Tribes of Andaman & Nicobar

There are 6 aboriginal tribes in Andaman & Nicobar islands.  On the basis of features, they can be divided into Negrito and Mongoloid. Great Andamanese, Onge, Jarawa and Sentinelese are negrito while Nicobarese and Shompen are mongoloid. Shompens and Nicobarese seem to be descendents of primitive Malayans. These tribes still keep a separate entity and don;t cover their bodies. The tribal groups in the two respective regions have very little in common in the ethnic, linguistic or cultural sense. Their life styles are also very different.

Shompen Tribe

In November 2015, the Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI) came up with the first authentic demographic database of the Shompen (or Shom Pen) tribe of the Great Nicobar Island. The key findings are as follows:

• Earlier, it was believed that Shompens are a homogenous group, but now AnSI reveals that the Shompens are in four heterogeneous groups viz. northeastern, western, southern and central groups and each having a different dialect.
• Current population is estimated between 200 to 300.
• They are primarily hunter-gatherers and also practice little bit of horticulture and pig rearing. They hunt wild pigs, monkeys, monitor Lizard and also pythons.
• They use Pandanus as staple food. Pandanus or Screw Palm is a tropical palm found in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• They have developed a symbiotic relationship or barter system with the Great Nicobarese, who live near coasts.
• There are less women in comparison to men, and many of the men have no partners. Marriage by capturing women from different groups and subgroups is one of the customs of the Shompen society. This might be one reason of mutual hostility among groups. {In fact, the Greater Nicobari tehsil has the most skewed sex ratio in A&N i.e. 665 females for every 1,000 males.}