16. IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH

At the present time it is no longer possible to obtain full and satisfactory information on this subject. Most of the old oko-jumu and oko-paiad are now dead. Amongst the younger men there are a few who pretend to the position, but the recent intercourse with foreigners has produced a degree of skepticism in such matters that makes it difficult or nearly impossible to obtain any reliable information as to the former beliefs from any but the very old men. To this difficulty must be added that in talking to some of the very few old men who could have given more valuable information I had to make use of an interpreter, and though they might have been willing to confide to me some of the secrets of their profession they would not do so before a younger man of their own race.

We are here interested primarily in the medical aspects of medicine men, although it must be borne in mind that such a separation of functions would seem alien to a primitive traditional society. Andamanese medicine men were seers, people in contact with the spirits. Their medical functions were incidental: they did not administer medicines, boil potions or carry out surgical procedures. Their function was, as we would say today, psychological and religious, they inspired confidence and gave advice. The Andamanese believed that in their dreams the medicine men and women could communicate with spirits and that they could persuade them to cure a sick person or to make a healthy one sick.

We have already mentioned that within the local groups, the sick, the children, the helpless, all received the best care that could be provided for them. It has been claimed that the absence of abortion or infanticide among Andamanese should be interpreted a sign of high ethical standards. This surely over-stretches a point. The generally low birth rate made any surviving baby a treasured addition to its local groups.

Pregnancy was an important and joyful time in the life of an Andamanese woman. During pregnancy, the women eat in moderation, but delight in as great a variety of food as possible, telling their husbands day by day what to procure for them; they are also in the habit of taking as much active exercise as possible... When about to be confined, the custom is for the husband, and some of the woman's female friends, to attend on her; she is placed in a sitting posture, the left leg is stretched out, and the right knee brought up, so as to enable her to clasp it with her arms. Her husband supports her back and presses her as desired, while her female friends hold a leaf screen over the lower part of her person, and assist her, to the best of their ability, in the delivery and in the removal of the after-birth; the umbilical cord is severed by means of a Cyrena shell (now a steel blade is often used), and when the infant has been washed in cold water, its skin is gently scraped with the shell. Publicity is not courted on these occasions, as has been asserted, but all, save those whose services are required, continue their occupations as usual. Soon after the delivery, some warm water is given to the woman to drink; she is also fed some meat-gravy; after a time, should she desire it, fish, shell-fish, yams, or fruit are given her, but not meat. During the first two or three days, she remains in a sitting posture, propped up by articles arranged so as to form a couch. As might be supposed, from the active habits and unsophisticated manners of these people, their women rarely suffer much during labor and child-birth; in fact, no instances of difficult delivery are known.

A birth among all Andamanese groups was and still is a joyful and sadly uncommon occasion, surrounded by many traditions and some ritual. As usual among primitive people, the normal position of giving birth was the squat or the sitting position described above.

For tens of thousands of years the ancestors of the Negritos have lived in the jungles of Southeast Asia in areas extremely rich in medicinally-relevant plant species. It is not surprising to find that the Andamanese had a profound and intimate knowledge of the plant life surrounding them. Unfortunately, hardly any of this knowledge has come down to us. It is not that they kept their knowledge secret but that outside observers were so convinced of the immeasurable superiority of their own 19th and 20th century medicine that they too often failed to inquire.

The medicinal properties of the Andamanese flora today remain largely uninvestigated. As the international drug companies discover the pharmaceutical treasure chests that are the tropical forests of the world and as their teams are swarming out all over the world with astonishing success, it would perhaps be a good idea for the Indians to do likewise and not wait until the last jungle areas in the Andamans have been cut down by cut-and-slash farmers, loggers and coconut planters.

In the Philippines, the Aeta Negrito were held in awe for their medical skills until the early 20th century. The Andamanese had no neighbors to hold them in awe and among the Indian convicts and British jailers their skills in this respect were not in demand. Their knowledge of medicinal plants is lost and will have to be acquired laboriously from scratch again.

Surgery took second place to the application of medicines. Such procedures as are known to have been used were limited to the treatment of open wounds, the setting of broken bones and scarification. There was no circumcision, amputation of limbs or deliberate deformation of body parts.

Bandages of leaves were applied to wounds, ulcers, fractures, sprains and bruises. Before being bandaged, open wounds were washed out with hot water poured from a shell. The same shell is then applied to the wound as hot as possible to cauterize it. For lighter wounds, sea bathing was regarded as helpful to recovery. Among all Negrito groups, the Aeta and Semang as well as the Andamanese, a saltless diet was required during treatment.

Scarification is often confused with tattooing. Although they are different techniques, they may go back to similar origins and are related to body painting. Scarification may well be a forerunner of tattooing and as such of very considerable antiquity. Tattooing (the introduction of coloring into skin layers) was not known among the Andamanese whereas scarification (the cutting of the skin with subsequent development of scar tissue, with the issue sometimes colored) was widely practiced, both for decorative/religious as well as for medical purposes. The two purposes overlap and cannot be neatly separated. An attempt has been made to distinguish the "medical deep cut" from the decorative "shallow cut" but from the available evidence it is not clear if this distinction is valid.

In medical scarification the skin was originally cut with quartz splinters, later glass shards were used whenever available. Along with scarification, a variety of medications was also used, herbal teas, hot packages, massage and other treatments chiefly designed to relieve pain. Rheumatic and arthritic pains, toothaches, ear aches, headaches, all kinds of swellings and even some epileptic fits were treated in this way, after the chauga-ta (a charm made of human bones) had not brought relief. Boils were scarified by cutting all around the swelling and afterward bathing it in chu-lnga.