanese around 45.
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