Andaman Tribe Exterminated

[Ordie]

Andaman Tribe Exterminated: Last Member Dies

SHARETHIS
by survivalint (writer), February 04, 2010

india , boa sr , andaman islands , bo , great andamanese , colonialism , linguistics , extinction
Credit: Alok Das
Boa Sr was the last surviving member of the Bo tribe, of the Andaman Islands.
The last surviving member of a unique tribe -- one that flourished on India’s Andaman Islands for perhaps 65,000 years -- has died.

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 (an archipelago in the Bay of Bengal, south of Burma) 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 neighboring 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 International’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.”
Source:http://www.broowaha.com/articles/6187/andaman-tribe-exterminated-last-member-dies

[clean]

There's 7000 languages spoken around the world. today. 133 are spoken by only about 10 people each.

of those 7000, 90% will be gone by 2100. Cultures just disappear as we all become one.

[Ordie]

There's 7000 languages spoken around the world. today. 133 are spoken by only about 10 people each.

of those 7000, 90% will be gone by 2100. Cultures just disappear as we all become one.

Along with thousands of years of tradition and memories.

It was the oral tradition that saved many on the islands during the 2006 earthquake and tsunami.

[Alex G]

This is same news as "another kind of animal that you never heard about dies out". While it may interest some people, it may be sad, but thats life.

[Switek]

Along with thousands of years of tradition and memories.

It was the oral tradition that saved many on the islands during the 2006 earthquake and tsunami.


The other side of the coin is that thanks the language (cultural) unification we humans became much more close to each other...

[GiladS]

Along with thousands of years of tradition and memories.

It was the oral tradition that saved many on the islands during the 2006 earthquake and tsunami.



Ordie, I thought that you were a devout believer in cultural assimilation?

Considering that such assimilation can at times bring about the same results (the extinction of cultures and languages) then maybe your own thread should give you some food for thought.

[RJMC]

thats easy for you all to say since your language is not the dissapearing one

[Alex G]

thats easy for you all to say since your language is not the dissapearing one

Well i your language is gone it means that it doesnt bother you either - you are dead.

[RJMC]

Well i your language is gone it means that it doesnt bother you either - you are dead.

is not a language but a whole culture

imaignate if in your country everyone start speaking arab like some people say europe is turning into,and then if you dont speak it they tell you "well get on whit the times"

is not the same but still is a culture that may be small but still significant and any effort to atleast preserve it is better that it dissapearing whitout not even knowing it

[Alex G]

is not a language but a whole culture

imaignate if in your country everyone start speaking arab like some people say europe is turning into,and then if you dont speak it they tell you "well get on whit the times"

is not the same but still is a culture that may be small but still significant and any effort to atleast preserve it is better that it dissapearing whitout not even knowing it

Imagine - no one lives in villages anymore, whole rural culture is practically gone(well not). Who cares? Everybody lives in cities, everything has changed in this world since 100 years ago, everything is electrolyzed and americanized. Is it really that bad? Dialect do die out, and? Is it really that bad to move one to better future? Is it really that bad when people stop talking on languages that only have "one, two and many" to show numbers? I dont think so. In free world everybody can live as he wishes. And when nobody wishes to live as if he was in middle ages, would you really blame them for that?

[Hollis]

Americanized?............... Get off of your soap box.


BTW, I do agree with your last sentence. Most people want the easier life which is also safer. Very few want to be "a island unto themselves". Not just culture, but medicine, food, living longer with your family, etc, encourages change.

The lost of history is sad.

[Alex G]

Americanized?............... Get off of your soap box.



Arent we all americanized now? USA is country with biggest cultural influence on the world and it is for a long time already. And i dont say that its bad, i mostly like it. Of course
US culture was based on European back in time, but now its US that change to world to look more like it. There is nothing bad about it, because nobody change his culture for 100%, so we get a nice mix of cultures. Just some of them have much less influence then other.

[Hollis]

I guess we can throw around, who has the most influence, I think it something more than one country. In the US, there are all kinds of "influences" from other countries. They all contribute to to what people considers to be American. Like Europe and other places in the world, what was the culture like 100 years ago is not the same today. Maybe contribute it to the media, entertainment industry, the internet, etc. Kind of like one big popularity contest, with what is hottest and greatest beating out the competition. Example, Look at music. I think it is human to mimic and copy others.

[Alex G]

I guess we can throw around, who has the most influence, I think it something more than one country. In the US, there are all kinds of "influences" from other countries. They all contribute to to what people considers to be American. Like Europe and other places in the world, what was the culture like 100 years ago is not the same today. Maybe contribute it to the media, entertainment industry, the internet, etc. Kind of like one big popularity contest, with what is hottest and greatest beating out the competition. Example, Look at music. I think it is human to mimic and copy others.

But you just said it - media. Look all over the world. You will see US music, US movies and so on. European music and movies play minor role in Europe itself. And you can go on and on. In last century, if you compare cultural influence of US and rest of the world - US will win. They are things that came from Europe or Asia that changed our lives too, but there arent that much such things and sometimes we dont even realize that they are from land where they actually come from.
Coping each other is part of human evolution, without coping most of us wouldnt be able to make fire, so its makes sense to think about it as about a goo thing.

[dava]

European music and movies play minor role in Europe itself.

I m not so sure about that. American cultural influence is only popular at the lowest levels of society. Fastfood, hollywood, RnB, hell, even the muscle cars, they all dig into that.
Middle and upper class on the other hand are way less americanized.

[RJMC]

Imagine - no one lives in villages anymore, whole rural culture is practically gone(well not). Who cares? Everybody lives in cities, everything has changed in this world since 100 years ago, everything is electrolyzed and americanized. Is it really that bad? Dialect do die out, and? Is it really that bad to move one to better future? Is it really that bad when people stop talking on languages that only have "one, two and many" to show numbers? I dont think so. In free world everybody can live as he wishes. And when nobody wishes to live as if he was in middle ages, would you really blame them for that?

and what if they want to preserve that culture?

in the catalunya region of spain it was forbiden to them to speak theyr own language during franco regime,franco is gone and they can speak it openly,but yeah is not that spoked out of theyr regions and in other countryes so they will just trow it away cuz of that? no they still preserve it and are doing things like translating movies or books in theyr language cuz they want to and they dont want to lose the language and heritage
same in the basque country and probably other parts of europe
and they dont care if theyr culture spread like the culture of the usa they just want theyr culture they where raised on to preserve in theyr land

in bolivia there is operating sistems for pc's that come in the local indigenous language
and sure in africa there is tons of languages like europe and tons of speakers who still use it

not everyone is born in america and wants to be of the culture of america

and just cuz a language is ancient and tribal dont mean the people who speak it is tribal like,that woman who died lived in a nomal house

[Alex G]

I m not so sure about that. American cultural influence is only popular at the lowest levels of society. Fastfood, hollywood, RnB, hell, even the muscle cars, they all dig into that.
Middle and upper class on the other hand are way less americanized.

Well... if you can name me what Germany as example can offer on movies or music? Beside some comedies, all other movies are crap. Music isnt really better either. You hear some german songs, yes, but mostly you still hear US, its not like middle and upper class are much different from the rest - they dont hear rap, but they hear the rest. Movies are wathed by all classes, it would be new to me, that middle class doesnt watch hollywood movies. Dont forget about 24, *** and the City and rest of it. Germany doesnt have ANYTHING good in this sector.

But ye Germany has one thing that isnt going to be americanized and that is for all classes: Oktoberfest! Damn i love it.

[Alex G]

and what if they want to preserve that culture?

in the catalunya region of spain it was forbiden to them to speak theyr own language during franco regime,franco is gone and they can speak it openly,but yeah is not that spoked out of theyr regions and in other countryes so they will just trow it away cuz of that? no they still preserve it and are doing things like translating movies or books in theyr language cuz they want to and they dont want to lose the language and heritage
same in the basque country and probably other parts of europe
and they dont care if theyr culture spread like the culture of the usa they just want theyr culture they where raised on to preserve in theyr land

in bolivia there is operating sistems for pc's that come in the local indigenous language
and sure in africa there is tons of languages like europe and tons of speakers who still use it

not everyone is born in america and wants to be of the culture of america

and just cuz a language is ancient and tribal dont mean the people who speak it is tribal like,that woman who died lived in a nomal house

If they wish - no one will hinder them at it. No one forces you to forget your culture or your language. Its your choice. You have to learn new things - not to forget old things.

[RJMC]

well them go american

told your goverment to teach english as national language so they can better understand the 24 and *** in the city on tv

[3rdMillhouse]

Ah cry me a river, it's evolution applied to cultures, some will die eventually.

[custodes]

What Hollis said about the world influencing America is true. We are influenced by every culture we come into contact with.We do not become that culture,but,we pick up traits from them.

Our culture is a melting pot. We pick up language from other cultures. English itself is ready to absorb words from anywhere. Many people visit here.People come here and we learn from them.

What folks see as American culture, is bits and pieces from everywhere. Food words come in first.Then political ideas. Cultures mix together here and then spreads out from movies,TV,mags,music, etc... One can't expect our culture to turn completely into another culture. We will add things though.

Russians had a communist revolution almost 100 years ago and we are still arguing over it. Chinese food,deemed exotic in the 1960s is a staple here now.Or our version of it. We have learned from Chinese martial arts, and in some instances kept versions of it alive, while it was illegal in the country of its' origin until they could reclaim it.

We have Thai,Vietnamese,Japanese,Indian,Pakistani,Polish,German,Korean,French,Spanish,Italian, Lebanese,Turkish restaurants (etc)all within 5 miles of my house. Foreign movies and cable galore. No one is ever happy with compromise. Not even us.

These people who have lost their language and culture.It is sad. It is news. But,it is inevitable. We remember them today. Someday this will all be gone. The future will be completely unrecognizable to us today. Language-wise. Culture-wise. Things are moving faster and faster.And it is not going to stop.

[custodes]

Well... if you can name me what Germany as example can offer on movies or music? Beside some comedies, all other movies are crap. Music isnt really better either. You hear some german songs, yes, but mostly you still hear US, its not like middle and upper class are much different from the rest - they dont hear rap, but they hear the rest. Movies are wathed by all classes, it would be new to me, that middle class doesnt watch hollywood movies. Dont forget about 24, *** and the City and rest of it. Germany doesnt have ANYTHING good in this sector.

But ye Germany has one thing that isnt going to be americanized and that is for all classes: Oktoberfest! Damn i love it.

Alex G: You may not recognize it but,German influence is everywhere in our popular culture. Germany is probably the most inportant early influence on film and Hollywood. Fritz Lang etc.. Set contruction,camera work,poster ideas and more.

PS: Let's not forget frankfurters,sour kraut and Bud. You may not like ours but, it is everywhere.:lol:

[Alex G]

Alex G: You may not recognize it but,German influence is everywhere in our popular culture. Germany is probably the most inportant early influence on film and Hollywood. Fritz Lang etc.. Set contruction,camera work,poster ideas and more.

PS: Let's not forget frankfurters,sour kraut and Bud. You may not like ours but, it is everywhere.:lol:

Ye, biggest export - Uwe Boll. Joke aside - ye Germans do influence US movies, but they work in or for hollywood movies, german ones at the same time are mostly total crap. And germans DID influence US movie industry just to make it more influential on german culture in return. And look - it were germans to invent cars, it was Ford to make it mass product.

[Ordie]

The loss of a single language and culture is a loss to humanity at large.

The reason why America is exceptional is that we have a live and let live attitude when it comes to customs, cultures, religion and norms. We have no official language, religion, or history. English is the prevailing language but no one is forcing anyone to speak it. People are motivated to learn English for greater economic opportunities. But no one tells them to not speak their native language or not to wear a head scarf or not.

Immigrants have a fresh start, the freedom to fail, and the freedom from obligated servitude. They cut off thier historical baggage and rivalries. I like being around immigrants in the USA because they are the most optimistic people on earth despite the odds.

Individual acculturation and assimilation happens with the first generation. Even then one is exposed to other incoming cultures or previous cultures.

China strives for unity at the expence of local cultures and languages.
Europe is fixated on regionalism, nationalism at the expense of allowing new immigrant cultures and norms to filter in.
Japan is so racially fixated that it does not allow multi generational acculturated Koreans and Chinese from becoming full members of their society.

Because of these cultural inflexibilities, these countries and regions will not grow.

America will. (along with Brazil)

[Noons86]

Makes you wonder. If you kill someone, and that person also happened to be the last member of a distinct culture or ethnicity, does that mean you've committed genocide?

[custodes]

Remember Esperanto? It was an early-mid 20th century language,put together to represent many languages as a universal language. Pushed by many UN enthusiasts and Science Fiction first fandom. I know a few people who still speak it.:roll:

[hughdotoh]

Most of the dying languages have no written tradition. Bad enough that he never got into a written script, worse is that for every generation that speaks the language, it will inevitably have changes as habits become rules. This is true enough even for languages with a written script (Latin is now Spanish, Italian, French, etc.).

So When Andamanese is said to be totally extinct, I doubt it. Some form of Andamanese has died, but it has survived as another form elsewhere. It sure isn't the Andamanese of so many centuries ago.

How to preserve language? Get into writing it down, in some common script or other.

[Siddar]

Having fewer languages in the world is actually a good thing.

That may offend some but its the truth.

[custodes]

Having fewer languages in the world is actually a good thing.

That may offend some but its the truth.


The Tower of Babel they knew what they were after,
they knew what they were after.....

[Ordie]

Having fewer languages in the world is actually a good thing.

The world would be a boring place if it were.

[custodes]

woot
The world would be a boring place if it were.


Yeah,you haven't lived 'til you've been in a conversation at a party with folks from Puerto Rico,Spain,the States,Japan,Cuba and Argentina all trying to speak Spanish,while in their cups.

<What do you mean Pinga? What does a little man have to do with it?>

[nemowork]

Is it odd that this whole subject makes me want to go read sherlock Holmes 'the sign of four' again?

[pg_ord]

The world would be a boring place if it were.
Variety is the spice of life. :-)

[custodes]

Is it odd that this whole subject makes me want to go read sherlock Holmes 'the sign of four' again?

Hey,any excuse to read old favorites. Maybe Watson learned a few lines of Bo?

[SpankyMcCollins]

Think exterminated is not the right word for this.

[HollywoodMarine]

+1

True... I would go with either extinct, ended, disappeared, vanished, extinguished.

[pg_ord]

Think exterminated is not the right word for this.
Yeah...it sounds like bunch of Indians from mainland invaded the island and imposed their language....but which one? p-)

[custodes]

Think exterminated is not the right word for this.

I agree. Ordie thread titles can be a bit melodramatic and excitable.
That is how he hooks you in. Yellow journalism. And now you are trapped!p-)

[bababooey]

At least we have McDonalds to unite us and the super value meal to feed us.

We went to Turkey and were shocked to see a McDonalds amongst the bazaar.

My uncle who lived in Buenos Aires in the Peron days visited there in 2004, was shocked to see McDonalds all over.

[custodes]

+1

True... I would go with either extinct, ended, disappeared, vanished, extinguished.

Defunct? Nonextant?

[custodes]

At least we have McDonalds to unite us and the super value meal to feed us.

We went to Turkey and were shocked to see a McDonalds amongst the bazaar.

My uncle who lived in Buenos Aires in the Peron days visited there in 2004, was shocked to see McDonalds all over.


Exotic food indeed. Maybe they can add a McAndaman Burger?

But,really. Having a McDonalds is a sign you are an international city nowadays.

[pg_ord]

But,really. Having a McDonalds is a sign you are an international city nowadays.
x2 to that...
Here is a nice Op-Ed on the issue of Cultural Hegemony.
http://www.beginningwithi.com/oped/culture.htm

A popular meme in American consciousness is cultural hegemony: the idea that American culture, as represented in widely-exported American movies, TV shows, fast-food restaurants, and brands, is overwhelming the traditional cultures of other countries. The fear is that this will eventually result in a sadly homogenized world in which everyone abandons their own customary foods and entertainments to eat at MacDonald's and listen to hip-hop.
The first is that it's arrogant. It is true that American popular culture is widely consumed worldwide. This is not simply because American media companies are good at selling their products - no one is forcing people to watch American shows. In many countries, local cinemas and TV stations show American stuff because their customers want to see it. Some governments work hard to censor what their people see, for political or religious/cultural reasons (or both). Nonetheless, their citizens often go to great lengths, sometimes breaking the law, to obtain and consume American media. It's not being forced on them by those evil capitalists in Hollywood.
The cultural hegemony argument is also a subtle put-down of other cultures: it assumes that they are so weak or ignorant that they cannot be trusted to decide for themselves what they should see and hear. That these people should, "for their own good," be protected from invasive American culture, so that their "native" cultures will be preserved.
(Aside: Preserved for what? As a quaint playground for American tourists who want the "authentic" experience when they travel in other countries?)
The second problem with the theory of cultural hegemony is that it's simply not true. I've been in many parts of the world and, while you do see signs of American/ Western culture everywhere, most people value their own cultures and work actively to preserve them, consuming local media, food, etc. alongside whatever foreign stuff they like.

India is a great example of a society which needs no special measures to preserve its traditional culture - unlike, say, France (said she mischievously). Indians love TV, and have plenty of it: at least two or three channels for every major language (of which India has 14 or 15, including English), and at least one each for Muslims, Christians, Jains, and Sikhs (probably Buddhists as well, though I didn't see this), plus one for each of the major branches of Hinduism. In addition to news and worship, there are channels dedicated to Indian-produced TV series and movies, and channels of Indian music videos. A few channels show imported TV, movies, and music, plus CNN International/Asia and BBC World, but these are vastly outnumbered by local fare - no case to be made there for Western culture overwhelming India! Which is hardly surprising: India has been absorbing and subsuming foreign cultures for 3000 years.

So, the next time you get worried about American culture taking over the world, look around you. If you can't get to a foreign country to see what's actually happening there, just look at your American hometown: how many "ethnic" restaurants do you have? And what is American culture itself, but a rich soup of the many cultures that Americans originally came from?

I agree with the author... it is a two way street. ;-)

[custodes]

x2 to that...
Here is a nice Op-Ed on the issue of Cultural Hegemony.
http://www.beginningwithi.com/oped/culture.htm

I agree with the author... it is a two way street. ;-)


We all psycho-analyze each other from time to time. Maybe we've just had too much coffee. Personally, I need a bit of difference in my life. Life is boring without variety. If I get condescending sometimes.....sorry. I imagine about 100 languages in India. Only 15?


Wait...I saw a "she" in there. :roll:

[IconOfEvi]

I don't really see what the problem is. Its cultural shifts. They happen. This has been happening since humans were around.

Ignoring that point, they haven't really done any service to history. They haven't done one act that I can recall that influenced the world in some way. Therefore, their legacy is thus.

EDIT - on drinking, East Asians are probably the funniest. All the respect and such goes out the window, and they drink like monsters

[pg_ord]

We all psycho-analyze each other from time to time. Maybe we've just had too much coffee. Personally, I need a bit of difference in my life. Life is boring without variety. If I get condescending sometimes.....sorry. I imagine about 100 languages in India. Only 15?


She probably talks about official languages...which is actually 22 but those are nominated by individual states...
http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=India

Republic of India, Bharat. 1,134,403,000. Indo-Aryan 777,361,000, 76%; Dravidian 216,635,000, 21.6%; Austro-Asiatic 12,250,000, 1.2%; Tibeto-Burman 10,350,000, 1%; Other 2,468,600, Below 1%. National or official languages: Hindi and English. 22 official ‘scheduled’ languages: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Marathi, Meitei, Nepali, Oriya, Eastern Panjabi, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu. Literacy rate: 65%; males 75%, females 54% (2001 census). Immigrant languages: Armenian (500), Burushaski, Judeo-Iraqi Arabic, Northern Pashto (15,000), Uyghur, Walungge, Western Farsi (18,000). Also includes Arabic, Chinese. Information mainly from G. Marrison 1967; R. Hugoniot 1970; C. Masica 1991; K. S. Singh 1994, 1995; J. Matisoff, S. Baron, and J. Lowe 1996; R. Breton 1997; R. Burling 1998. Blind population: 9,000,000. Deaf population: 9,400,000 to 14,000,000 (2001). Deaf institutions: 850. The number of individual languages listed for India is 452. Of those, 438 are living languages and 14 have no known speakers.

[Rictor]

Wade Davis gives an excellent talk on the value of cultures and languages exactly such as this one:
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/wade_davis_on_endangered_cultures.html

"To the people who say that we should all speak one langauge, I say: great! But how about we make that language Swahili."

[Ordie]

I don't really see what the problem is. Its cultural shifts.

Each individual island is a world of its own. Each with its own people, family, experiences, narratives, religion and languages.

The loss of a language on these island is as if these people never existed.

[Hollis]

It is a rough call, at what point do we shackle ourselves to the past at the cost of our future? Preservation for preservation sake, probably is a negative but not as bad as wanted destruction of our history.

[IconOfEvi]

But Ordie, as they have made no even insignificant contribution to history, it really doesn't matter whether they existed or not in the first place.

English is the predominant language because its use only grows daily. The people who spoke it are numerous, famous, life changing. Can you even name me one accomplishment these say...Andaman's ever did? How did they change your life in any significant way? If you hadn't stumbled onto the news post, you would have never known who this tribe was, let alone that its last native speaker died. They were dead to you a long time ago.

[Ordie]

But Ordie, as they have made no even insignificant contribution to history

Have you contributed anything historical?

[hulaku]

But Ordie, as they have made no even insignificant contribution to history, it really doesn't matter whether they existed or not in the first place.

English is the predominant language because its use only grows daily. The people who spoke it are numerous, famous, life changing. Can you even name me one accomplishment these say...Andaman's ever did? How did they change your life in any significant way? If you hadn't stumbled onto the news post, you would have never known who this tribe was, let alone that its last native speaker died. They were dead to you a long time ago.

Quoted for stupidity:cantbeli:

[JBH22]

But Ordie, as they have made no even insignificant contribution to history, it really doesn't matter whether they existed or not in the first place.

English is the predominant language because its use only grows daily. The people who spoke it are numerous, famous, life changing. Can you even name me one accomplishment these say...Andaman's ever did? How did they change your life in any significant way? If you hadn't stumbled onto the news post, you would have never known who this tribe was, let alone that its last native speaker died. They were dead to you a long time ago.

The world is not limited to english language if i were in the same state of mind like you then i would not have learnt english,french..
Learning about other culture,language is a good way of opening one's mind do not always believe that only your language or culture is superior there's always something to learn from others too...

[acosta]

But Ordie, as they have made no even insignificant contribution to history, it really doesn't matter whether they existed or not in the first place.

English is the predominant language because its use only grows daily. The people who spoke it are numerous, famous, life changing. Can you even name me one accomplishment these say...Andaman's ever did? How did they change your life in any significant way? If you hadn't stumbled onto the news post, you would have never known who this tribe was, let alone that its last native speaker died. They were dead to you a long time ago.

it rings a bell to me, something of specter in WWII.

just because they are insignificant doesn't mean they should be exterminated. nature is created for all of us, all living things, not for those who contribute.

[IconOfEvi]

I was using English as an example. Really, though, it applies to any language still spoken actively by a multitude of people.

And you guys are missing my point. They exterminated themselves.

[Rictor]

True - the world is not obligated to preserve a certain language past its "natural expiration date". But I would argue that it is in our best interest to do so, that it enriches human history and human experience.

However, to say that small and obscure cultures contributed nothing to the world simply wrong. The concept of zero comes from a culture that is nearly extinct (Mayans). Monotheism comes from a culture that is nearly extinct (Zoroastrianism). Remember that Christianity was at one point a small sect of Middle Eastern mystics, on the very edge of survival. Before Muhammed became the founder or Islam, he was considered to be a messianic lunatic by many of his peers.

[custodes]

She probably talks about official languages...which is actually 22 but those are nominated by individual states...
http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=India

No wonder they use English as a cultural joiner.

I had a teacher from Java... I think....been years. He said one needed to learn 3 languages to be literate in Java. One spoken by each of the 3 class groups. You speak your own class-language but,must understand the other two as well to communicate.

[seraosha]

Social Darwinism in action.

It's not about right and wrong, it's about the ability to adapt and thrive in environments different than where a social/cultural construct developed.
Coca Cola and Levi's...and the Borg ;)

[IconOfEvi]

But Rictor - thats my point. You have to get to the point where you have something to show for it. As you cited, many great things come out of small or near extinct cultures (and no zero is an Indian concept, but then again, zero might as well have been a spontaneously developed concept). Many that were small became great. But thats my point - even if you die out, you have something to show that you were here, that you existed.

When these tribes go, they will have no record that they ever existed, except as documented by others. Its more sad, really.

[pg_ord]

No wonder they use English as a cultural joiner.

I had a teacher from Java... I think....been years. He said one needed to learn 3 languages to be literate in Java. One spoken by each of the 3 class groups. You speak your own class-language but,must understand the other two as well to communicate.
Yes you can see the impact it has on the new generation of Indians...especially the south(I am a southerner) ....... They all come from different linguistic/cultural/religious backgrounds.......
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Are-we-losing-mother-tongue-/articleshow/5729796.cms

The phenomenon is more visible in the south, where the absence of a link language - unlike Hindi in the north - means that outside of the home, conversation amongst friends and colleagues , in relatively affluent quarters, is entirely in English. This is not to say they don’t know other languages. Most Kannadigas or Malayalis follow Tamil (it’s not necessarily the other way round) but English is the language of choice for conversation.

Kids in big, southern city schools are likely to speak different languages at home: Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Tulu, Kodava, Konkani, Urdu, Deccani. But they can only converse among themselves in English. And because English is the language of the peer group and also the medium of instruction, they tend to think of it as the preferred language.

Alice Mathew, a lecturer in Mount Carmel College, initially tried to speak to her son in Malayalam but he wouldn’t react. "Even if he tries to speak Malayalam, it’s anglicised," she says. "When we visit Kerala, he makes an effort to speak in Malayalam but ends up speaking in English." Her colleague, Lekha George, a botany lecturer, shares the same "problem" . Though she tries her best to speak to her three-year-old old son in Malayalam, her husband and babysitter both speak to him in English. "He has picked up a few words in Malayalam but mostly he speaks English. I am very keen that he learns his mother tongue," she says hopefully.

[custodes]

Sometimes I feel like every life really matters.Their pain,their thoughts.And other times,I wonder at the futility of it all. This will all be gone someday.The planet,the solar system,the galaxy and even the universe. The sun burning out. Andromeda charging down to collide with the Milky Way...

In the past,warriors who died in battle rested forever where they lay. They were not buried,they were not remembered.The British started memorials to their war dead. Their poets wrote of their feelings of war and of their men rotting forever in a foreign land. First memorials to the wars and then to the battles. Now we try to remember every name or every death on stone or bronze. Following the Viet Nam War Memorial style in DC.

Our gravestones hardly last a few hundred years though. We dig 'em up and throw 'em out. They are in our way.Who really cares? At most we influence a few generations and then are gone for good.No one remembering. Nothing will ever be remembered. Nothing. Certainly not the pitiful words we write on this site. So does anything really matter. Bo has gone before us. It is sad. Remember them for posterity.

How fast paced will the future be? Lists of dead cultures on some intergalactic newsweb.

"Earth was listed today" said the intelligent virus.

"So that WAS a real place" responded its' mate, a sentient machine.:-(