INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

Little Andaman: a chronology

1901: Population of the Onge 672.
1911: Population of the Onge 631.
1921: Population of the Onge 346.
1931: Population of the Onge 250.
1951: Population of the Onge 150.
1952: Italian anthropologist visits Little Andaman to study the Onge tribe.
1957: Declaration of the island of Little Andaman as a tribal reserve.
1961: Population of the Onge 129.
1965: Report by the 'The Inter-departmental Team on Accelerated Development Programme for the A&N Islands', Ministry of Rehabilitation, Government of India.
1970: Timber extraction begins.
1971: Population of the Onge 112.
1972: First amendment to the tribal reserve on Little Andaman.
1974: Forest Department assesses the timber productivity of the forests of the island.
1975: Forest Department initiates work on the red oil palm plantation.
1976: The Andaman Adim Janjati Vikas Samiti (AAJVS) is created.
1976: Presentation of the Forest Corporation proposal for logging and forestry operations in Little Andaman.
1977: The Forest Corporation starts fuctioning.
1977: Second denotificaton of the tribal reserve on Little Andaman.
1977-79: More outside families settled on Little Andaman.
1981: Population of the Onge 100.
1983: Study of the Onge by anthropologist Vishvajit Pandya.
1988: Formulation of the National Forest Policy which makes a special case for the protection of the rainforests of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
1991: Population of the Onge 101.
1995: Patenting controversy related to Onge knowledge.
1996: Supreme Court order on forests.
1999: Two Onge youths found dead.