My blog this week is on the death of the last member of an ancient tribe. Boa Sr. died at the
age of about 85 years old. She was the last member of one of the ten great tribes that inhabited the Andaman Islands. The Andaman Islands lie some 750 miles off of the eastern coast of India.yes""> Boa Sr. says she was the last member of the Bo tribe, a tribe that has inhabited the Andamanese Islands for around 65,000 years.
A group that campaigns for the protection of indigenous peoples called Survival International has covered boa’s story and death. Not only was Boa the last member of the
Bo tribe, she was also the last speaker of a great Andamanese language, Bo. Boa’s death has hit hard at Survival International and in several Indian colleges.yes""> A professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University met with Boa recently and has lamented her death. According to the professor Boa’s husband and children had already passed away and Boa had no one to converse with in Bo.yes"">
Boa was said to be the oldest of only 52 Great Andamanese left. Her death has brought home the harsh reality that many of India’s indigenous tribes are dying and with
them their knowledge, cultures, and histories.yes""> Boa’s death has brought awareness to the tribes’ plight and many of them have been added to the list of vulnerable indigenous
communities. According to Survival International the surviving tribes depend largely on the Indian government for food and shelter.
I think that it is sad when it takes a death to show people the problems that are all around them. Perhaps it’s just me but since the tribes are direct descendants of the
earliest humans that more people would show an interest in their cultures,
languages, and ways of life. I hope that the loss of this culture would spur more of an effort to learn about these peoples.
Source 1: CNN
Source 2: Google
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