SOUTH ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIAN OCEAN

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This rare single-stave, paddle-shaped bow is found in the southern Andaman Islands and is made by the indigenous Jarawa people. These bows are highly prized by collectors for their pure and beautiful forms.

While the Jarawa people’s genetic history in the region is thought to stretch back at least 60,000 years, this group is currently on the verge of disappearance and is designated by the Indian government as a ‘heritage tribe.’ The Jarawa population was abruptly devastated in the 1870s due to diseases brought by British colonists, after which they withdrew deeper into the forests. Their reclusive way of life prevents a certain accounting of their numbers, but in the 1950’s it was estimated their population was around 700, and in the present day it is even fewer.

The Andaman bow is composed of a pair of tapering paddle shapes joined by a narrow handle in the center. First cutting the piece to a roughly finished state with an adze, the bow-maker would refine and thin down the surface and silhouette with a sharpened boar tusk. Once smoothed out, the bow was sometimes adorned with dogtooth patterns and waxed. The terminals of the bow were wrapped with cord to create a catch point for the bowstring, which itself was made of hand-rolled fiber. Arrows were made of bamboo with a foreshaft of hardwood, a technique also seen in the Pacific Islands.

It is unknown how the double-paddle shape of this type of bow originated. It is not entirely unique to the Andaman Islands, however; similar shapes have occasionally been found among the native peoples of Oregon, as well as the composite bows of Alaskan communities. An important and distinguishing characteristic of both the Andaman and the Oregon types is that they are reflex bows, bending the opposite direction of their resting curve when drawn.

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