Category Archives: Andaman and Nicobar Islands

“The entire Nicobar islands is a tribal reserve and is key for the survival of a number of species of rare and endemic flora and fauna. Unlike the rest of India, tribal rights and conservation are not at the opposite ends of the spectrum in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Yet, there are challenges.” – Pankaj Sekhsaria in “An intricate web” (The Hindu, 4 February 2012)
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=7364
https://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine//article59800934.ece

“Geologically the A&N Islands are the submerged southwards extensions of the ArakanYoma mountain range of Myanmar. The Islands have a total land area of 8,249 km2, of which the northern Andaman group constitutes 6,408 km2 and the southern Nicobars 1,841 km2. […] The Islands have been home to indigenous tribal communities for over 20,000 years.” – Government of India report “Bulwark Against Falling off the Map: State Action Plan on Climate Change, Andaman and Nicobar Islands 2013” (Draft – November 2013), p. 11
http://moef.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Andaman-and-Nicobar.pdf
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=26863

“Andaman and Nicobar islands, union territory of India were inhabited by 14 aboriginal tribes. Some of these tribal populations have already become extinct, and the numbers of the existing ones are also dwindling. Across India, most of the tribals have made the shift to agriculture. Only tiny groups like Jarawas remain hunter-gatherers. This makes them culturally different.” – Surabhi Sinha in “Save Jarawa” (Times of India, 2 June 2021)
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/phases-of-life/save-jarawa-32818/
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=14820

“The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are a chain of 572 islands of which a little more than 30 are inhabited. They constitute 0.2 per cent of India’s land mass but provide for 30 per cent of the country’s 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ). […] The government aims to acquire 60 small and large passenger and cargo ships [and] buy luxury cruise ships for wealthier visitors, to replace the ageing, basic vessels that are available.” – Rajat Arora (Economic Times, 26 September 2015)
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/infrastructure/modi-governments-rs-10000-crore-plan-to-transform-andaman-and-nicobar-islands/articleshow/49111067.cms
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=26863

“These people are some of the most ancient remnants of human race still surviving. […] Very little can be done now to save the Andamanese proper who have paid for their friendliness by being driven to the verge of extinction and it now is a question of time before they would completely disappear.” – B.S. Guha in “Report of a Survey of Inhabitants of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands During 1948-49” (Bulletin of the Department of Anthropology, Government of India, 1952); quoted by R.K. Bhattacharya in “The Holistic Approach to Anthropology: B. S. Guha’s Vision of the Anthropological Survey of India” (Journal of the Anthropological Survey of India, 2012-2013, ANSI journal 2012-13.pdf), p. 368
https://indianculture.gov.in/reports-proceedings/journal-anthropological-survey-india
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=26863

“The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, closer to Indonesia than to India, hardly ever feature in the national consciousness. […] This remoteness has allowed extraordinary impunity on the islands. Bureaucrats rule like kings.” – M. Rajshekhar in “Remembering Samir Acharya, Who Fought to Preserve the Cultures of Andaman and Nicobar” (The Wire, 18 October 2020)
https://thewire.in/rights/samir-acharya-andaman-nicobar-activist-culture-preservation-tribute
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=7364

“[I]n the Great Andamanese language, it is the human who was created first – a male one, then a female and the children. All the humans were transformed into birds aka Jiro Mithe, an interesting story of the birth of avian diversity. It also informs us why Great Andamanese people do not eat birds; it is because birds are considered to be their ancestors. […] The five elements of life of which our Vedas talk about was first mentioned in the creation myth of the Great Andamanese people, which symbolizes the culture of the first settlers of South and Southeast Asia, implying thereby that it is universal and recognized by the oldest civilization on earth. These five elements are water, earth, fire, sky and space.” – Anvita Abbi (B.B. Borkar Chair of Comparative Literature, Goa University, formerly Professor of Linguistics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi) in “”Adivasi Creation Myths: An Enquiry into Our Beginnings” (The Johar Journal, Issue 01, July-Dec 2020)
https://joharjournal.org/adivasi-creation-myths-an-enquiry-into-our-beginnings/
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=22274