- For the first time in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, seven members of the Shompen tribe, a particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG) of the Great Nicobar Islands, voted for the union territory’s lone Lok Sabha seat.
About the Shompen Tribe:
- The Shompen tribe lives mostly in the deep interior portions of Great Nicobar Island, the southernmost island in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago.
- According to the 2011 Census, their population was expected to be 229.
- Their cultural behaviours include traditional hunting, fishing, and harvesting of forest materials.
- Pandanus (a tropical shrub indigenous on the islands) is the Shompens’ principal diet, with fruits that resemble woody pineapples.
- The Shompens differ from the four other PVTGs of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands — Jarawas, Great Andamanese, Onges, and Sentinelese — in that they are the only tribe in the region possessing Mongoloid traits. The other PVTGs have Negroid characteristics.
Society & Culture
- The Shompen people have their own distinct culture and language, which is related to the Austroasiatic language family.
- Marriage is one of the Shompen society’s rituals, and it involves collecting women from various tribes and subgroups.
- They follow a hunter-gatherer subsistence lifestyle.
Source: https://www.thehindu.com/elections/lok-sabha/great-nicobars-particularly-vulnerable-tribal-group-shompen-cast-their-vote-for-the-first-time/article68084943.ece