The Jarawa people were around when the Egyptian pyramids were built and today continue to live the same way they have been for 55 000 years in the Andaman Islands in India.
The name "Jarawa" means hospitable, and is used in a region where names are also reputation. According to ancient seafarers, the Indian tribe was not that hospitable at all. Some written records even accused them of cannibalism.
The first person to provide a description of them was the explorer Marco Polo. He described them as having the heads of dogs and that, just like other uncivilized tribes, they lived quite primitively.
Today, the Jarawa people describe themselves as ones who drink when they're happy and they often find reasons to be happy. The fact that they are living in isolation from the modern world is blatantly obvious in their habits - the way they hunt, prepare their food and the tools they use.
They make their own makeup and jewelry, for the purpose of standing out from other members of the Jarawa tribe. But the discovery of this tribe has also led to their use of modern items. They now use mirrors when they put makeup on, as well as candles when it's dark outside.
Jarawa has in fact turned into a tourist attraction. Even though it's technically illegal, there are a number of organized groups for tourists who want to see the ancient tribe with their own eyes and take some pictures with them.
In the past, the tribe suffered inhumane exploitation in the form of the human zoo, where dozens of members of Jarawa were kidnapped, put in cages and put on display to the Europeans as if they were animals.
They were also victims of so-called "human hunting", where they were chased by hunters and forced to defend themselves with nothing but bow and arrow, versus the hunters' guns.
But today, Jarawa is threatened solely by modern society. Their population has dropped noticeably, while the efforts to "civilize" them have become ever more aggressive, even though they do not wish to change their lifestyle.
