Karen people in the Andaman Islands

Last updated
Karen people (Andaman Islands)
Total population
2,000 [1]
Languages
Karenic languages (S'gaw Karen) [2]
Religion
Christianity [2]

The Karen people are an ethnic group native to Kayin State, Myanmar. In the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India, they live in various villages of North and Middle Andaman district.

History

In 1924, Dr. Marshall, the principal of the Karen Baptist Theological Seminary, visited Michael Lloyd Ferrar, the Chief Commissioner of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Following the visit, Dr. Marshall encouraged the remaining ancestors of the Karen people to settle there.

In 1925, the first thirteen families arrived, led by a priest, named Reverend Luige. In 1926, another fifty families arrived, and the first Karen village, named Web, was founded on the Middle Andaman Island. [1] The people of Web worked as foresters, which was the original reason the British government had for moving them to the Islands, with the help of the missionaries. [3] The population of the village was about 500 people in 2009. [4]

In 2004, the total population of Karen in the Andamans was about 2,000 people, living in eight villages in the Mayabunder (Web, Deopur, Law, Lucknow, Karmatang-9 and Karmatang-10) and Diglipur (Borang and Chipon) tehsils of the North and Middle Andaman district. [1] On 12 December 2005, the government reserve d government jobs and places in higher education for the Karen as one of the Other Backward Classes in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. [5]

Today, the Karen group form a small yet vital community on the island. They are currently trying to attain the status of Scheduled Tribe in India, a title which would grant them more special privileges and concessions when compared to under-developed groups within the country.

The Karen people believe that in order to respect nature they should avoid spitting or urinating in forests. They promote sustainable harvesting and avoid killing female animals when hunting. They use a variety of forest plants for construction. For example, they make canoes from the trunks of mulberry trees ( Artocarpus chaplasha Roxb.) and use a paste of the sweet flag vanity with other aromatic plants as a poultice for colds and headaches. [6]

To educate the community, the Government Secondary School (GSS) in Web was established in 1928 by the family of Reverend Luigi. The Karen language was not formally taught for about 50 years, and Karen language textbooks were not available. The country's first textbook in the Karen language was published in 2010 after a group of local teachers convinced the district administration to support the initiative. As of 2018, Karen is officially taught as a language till Class V at GSS Web. [7]

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The Andaman Islands are an archipelago, made up of 200 islands, 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andaman and Nicobar Islands</span> Union territory of India

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India. It consists of 836 islands grouped into two island groups: the northern Andaman Islands and the southern Nicobar Islands, separated by a 150 km (93 mi) wide channel. Port Blair is the capital and largest city of the territory, located about 1,190 km (740 mi) from Chennai and 1,255 km (780 mi) from Kolkata in mainland India. The islands are sandwiched between the Bay of Bengal to the west and the Andaman Sea to the east with the northern-most point located 901 km (560 mi) from the mouth of Hooghly river. Indira Point at 6°45’10″N and 93°49’36″E at the southern tip of Great Nicobar is the southernmost point of India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicobar Islands</span> Island group in the Indian Ocean

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karen people</span> Ethnolinguistic group indigenous to Myanmar

The Karen, also known as the Kayin, Kariang or Kawthoolese, are an ethnolinguistic group of Sino-Tibetan language-speaking peoples. The group as a whole is heterogeneous and disparate as many Karen ethnic groups do not associate or identify with each other culturally or linguistically. These Karen groups reside primarily in Kayin State, southern and southeastern Myanmar. The Karen account for around 6.69% of the Burmese population. Many Karen have migrated to Thailand, having settled mostly on the Myanmar–Thailand border. A few Karen have settled in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India, and other Southeast Asian and East Asian countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Andaman Island</span>

North Andaman Island is the northern island of Great Andaman of the Andaman Islands. It belongs to the North and Middle Andaman administrative district, part of the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. the island is lying 137 km (85 mi) north from Port Blair.

Nancowry is an island in the central part of the Nicobar Islands chain, located in the northeast Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea.

Trinket Island is one of the 24 islands that make up the Nicobar Islands chain, located in the northeast Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. It is located east of Kamorta Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middle Andaman Island</span>

Middle Andaman Island is an island of the Andaman Islands. It belongs to the North and Middle Andaman administrative district, part of the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shompen people</span> Ethnic group of India

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.

Indira Point, the southernmost point of India's territory, is a village in the Nicobar district at Great Nicobar Island of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India. It is located in the Great Nicobar tehsil.

Interview Island is an island of the Andaman Islands. It belongs to the North and Middle Andaman administrative district, part of the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It lies 125 km (78 mi) north of Port Blair.

Strait Island is an island of the Andaman Islands. It belongs to the North and Middle Andaman administrative district, part of the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The island lies 63 km (39 mi) north from Port Blair.

North and Middle Andaman district is one of the 3 districts of the Indian Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands located in the Bay of Bengal. Mayabunder town is the district headquarters. The area covered by this district is 3251.85 km2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicobarese people</span> Ethnic group of India

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. The Nicobar Archipelago consists of 19 islands, and only 12 of them are inhabited. These inhabited islands are Car Nicobar, Chowra, Bompoka, Teressa, Nancowry, Pullomillow, Great Nicobar, Camorta, Katchal, Trinket, Kondul, and Little Nicobar. The largest and main island is Great Nicobar. The term "Nicobarese" refers to the dominant tribes of the Nicobar Islands and are most significant tribal population in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands due to their large numbers and the very wide area they occupy as compared to all the Andaman tribes put together. Each island's inhabitants have specific names, but collectively they are known as the Nicobarese. They call themselves "Holchu," which means "friend." The life of the Nicobarese revolves around nature. The socio-economic conditions of the people of Nancowry islands play an important role in the religious practices and social life of the Nicobarese community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">S'gaw Karen language</span> Sino-Tibetan language of Myanmar and Thailand

S’gaw, S'gaw Karen, or S’gaw K’Nyaw, commonly known as Karen, is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the S'gaw Karen people of Myanmar and Thailand. A Karenic branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family, S'gaw Karen is spoken by over 2 million people in Tanintharyi Region, Ayeyarwady Region, Yangon Region, and Bago Region in Myanmar, and about 200,000 in northern and western Thailand along the border near Kayin State. It is written using the S'gaw Karen alphabet, derived from the Burmese script, although a Latin-based script is also in use among the S'gaw Karen in northwestern Thailand.

Landfall Island is the northernmost island of the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It belongs to the territory's North and Middle Andaman administrative district. The island lies 220 km (137 mi) north of Port Blair, and is situated 300 km (186 mi) south of Myanmar. It is home to the Kari tribe.

information time milo is an island in the Nicobar district of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India, and is home to a village of the same name. It is located just north of Little Nicobar Island.

East Island is an island of the Andaman Islands. It belongs to the North and Middle Andaman administrative district, part of the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The island is located 220 km (137 mi) north from Port Blair.

Curlew Island is an island of the Andaman Islands. It belongs to the North and Middle Andaman administrative district, part of the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The island lies 150 km (93 mi) north of Port Blair.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Sameera Maiti (2004), "The Karen – A Lesser Known Community of the Andaman Islands" (PDF), ISLANDS of the WORLD VIII International Conference - “Changing Islands – Changing Worlds”, 1–7 November 2004, Kinmen Island (Quemoy), Taiwan, archived from the original (PDF) on August 22, 2016
  2. 1 2 Tanvi Mittal (2015), The Karen of Andaman Islands Labor Migration Indian Citizenship and Development of a Unique Cultural Identity, archived from the original on February 18, 2024
  3. ↑ Venkateswar, Sita (2004), Development and Ethnocide: Colonial Practices in the Andaman Islands, IWGIA, p. 16, ISBN   978-87-91563-04-1
  4. ↑ Edith Mirante (2009), "Island of Peace", The Irrawaddy, 17 (5), archived from the original on March 20, 2021
  5. ↑ Philipp Zehmisch (2012), "The Struggle for OBC", A Xerox of India Policies and Politics of Migration in an overseas colony (PDF), ISBN   978-3-9809131-1-9, archived from the original (PDF) on January 11, 2023
  6. ↑ MU Sharief; S Kumar; PG Diwakar; TVRS Sharma (2005), "Traditional Phytotherapy among Karens of Middle Andaman" (PDF), Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge, 4 (4): 429–436, archived from the original (PDF) on June 5, 2016
  7. ↑ Rao, Mohit M. (8 September 2018). "A little Myanmar in the Andamans". The Hindu. Archived from the original on May 7, 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2020.


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