Besides the Jarawa, three other tribes live in the Andaman islands: the Great Andamanese, the Onge and the Sentinelese. These three tribes, like their neighbours the Jarawa, are thought to have travelled to the Andaman islands from Africa up to 60,000 years ago. As the languages of the four tribes are mutually unintelligible, it is likely that once they reached the islands they had little contact with each other. However, their ways of life are similar - all hunt and gather in the forest, and fish in the coastal waters. The tribes, though, have fared very differently since their islands were first colonised by the British 150 years ago:

Great Andamanese

ëI think what happened to us is going to happen to the Jarawa too.' Lichu, Great Andamanese woman.

Of the four tribes, colonisation proved most disastrous for the Great Andamanese. When the British arrived they were a people of more than 5,000; today, only 41 survive. Hundreds of Great Andamanese were killed in conflicts with British settlers, as the tribe defended their territory from invasion. The British then changed their tactics and set up an ëAndaman Home' where they kept captured Andamanese. Many more of the tribe died from disease and abuse in the home, and of 150 babies born there, none survived beyond the age of two. In 1970, the remaining Great Andamanese were moved to the tiny Strait Island by the Indian authorities, where they are now totally dependent on the government for food, shelter and clothing. Abuse of alcohol, often supplied with the compliance of government officials, is rife among the surviving Great Andamanese.

Onge

ëI don't think I'll be able to marry as there are no Onge girls to marry any more. My people could die out because soon there will be no more babies.'  Young Onge man, Dugong Creek.

The Onge were also decimated following contact with the British and the Indians, their population falling from 670 people in 1900 to around 100 today. The Indian government tried to force the Onge to work on a plantation on their island of Little Andaman, but this was unsuccessful. Today the Onge, like the Great Andamanese, are largely dependent on government rations. Little Andaman is now also home to Indian settlers, and much of the island has been deforested. Being able to hunt wild pigs is essential to the Onge, as according to their customs men cannot marry until they have killed one. Now, however, the Onge complain that outsiders are hunting all their pigs; this is contributing to an already low birth rate among the Onge. Survival is campaigning for their land to be protected from outsiders.

Sentinelese

The Sentinelese live on their own small island, North Sentinel, and continue to resist all contact with outsiders, attacking anyone who comes near. They live in long communal huts with several hearths, and like the Onge, they use outrigger canoes to travel the seas around their island. They are thought to number between 50 and 200 people. The Indian government has made several unsuccessful attempts to establish friendly contact with the tribe. Contacting the Sentinelese would almost certainly have tragic consequences, as their isolation makes them very vulnerable to diseases to which they have no immunity. Since the coastal waters around the Jarawa reserve have been so heavily used by poachers, these illegal fishermen are now turning their attention to the waters surrounding North Sentinel. Survival is urging the administration of the Andaman Islands to make no further attempt to contact the Sentinelese, and to put a stop to the poaching around their island.