The Onge: Honey Gatherers of Little Andaman
At the southern end of the Andaman archipelago lies Little Andaman, an island of dense forest, mangrove creeks and long beaches. It is the ancestral home of the Onge, a small indigenous community that has lived by hunting, fishing and gathering for thousands of years. Unlike the Sentinelese and the Shompen, the Onge accepted contact with outsiders, and in the past century they have felt its full weight. Their history shows how quickly a once-thriving people can decline when forests are cleared and new diseases and foods arrive.
Origins and Early History
The Onge belong to the Negrito peoples of the Andamans, generally believed to descend from some of the earliest humans to settle the islands. Their language, Onge, belongs to the Ongan family, which is distinct from the languages of the Great Andamanese. Anthropologists have noted that the Andamanese are distantly related to the indigenous population of South Asia as well as to East Asians.
In earlier centuries the Onge ranged more widely than they do today. In the 18th century the Onge were distributed across Little Andaman and nearby islands, with some territory and camps on Rutland Island and the southern tip of South Andaman. Their language was spoken across this area before it shrank to a single settlement.
The British made contact in the nineteenth century, and relations were generally peaceful compared with those between the British and other Andamanese groups. Friendly relations were established with the British through Lieutenant Archibald Blair, and the naval officer M. V. Portman described the Onge as the mildest, most timid and inoffensive of the Andamanese peoples he met. Yet peaceful relations did not mean safety. Contact brought disease and disruption, and the long decline began.
Decline in the Twentieth Century
The numbers tell the story. The Onge population was 672 in 1901, then 631 in 1911, 346 in 1921, 250 in 1931, and about 150 in 1951. By the end of the century there were barely 100 people left. Epidemics played a part, as with other Andamanese groups, but anthropologists also point to other causes. A major cause of the decline has been the change in food habits brought about by contact with the outside world. The Onge shifted from a traditional diet of wild foods toward rations and store-bought goods, with harmful effects on health and fertility.
The greatest upheaval came with development on Little Andaman after independence. In the 1950s and 60s, the government decided to resettle refugees from East Pakistan on the island. Between 1964 and 1973, the Andaman administration cleared 51,400 hectares of forest, of which about 10,000 hectares were claimed in Little Andaman for settlement and cultivation. A forestry corporation then set up a field station in 1973 to speed up logging. For people who depended entirely on the forest, the effects were severe. Little Andaman's forests had once been abundant with wild boar, roots, tubers, fruit and honey, and the sea with fish, turtles and dugongs. The island's outsider population grew to roughly 12,000 settlers, giving a density of 16.42 people per square kilometre compared with 2.05 in the 1950s and early 1960s.
Today, the surviving Onge are confined to two reserve camps on Little Andaman: Dugong Creek in the northeast and South Bay.
Culture and Way of Life
Traditionally, the Onge are hunter-gatherers and fishers who also practise a little plant cultivation. Life revolved around the forest and the sea. Men hunted wild pig with bows and arrows and fished and harpooned turtles and dugongs from outrigger canoes. Women and children gathered roots, fruits, shellfish and, famously, honey, which the Onge harvested with great skill and which formed an important part of their diet and trade.
The Onge moved between camps according to season and resources. Their shelters were light structures of poles and thatch, built to be easily replaced. They used little clothing, instead decorating their bodies with white and ochre clay and wearing ornaments of shell and fibre. Crafts such as canoe building, cordage and tool-making were passed down within families.
Their beliefs were centred on the spirits of the forest, sea and ancestors. Illness and misfortune were often interpreted in spiritual terms, and ritual specialists played a role in dealing with them. Much of their traditional knowledge, including names for plants and animals, is closely tied to their language, which is now at risk. As of 2006, only 94 native Onge speakers remained, confined to a single settlement in northeastern Little Andaman, making the language endangered.
Modern Challenges
Today the Onge live in settlements supported by the Andaman and Nicobar administration, which provides rations, housing and health services. This help has kept the population from collapsing, but it has also changed daily life. Dependence on supplied food, clothing and goods has replaced some of the old skills, and anthropologists have warned that the community is highly vulnerable to sudden change. Infant and child mortality has been reported as high, with a net reproductive index of only 0.91, and the population appears to have grown from about 100 to 117 by 2017. That slight increase is encouraging, but the numbers remain dangerously small.
Accidents have also exposed their fragility. In 2008, eight Onge men died after drinking from a bottle that washed ashore and which turned out to contain poison. Survival International's director called it a calamity for the Onge and warned that any more deaths could put the survival of the entire tribe in serious danger. The 2004 tsunami also struck Little Andaman hard, though the Onge, with their deep knowledge of the sea and land, are widely reported to have reached higher ground in time.
Conclusion
The Onge are survivors of a long and difficult century. They have lost most of their population, much of their forest and part of their language, yet they remain a distinct community with their own identity. Their experience is a lesson in how development, however well-meant, can damage people who depend on a natural environment. If the Onge are to have a future, it will depend on protecting their forest reserve, supporting their health, and respecting their right to decide how much of the old and new they want to keep.