réquiem por Boa Sr, réquiem por la weltangschauun bo
Este obituario son dos, el de una mujer y el de la lengua que, la semana pasada, expiró con ella. Boa Sr tenía ochenta y cinco años y era la última hablante de bo, uno de los idiomas nativos de las Andamán, un remoto archipiélago indio. La soledad de Boa Sr se acentuó en noviembre pasado, cuando murió la última persona con quien podía conversar en bo. Desde entonces, nadie entendía sus canciones. Aunque el réquiem por los andamaneses empezó a entonarse hace más de un siglo. Eran unos cinco mil, hace 150 años, pero hoy en día sólo sobreviven 53, concentrados en un islote. De los diez idiomas de entonces, ahora sólo sobreviven tres, que mezclan para entenderse entre sí ocho ancianos granandamaneses. El resto ya sólo chapurrea hindi, por el contacto con los trescientos cincuenta mil colonos indios, con los que no guardan el más mínimo parentesco étnico o lingüístico.
En las Andamán sobreviven otras tres tribus, con algunos cientos de miembros: jarawas, onges y sentinelis. Estos últimos siguen viviendo en la edad de piedra, sin ningún contacto con la civilización que ha exterminado a sus hermanos, en la isla de Gran Sentinel, que siguen defendiendo con arcos y flechas. Estos negritos, que podrían llevar setenta mil años en el territorio que ahora es su jaula, fueron los primeros pobladores del sudeste asiático y el eslabón perdido entre la primera migración de África y las poblaciones aborígenes de Australia y Melanesia.
La señora Boa Sr vio pasar a los invasores británicos, japoneses e indios, sin sucumbir a los virus de ninguno de ellos, aunque la aculturación india era evidente ya en su indumentaria y lengua. Su voz pervive en el diccionario multimedia recopilado por la lingüista india que la escuchó hasta sus últimos días. Su pueblo fue el último del planeta que ignoró cómo hacer fuego, pero ahora, con un clic, sus canciones ya forman parte de la memoria de la humanidad.
The BBC reported today that Boa Sr died in her native Andaman Islands at the age of 85. You may not have heard of Boa Sr. She was the last of her aeta tribe in her native Andaman Islands. She has held this distinction of being the Bo language´s last speaker for the last 40 years since her parents died.
(Boa Sr with Anvita Abbi)
She spoke Bo, a language that scientists believe is about 70,000 years old, and was a close cousin to the pre-Austronesian languages of the Aeta, Agta, Ayta, Pygmies, Ita, Baluga, Ati, Dumagat and at least 25 other tribes of the Philippines, the Semang of Malaysia, the Mani of Thailand and 12 other Andamanese tribes.
Her best friend Boro, who was the last speaker of another of the Great Andamanese languages, died last year.
The Sentinelese, another aeta Andaman tribe, pictured above, have rejected any time of relationship with the outside world and have enforced it with the use of shooting arrows and threatening displays of aggression. Scientists believe this xenophobia has prevented disruption of their cultural practices and of contracting fatal diseases that have deciminated Aeta tribes after contact throughout Southeast Asia. (Yes they look friendly here, but apparently that only lasts until you get close enough for arrows to hit you.)
The last member of a unique tribe has died on India’s Andaman Islands.
Boa Sr, who died last week aged around 85, was the last speaker of ‘Bo’, one of the ten Great Andamanese languages. The Bo are thought to have lived in the Andaman Islands for as much as 65,000 years, making them the descendants of one of the oldest human cultures on Earth.
Boa Sr was the oldest of the Great Andamanese, who now number just 52. Originally ten distinct tribes, the Great Andamanese were 5,000 strong when the British colonized the Andaman Islands in 1858. Most were killed or died of diseases brought by the colonizers.
Having failed to ‘pacify’ the tribes through violence, the British tried to ‘civilize’ them by capturing many and keeping them in an ‘Andaman Home’. Of the 150 children born in the home, none lived beyond the age of two.
The surviving Great Andamanese depend largely on the Indian government for food and shelter, and abuse of alcohol is rife.
Boa Sr survived the Asian tsunami of December 2004, and told linguists, ‘We were all there when the earthquake came. The eldest told us ‘the Earth would part, don’t run away or move’. The elders told us, that’s how we know.’
Linguist Prof. Anvita Abbi, who knew Boa Sr for many years, said, ‘Since she was the only speaker of [Bo] she was very lonely as she had no one to converse with… Boa Sr. had a very good sense of humour and her smile and full throated laughter were infectious.’
‘You cannot imagine the pain and anguish that I spend each day in being a mute witness to the loss of a remarkable culture and unique language.’
Boa Sr told Abbi she felt the neighbouring Jarawa tribe, who have not been decimated, were lucky to live in their forest away from the settlers who now occupy much of the Islands.
Survival’s director Stephen Corry said today, ‘The Great Andamanese were first massacred, then all but wiped out by paternalistic policies which left them ravaged by epidemics of disease, and robbed of their land and independence.
‘With the death of Boa Sr and the extinction of the Bo language, a unique part of human society is now just a memory. Boa’s loss is a bleak reminder that we must not allow this to happen to the other tribes of the Andaman Islands.’
(Boa Sr with Anvita Abbi)
The Sentinelese, another aeta Andaman tribe, pictured above, have rejected any time of relationship with the outside world and have enforced it with the use of shooting arrows and threatening displays of aggression. Scientists believe this xenophobia has prevented disruption of their cultural practices and of contracting fatal diseases that have deciminated Aeta tribes after contact throughout Southeast Asia. (Yes they look friendly here, but apparently that only lasts until you get close enough for arrows to hit you.)