First interaction of Jarawa tribe with the outer world?

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• published: 25 Jul 2012
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Excited Jarawa tribals jump on board the first boats of visiting anthropologists to relieve them of the bananas, coconuts and other supplies the visitors have brought along as gifts for the island dwellers off the southern coast of India. These are Indian islands in the Bay of Bengal and close to Thailand's mainland. They use their fishing nets for the purpose of basketing the goodies... This rare footage is some 30 years old and a valuable record of early contact with the island communities. Jarawa Tribe in Andaman Islands. Jarawas are one of the adivasi indigenous peoples of the Andaman Islands. Their present numbers are estimated at between 250-350 individuals. They have inhabited the islands for several thousand years. Before the 19th century Jarawa homelands were located in the southeast part of South Andaman Island. In 1997, a group of Jarawas made contact for the first time with the outside world. Now Jarawa are in regular contact with the outside world, which is not the best thing for them... The Jarawas are said to be the darkest people (sociologically and scientifically speaking and not from a derogatory point of view) in the world. Before the 19th century Jarawa homelands were located in the southeast part of South Andaman Island. Now Jarawas no longer retain their insular culture and nature, for good or for bad! This footage is part of the professionally-shot stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of imagery from South Asia. The Wilderness Films India collection comprises of thousands of hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM 1080i High Definition, HDV and Digital Betacam. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world... wfi @ vsnl.com and admin@wildfilmsindia.com. According to Wikipedia: "The Jarawa (Hindi: , also Järawa, Jarwa) are one of the adivasi indigenous peoples of the Andaman Islands. Since they have largely shunned interactions with outsiders, many particulars of their society, culture and traditions are poorly understood. Their name means "foreigners" or "hostile people" in Aka-Bea. Along with other indigenous Andamanese peoples, they have inhabited the islands for at least several thousand years, and most likely a great deal longer. The Andaman Islands have been known to outsiders since antiquity; however, until quite recent times they were infrequently visited, and such contacts were predominantly sporadic and temporary. For the greater portion of their history their only significant contact has been with other Andamanese groups; the experience of such a lengthy period of isolation almost completely lacking in external cultural influences is equaled by few other groups in the world, if at all. There is some indication that the Jarawa regarded the now-extinct Jangil tribe as a parent tribe from which they split centuries or millennia ago, even though the Jarawa outnumbered (and eventually out-survived) the Jangil. The Jangil (also called the Rutland Island Aka Bea) were presumed extinct by 1931, sixteen years prior to Indian independence. Notables: (a) Rapid depopulation of the original southeastern Jarawa homeland in the 1789-1793 period (b) Onge and Great Andamanese shrinkage to isolated settlements (c) Complete Jangil extinction by 1931 (d) Jarawa move to occupy depopulated former west coast homeland of the Great Andamanese (e) Only the Sentinelese zone is somewhat intact Before the 19th century, the Jarawa homelands were located in the southeast part of South Andaman Island and nearby islets. With the establishment of the initial British settlement, these are suspected to have been largely depopulated by disease shortly after 1789. The Great Andamanese tribes were similarly decimated by disease, alcoholism and alleged British government-sponsored destruction, leaving open the western areas which the Jarawa gradually made their new homeland. The immigration of mainland Indian and Karen (Burmese) settlers, beginning about two centuries ago, accelerated this process. Prior to their initiating contact with settled populations in 1997, they were noted for vigorously maintaining their independence and distance from external groups, actively discouraging most incursions and attempts at contact. Since 1998, they have been in increasing contact with the outside world and have increasingly been the choosers of such contact. All contact, especially with tourists, remains extremely dangerous to the Jarawa due to the risk of disease. Of the remaining Andamanese peoples, only the Sentinelese have been able to maintain a more isolated situation, and their society and traditions persist with little variance from their practices they observed before the first significant contacts were made."