It is amazing to see the Onge tribe’s ethnobotanical expertise. Lidio Cipriani, an Italian anthropologist, was the first to recognize this Onge heritage. He wrote that the Onges had acquired a vast amount of botanical and zoological knowledge in their continuous search for food. They also know about properties of animals and plants which are completely unknown to us. This information is found nearly every day in Little Andaman. I only had to draw an outline of an animal. They knew exactly where it could find me.

To repel bees, the beekeepers use the leaves and stems of a plant called Tonjoghe. Cipriani says ‘… a juice from a particular plant called tonjoghe… is effective in deterring bees. They are reduced quickly to a greenish pulp by vigorous chewing. Two fishermen from Dugong Creek were sent by the Fisheries Department to teach Onge fishing techniques a few years ago. The fishermen later admitted they learned a lot from the tribals about fishing on the islands’ waters. In a more recent controversy, senior Indian Council of Medical Research members tried to patent a finding that could help with cerebral malaria. International attention was drawn to the issue. The medicine is from a plant the Onge used to treat stomach and fever disorders. It is still unknown how much wealth lies on the island of the Onge. Importantly, the Onge People may not survive the current situation and will lose a lot of their valuable knowledge.