American adventurer and a Christian missionary John Allen Chau went to the Andaman and Nicobar islands, made persistent efforts to establish contacts with the Sentinelese tribe;?a primal tribe that has been known to resist contact with the outside world since the first time British stepped on their island and got killed.
Since his death much has been written, read and talked about the tribes of Andamans, the man who got killed and the hostility of Sentinelese. Many names have come to the fore during this time. However, among these people the name of an Indian anthropologist who was known for her elaborate?thesis and impeccable research skills has popped up- Dr. Madhumala Chattopadhyay, the first woman to ever visit the Sentinelese and more so establish a friendly contact with them. She now works at the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
Photo: Dr. Madhumala Chattopadhyay in her office at Ministry of social justice and empowerment, R.K Puram
What is important to note here is that she spent six years in the Andaman islands (from 1989 to 1996) and has met all the six tribes including Jarawas, Onge, Sentinelese, Nicobarese, Great Andaman and Shompens.
Dr Madhumala was the best PhD thesis awardee at Calcutta University, author of the book- Tribes of Car Nicobar along with 20 research papers and a fierce expeditioner in her time.
We met Dr Madhumala at her office where she supervises and refines the vast body of her research work on human nature and primitive tribes. Here are five main points from her research on Sentinelese:
Dr Madhumala had to face a lot of hurdles from the Anthropological Survey Of India and even the Andaman administration to allow her to visit the North Sentinel island.
Photo: Madhumala Chattopadhyay/ Chattopadhyay offering coconuts to the Sentinelese; 1st friendly encounter with them
She approached the island on the morning of January 04, 1991 along with other crew members and organised a gift-dropping exercise, where they passed coconuts to tribal men through water. This activity continued for four hours until a boy took an aim at one of the crew members. A Sentinelese woman was also standing beside that boy.?
Upon seeing the woman Dr Madhumala called out, ¡°Kayeerie Esera, Naryali Jaba Jaba. This means ¡®Mother, come here. Have more and more coconuts.¡±
She had met the Onge and Car Nicobarese women before this and it was there in her mind that women controlled violence within the tribes. When the anthropologist conversed with the Sentinelese woman in her language, she diverted the arrow thereby, preventing a killing.
Photo: Madhumala Chattopadhyay
"They are like us only. It all depends on how we are approaching them." Dr Madhumala informed that in her research tenure, no tribal man had ever misbehaved with her. She had not only been received warmly but Jarawa women had even gifted her ornaments like a hair band, arm amulets made of bark and leaves. She was even part of the second contact expedition, which took place on February 21, 1991.
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According to Dr Madhumala, there are different opinions on the population of these tribes after the 2004 Tsunami and that it didn¡¯t decrease during the disaster because they are animists, they worship nature. They pray to the sky, sun, sea. ¡°Even among Onges I have seen when it is full moon night, they sing all night. When a high tide is coming or it is raining, they say don¡¯t go out. They know how to survive all these things.¡±
For them nature is their religion.
Photo: Madhumala Chattopadhyay/Chattopadhyay with Jarawa women and children only a few metres away
Dr Madhumala said that once she went to visit the Onge tribe for collecting their blood and preservation of genes, upon seeing other members who were accompanying her, the Onges hid behind trees and further went into interiors of the jungle.
¡°You can¡¯t force them. You have to first build rapport with them. Being an anthropologist by profession, I can say this that when they are not allowing or showing by gesture that don¡¯t come then we should follow that.¡±
The Government of India had decided to abandon any further expedition to the Sentinel Island, because it believed that frequent contact might harm the small community. "Frequent contact was not needed and only if there is any natural calamity or epidemic that they should be contacted."
Photo: Madhumala Chattopadhyay with Jarawas
Dr Madhumala, who had stayed under a roof with Jarawa women and their children informed that the British and Japanese had exploited and killed this tribal population.
In 1880, the British were the first ones to venture into Sentinelese territory when they captured an elderly couple and four children. It was said that the couple had died in captivity which irked the Sentinelese.
She even spoke about an interesting rumour that is popular among Sentinelese. Since the sea route from North Sentinel island acts as a channel to countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, it is even said that once a ship had stopped by the island where they saw a male Sentinelese standing. He was captured by the ship men and was taken to their country as a slave.
Therefore, only people in this profession such as anthropologists, research scholars or government officials should be allowed to visit them because tourists have no idea about their behaviour.
Photo: Madhumala Chattopadhyay with Sentinelese in January, 1991
Dr Madhumala emphasised that the only religion tribals follow is ¡®animism¡¯ which is the worship of sun, moon, sea and sky. ¡°They are not accustomed to see all these things like Christianity. Their behaviour is also unpredictable and childlike; whatever they like, they like.
So, first you establish contact with them only then you can talk to them. What will they do with religion? They are very close to nature and that¡¯s the only religion they understand.¡±
On retrieval of John¡¯s body: ¡°Who will go to take his body? Perhaps, no it is not possible to retrieve his body because Sentinelese wouldn¡¯t allow. John Allen wanted to reach this place but he didn¡¯t listen to them.
Photo: More of Madhumala with Jarawas
When they are preventing, one should not force. They are intelligent people, we think we are studying them but they are studying us. If you go to any new population, it takes time to build rapport.¡±
¡°They need shelter for security purpose, food for survival and clothes. However, they have no concept of wearing clothes. Religion and all will come later. They know where to go in any natural calamity. They have their own food resources¡± the researcher further added.
"Even the old people in these tribes don¡¯t believe in religion and after the death of any person- say a hunter-gatherer they prepare a model of that person and keep it. Then they offer food items and sometimes light candles in front of it."
On being asked if she missed all that adventure, ¡°Yes, those adventures I liked but just to study them and to know how can we make it better. I had no plans of staying there for a long time,¡± she replied, adding that despite being the number one student in all her endeavours, she was always prevented by her seniors and had to face a lot of hurdles.
¡°Majority of the society is still patriarchal. If young women show their enthusiasm then they are prevented." Talking about T.N Pandit who was had also approached the Sentinelese, Dr Madhumala said professional jealousy was so high that despite Pandit being her father¡¯s age, he and other officers had forgotten everything. Her name wasn¡¯t even given for the commendation certificate, but she believes that women who are determined to make a name for themselves in a particular field will always find a way, just like she did through her in-depth study.