The Bo Vanishes: Death of a Civilization

— -- On a small island 750 miles off the coast of India, one woman's death marked the end of an ancient civilization.

Bao Sr was 85, as best she knew, when she died last week. She was the oldest surviving member of the Bo, an ancient, indigenous people who, together with nine other tribes, made up the Great Andamanese people of the Indian archipelagos.

They are believed to have lived on the Andaman Islands for as many as 65,000 years, with a family tree that traces its history to one of the oldest human cultures on earth.

There are now only 52 Bo remaining but none who speak the original language. Boa Sr was the last member fluent in the tribe's mother tongue.

"Her death is not just the death of one person, it is the death of a whole tribe and up to 65,000 years of history," said Miriam Ross of Survival International, which campaigns for the rights of indigenous tribal people. "It is also a warning sign that the same fate could befall other tribes in other parts of the world."

Anvita Abbi, a linguistics professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, spent five years studying Boa's way of life and language.

"The significance is immense," she said. "Language is not just a way of communicating. It is a viewfinder to an ancient world. Language is a representation of society and the pattern of human migration."

Abbi described a warm and happy woman who was exceedingly patient with her team of researchers as they worked to document everything they could about her to preserve history.

"We would keep asking about the same word again and again," she recalled. "She was very patient, she would never lose her temper, she wouldn't even say, 'I just told you that."

The British first arrived to colonize the Bo in 1858. At that time, the Great Andamanese numbered about 5,000. The vast majority were killed or died from disease transmitted by the colonizers.

In swiftly dwindling numbers, the remnants of the amalgamated tribe continued to live their way of life as much as possible in the archipelagos. At one point, the British forcibly resettled the Great Andamanese to a single island in order to "civilize" them. The tribe was moved into an "Andaman home" during which time 150 children were born. None of them lived beyond the age of 2.