Ancestral early warning systems saved Andaman janajaati

January 5, 2005

Ancestral early warning systems saved Andaman janajaati: ASI

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 .

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.

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PTI

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