The Andaman Islands Collection

Recordings from India

The Andaman Islands

The Andaman Islands (/ˈændəmən/) are an archipelago in the northeastern Indian Ocean about 130 km (81 mi) southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a maritime boundary between the Bay of Bengal to the west and the Andaman Sea to the east. Most of the islands are part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a Union Territory of India, while the Coco Islands and Preparis Island are part of the Yangon Region of Myanmar. The Andaman Islands are home to the Andamanese, a group of indigenous people that includes a number of tribes, including the Jarawa and Sentinelese.

The Andamanese are the indigenous peoples of the Andaman Islands, part of India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands union territory in the southeastern part of the Bay of Bengal in Southeast Asia. The Andamanese peoples are among the various groups considered Negrito, owing to their dark skin and diminutive stature. All Andamanese traditionally lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, and appear to have lived in substantial isolation for thousands of years. It is suggested that the Andamanese settled in the Andaman Islands around the latest glacial maximum, which is about 26,000 years ago, however it is also claimed by geneticists

more recently to be up to an estimated 70,000 years during the first migration from Africa.

The Jangil

The Jangil (also Rutland Jarawa) were one of the Andamanese indigenous peoples of the Andaman Islands, located in the Bay of Bengal. They were distributed through the interior of Rutland Island, and were given the name Rutland Jarawa because it was supposed that they were related to the neighboring Jarawa people. Since they were first encountered and documented in the mid-19th century, direct contacts with them remained scarce and they generally sought to avoid such encounters. There are only a few reported instances where outsiders (the British and Indian settlers) encountered individuals from the group, the last such case being in 1907. Expeditions sent to the interior of the island in the 1920s failed to find any signs of current habitation; they are an extinct people, their disappearance and extinction were most likely the result of introduced diseases to which they had no natural immunity. British naval officer Maurice Vidal Portman, one of a few outsiders to have made contact with Jangils, reported that their language was unintelligible to him but seemed to have noticeable connections with Jarawa.

The Jarawas

(Jarawa: are an indigenous people of the Andaman Islands in India. They live in parts of South Andaman and Middle Andaman Islands, and their present numbers are estimated at between 250–400 individuals. They have largely shunned interaction with outsiders, and many particulars of their society, culture and traditions are poorly understood. Since the 1990s, contacts between Jarawa groups and outsiders grew increasingly frequent. By the 2000s, some Jarawas had become regular visitors at settlements, where they trade, interact with tourists, get medical aid, and even send their children to school. The Jarawas are recognised as an Adivasi group in India. Along with other indigenous Andamanese peoples, they have inhabited the islands for several thousand years. 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. Through many decades, contact with the tribe has diminished quite significantly. 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.

The Sentinelese

The Sentinelese, also known as the Sentineli and the North Sentinel Islanders, are an indigenous people who inhabit North Sentinel Island in the Bay of Bengal in the northeastern Indian Ocean. Designated a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group and a Scheduled Tribe, they belong to the broader class of Andamanese peoples. Along with the Great Andamanese, the Jarawas, the Onge, the Shompen, and the Nicobarese, the Sentinelese are one of the six native and often reclusive peoples of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Unlike the others, the Sentinelese appear to have consistently refused any interaction with the outside world.

The Onge

The Onge (also Önge, Ongee, and Öñge) are an Andamanese ethnic group, indigenous to the Andaman Islands in Southeast Asia at the Bay of Bengal, currently administered by India. They are traditionally hunter-gatherers and fishers, but also practice plant cultivation.

The Shompen

The Shompen or Shom Pen are the indigenous people of the interior of Great Nicobar Island, part of the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The Nicobarese

The Nicobarese people are an Austroasiatic-speaking people of the Nicobar Islands, a chain of islands in the Bay of Bengal north of Sumatra, forming part of the union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. Only 12 of the 19 islands are inhabited. The largest and main island is Great Nicobar. The term Nicobarese refers to the dominant tribes of the Nicobar Islands. On each island, the people have specific names, but together they are the Nicobarese. They call themselves Holchu, which means "friend".

The Recordings

'Songs from the Great Andamanese'

Present day Great Andamanese has three remaining speakers and formed of four Great Andamanese languages Kora, Jeru, Sare and Bo.

Track Listing:

1. a bilikhu kajobe sorokom O, God, Bilikhu! We are praying to you. Listen to us. As the storm is nearing, we must go to the sea and pray Noe & Children

2. ila do jara teikh Boa Sr

3. to cong lira rotlo bejro Boa Sr

4. liro to marany tuke tare Cannot sit as it is too hot. Boa Sr

5. kaptan sablang – a death song This song is about Boa Sr.’s husband’s arrest and imprisonment for six months Ilphe

6. ila do jara tekh dunya The Earth is shaking as the tree falls with a great thud. Boa Sr.

7. re bit mo Boa Sr

8. thora kala badal Dark clouds are pouring down all over the place Boa Sr

9. er cuo tatung Let us dance together Boa Sr

10. ana phalte Dongi (a small boat) of Jijaji (sister’s husband) is approaching Noe

11. er tang khodo You have been sitting folding thin arms around your knees. In rain, you have been sitting like this Boa Sr

12. nodoka la ja badoi Boa Sr

13. lotob do o eremla He is going all alone to bring things and he is helped by his wife as he has to cross a canal. Boa Sr

14. anyo baro nirkonopirai Go on hunting with bow and arrow and bring a pig Boa Sr

15. teri longathe balaoko Hands are unable to reach the fruits on the tree Boa Sr

16. long the phere There is one wood in the forest, which causes swelling and bruises upon touching Boa Sr

17. o care didi pila ri Boa Sr

18. cok biron khao Boa Sr

19. thor ua bira Ilphe

20. iya ya khibanya bethe We are unable to uproot (it) completely Boa Sr

21. liro te maranytuke Boa Sr

22. calo bath angotha You forgot what I asked you to do during the night. (I am asking to go for work, but nobody is listening) Boa Sr

23. mange ara kulure komage re We are sprinkled by water as we are moving fast in the high tide. It seems the boat is shaking a lot Boa Sr

24. kirem elera coro We are sweating as turtle’s bone is roasted in fire, besides there is also a very strong Sun Boa Sr

25. a lao nata thi Boa Sr

26. ralok ra chilo Pigs run towards the hunters and when hit by arrows they run away and make noise upon being hit Boa Sr

27. tha mimi muku My mother, Muku, is saying that if she knew she could make/ cut the boat Noe

28. a nya lapra burkhot Waves are breaking high up with a heavy sound Boa Sr

29. a ka ye Boa Sr

30. a jilap tara kamo Those with squinted eyes aim somewhere and look somewhere else. Boa Sr

31. a je phera thu thu Rain-water is flowing heavily down into the canals. Boa Sr

32. anya somra phala Slow down the boat as the breaking stream and tide are pushng the boat down Tango

33. er cot loe cong ciri (His) face has become thin Boa Sr

34. iya ya khitong kora cera I am getting tired due to work and my hands are burning/ aching Noe

35. tongot bulya li Worship them who are dead Boa Sr

36. cok birong khao na Why are you all talking and laughing while eating turtle? Boa Sr

37. a dure kaiyo lorika Places by the side of the roads are not good for living Boa Sr

38. iya ya khitong cong ciri I am getting tired due to work and my hands are burning/ aching Boa Sr

39. er tap tap We are going to another/ distant place Boa Sr

40. anya somra phala kapulia Ilphe

41. iya ya khitong kora I am getting tired due to work and my hands are burning/ aching Boa Sr

42. le le phurjo Do not swing so fast on the tree, the ants might fall onto you. Boa Sr

43. sea song Pao Budha

44. turtle hunting song Pao Budha

Bonus

Andamanese Words

Jarawa

01. armpit

02. elephant

03. forehead

04. pig

05. Jarawa boat song

06. Jarawa bus song

Onge

1. we are all sitting

2. my clothes

3. your forehead

Andamanese Language Isolated Words

(Tracklisting is included in the folder)

All audio is from the Vanishing Voices of the Great Andamanese website

A big thank you to Professor Anvita Abbi for granting permission to use these tracks.

Please visit her websites:

Andamanese.org

Vanishing Voices of the Great Andamanese

Further Information on the Andaman can be found here

Songs from the Great Andamanese Collection

(WAV Googledrive Access) 44 Tracks

Bonus

Andamanese Words

(WAV Googledrive Access) 9 Tracks

Andamanese Language Isolated Words

(WAV Googledrive Access) 22 Tracks