Onge Tribe

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Onge Tribe Latest News

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands administration recently set up a Van Dhan Vikas Kendra for the Onge tribe at Dugong Creek under Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyay Maha Abhiyan to make them self-sustainable through coconut-based products.

About Onge Tribe

Onges are one of the most primitive tribes in India. They belong to the Negrito racial stock.
They are inhabiting Little Andaman Island, the most southerly island in the Andaman archipelago.
They are semi-nomadic tribes and fully dependent on the food provided by nature.
The religion of the Onges is simple animism. Neither ceremonial worship nor any kind of propitiation is practiced by them. They believe in different classes of spirits-spirits of the wood, the sea, disease, storm, and ancestors.
The Onge speak their own language, which has no script.
The colour of the teeth has a unique interpretation among Onges, who consider pearly white teeth a symbol of death. They continue to chew the bark to impart a red colour to their teeth.
They decorate their bodies and their faces with white and ochre clay. On special occasions, they place a greater emphasis on body ornamentation.
Until the 1940s, the Onge were the sole permanent inhabitants of Goubalambabey (the Onge name for Little Andaman).
They now share the 732 sq km island with around 17,000 settlers from India, Bangladesh, and the Nicobar Islands. ‘
The Onge population was also decimated following contact with British colonists and Indian settlers; it fell from 670 in 1900 to only 96 members by the early 2000s.
In 1976, the Onge were settled in order to have ‘the basic facilities for hygienic living and protection against elements of nature’.
They now live in a reserve in Dugong Creek (Little Andaman) that is a fraction of the size of their original territory.
The Onge tribe is also one of the world’s least prolific and infertile communities. Infertility affects somewhat more than 40% of married couples.