How did the Jarawa traditionally obtain food from the forests of the Andaman Islands?

The Jarawa people of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have traditionally sustained themselves as hunter-gatherers, relying entirely on the forest and surrounding waters for their survival.1

Their traditional food procurement methods include:

• Hunting: The Jarawa hunt wild boar and monitor lizards within the forests. Historically, the bow served as the primary indigenous weapon for hunting wild pigs.12
• Gathering: They collect various forest resources, including fruits, tubers, and honey.1
• Fishing: Women traditionally fish in shallow waters using nets stitched with bamboo needles. While some Andamanese groups historically used harpoons and nets from single-outrigger canoes to catch fish, turtles, and dugong, they did not traditionally utilize traps or fishhooks.12

Over time, the Jarawa have also adapted materials from their environment, such as using iron salvaged from shipwrecks to fashion tools like arrowheads and knives, a practice dating back to at least the 18th century.2