The Jarawa Need You

Poachers threaten survival of Jarawa tribe

The Jarawa chose to resist contact with all outsiders until 1998. Now, they are under serious threat. Poachers are camping for days at a time in their forest, and local authorities have defied an order from India’s supreme court to close the road that cuts through the Jarawa’s reserve.

In 1999 and 2006, the Jarawa suffered outbreaks of measles – a disease that has wiped out many tribes worldwide following contact with outsiders.

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Of the four tribes of the Andaman Islands, colonisation proved most disastrous for the Great Andamanese. When the British arrived they were a people of more than 5,000; today, only 53 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 ‘Andaman 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.