The last member of the Great Andamanese

So you are probably wondering what a post about an extinct tribe is doing on our site. Like Canvas our site is not just about one thing or all things – but it is about interesting things. Often we speak of animals that have become extinct but rarely of people or tribes. With all that we consider sometimes we simply forget “people” and focus elsewhere. When we looked at this woman’s face we see all of us – African, Asian, Caucasian, Indigenous  all at once. Maybe you see what we see , maybe you don’t - but hopeful this gave you a moment to see someone - someone we can all consider -someone outside of our daily world – someone of interest.  Please read on…

New Delhi, India - The last member of an ancient tribe that has inhabited an Indian island chain for around 65,000 years has died, a group that campaigns for the protection of indigenous peoples has said.

Boa Sr, who was around 85 years of age, died last week in the Andaman islands, about 750 miles off India’s eastern coast, Survival International said in a statement.

The London-based group, which works to protect indigenous peoples, said she was the last member of one of ten distinct Great Andamanese tribes, the Bo.

“The Bo are thought to have lived in the Andaman islands for as long as 65,000 years, making them the descendants of one of the oldest human cultures on earth,” it noted.

With her passing at a hospital, India also lost one of its most endangered languages, also called Bo, linguists say.

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