Negrito
Encyclopedia
The Negrito are a class of several ethnic groups who inhabit isolated parts of Southeast Asia
.
Their current populations include 12 Andamanese
peoples of the Andaman Islands
, six Semang
peoples of Malaysia, the Mani
of Thailand
, and the Aeta
, Agta, Ati, and 30 other peoples of the Philippines. Reports from British traders also speak of negrito people on Borneo (Sarawak). (Journal of the Malayan Branch Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. XXIX, part 1, 1956)
Negritos share some common physical features with African pygmy populations, including short stature, natural afro-hair
texture, and dark skin; however, their origin and the route of their migration to Asia is still a matter of great speculation. They are the most genetically distant human population from Africans at most loci studied thus far (except for MC1R, which codes for dark skin).
They have also been shown to have separated early from Asians, suggesting that they are either surviving descendants of settlers from an early migration out of Africa, commonly referred to as the Proto-Australoid
s, or that they are descendants of one of the founder populations of modern humans.
diminutive
of negro
, i.e. "little black person", referring to their small stature, and was coined by early European explorers.
Occasionally, some Negritos are referred to as pygmies
, bundling them with peoples of similar physical stature in Central Africa, and likewise, the term Negrito was previously occasionally used to refer to African Pygmies.
term for them is orang asli
, or original people.
They are likely descendants of the indigenous Australoid populations of the Sunda landmass
and New Guinea, predating the Austronesian Mongoloid peoples who later entered Southeast Asia.
Alternatively, some scientists claim they are merely a group of Australo-Melanesians who have undergone island dwarfing over thousands of years, reducing their food intake in order to cope with limited resources and adapt to a tropical rainforest environment.
Anthropologist Jared Diamond
in his bestselling book, Guns, Germs, and Steel
suggests that the Negritos are possible ancestors of the Aboriginal Australians and Papuans of New Guinea
, groups regarded as Australoid.
A number of features would seem to suggest a common origin for the Negritos and African pygmies
, especially in the Andamanese
Islanders who have been isolated from incoming waves of Asiatic and Indo-Aryan peoples. No other living human population has experienced such long-lasting isolation from contact with other groups.
These features include short stature, very dark skin, woolly hair, scant body hair and occasional steatopygia
. The claim that Andamanese pygmoids more closely resemble Africans than Asians in their cranial morphology in a 1973 study added some weight to this theory before genetic studies pointed to a closer relationship with Asians.
Other more recent studies have shown closer craniometric affinities to Egyptians and Europeans than to Sub Saharan populations such as that of African Pygmies. Walter Neves' study of the Lagoa Santa people had the incidental correlation of showing Andamanese as classifying closer to Egyptians and Europeans than any Sub Saharan population.
Multiple studies also show that Negritos from Southeast Asia to New Guinea share a closer cranial affinity with Australo-Melanesians
. Further evidence for Asian ancestry is in craniometric markers such as sundadonty, shared by Asian and Negrito populations.
It has been suggested that the craniometric similarities to Asians could merely indicate a level of interbreeding between Negritos and later waves of people arriving from the Asian mainland. This hypothesis is not supported by genetic evidence that has shown the level of isolation populations such as the Andamanese have had.
However, some studies have suggested that each group should be considered separately, as the genetic evidence refutes the notion of a specific shared ancestry between the "Negrito" groups of the Andaman Islands, Malay Peninsula, and Philippines.
While earlier studies, such as that of WW Howell, allied Andamanese craniometrically with Africans, they did not have recourse to genetic studies. Later genetic and craniometric (mentioned earlier) studies have found more genetic affinities with Asians and Polynesians.
A study on blood groups and proteins in the 1950s suggested that the Andamanese
were more closely related to Oceanic peoples than Africans. Genetic studies on Philippine Negritos, based on polymorphic blood enzymes and antigens, showed they were similar to surrounding Asian populations.
Genetic testing places all the Onge and all but two of the Great Andamanese in the mtDNA Haplogroup M
, found in East Africa, East Asia, and South Asia, suggesting that the Negritos are at least partly descended from a migration originating in eastern Africa as much as 60,000 years ago. This migration is hypothesized to have followed a coastal route through India and into Southeast Asia, which is sometimes referred to as the Great Coastal Migration.
Analysis of mtDNA coding sites indicated that these Andamanese fall into a subgroup of M not previously identified in human populations in Africa and Asia. These findings suggest an early split from the population of African migrants whose descendants would eventually populate the entire habitable world. Haplogroup C
and haplogroup D
is believed to represent Y-DNA in the migration.
, where they were called the "Little Black People". Apart from being short-statured, they were also said to be broad-nosed and dark-skinned with curly hair. The little black population shrank to the point up to 100 years ago only one small group lived near the Saisiyat tribe. A festival celebrated by the Saisiyat gives evidence to their formal habitation of Taiwan. The Saisiyat tribe celebrate the black people in a festival called Ritual of the Little Black People
(矮靈祭).
After the negritos on Taiwan, thousands of years before any Han came to Taiwan in 1600, the Aboriginal Austronesians moved into Taiwan. Estimates of their arrival date from 6,000-1,000 years ago from the Malay Archipelago
, although it is controversial. Chinese historians called them "black dwarfs" in the Three Kingdoms period (AD 220 to AD 280) and they were still to be found in China during the Qing dynasty (1644 to 1911). There are other stories about them in other aboriginals and some archeological sites are attributed to them.
According to James J.Y. Liu, a professor of comparative literature, the Chinese term Kun-lun
means Negrito. There are many stories about them. Shandao
, Geji (戈基), Juho
, Wa
and Koro-pok-guru
peoples, are also said to be pygmies. Haplogroup D (Y-DNA)
are found frequently among some peoples living in the same area. In China, stone coffins were used by these peoples.
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
.
Their current populations include 12 Andamanese
Andamanese
The Andamanese people are the various aboriginal inhabitants of the Andaman Islands, which is the northern district of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands union territory of India, located in the southeastern part of the Bay of Bengal. They include the Great Andamanese, Jarawa, Onge, Sentinelese, and...
peoples of the Andaman Islands
Andaman Islands
The Andaman Islands are a group of Indian Ocean archipelagic islands in the Bay of Bengal between India to the west, and Burma , to the north and east...
, six Semang
Semang
The Semang are a Negrito ethnic group of the Malay Peninsula. Lowland Semang tribes are also known as Sakai, although this term is considered to be derogatory by the Semang people. They are probably the indigenous peoples of this area. They have been recorded to have lived here since before the...
peoples of Malaysia, the Mani
Mani people
The Maniq are an ethnic group of Thailand. They are the only Negrito group in Thailand and speak Maniq , a Mon–Khmer language in the Aslian language group...
of Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, and the Aeta
Aeta
The Aeta , Agta or Ayta are an indigenous people who live in scattered, isolated mountainous parts of Luzon, Philippines. They are considered to be Negritos, who are dark to very dark brown-skinned and tend to have features such as a small stature, small frame, curly to kinky afro-like textured...
, Agta, Ati, and 30 other peoples of the Philippines. Reports from British traders also speak of negrito people on Borneo (Sarawak). (Journal of the Malayan Branch Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. XXIX, part 1, 1956)
Negritos share some common physical features with African pygmy populations, including short stature, natural afro-hair
Natural afro-hair
Afro-textured hair is a term used to refer to the natural texture of Black African hair that has not been altered by hot combs, flat irons, or chemicals ....
texture, and dark skin; however, their origin and the route of their migration to Asia is still a matter of great speculation. They are the most genetically distant human population from Africans at most loci studied thus far (except for MC1R, which codes for dark skin).
They have also been shown to have separated early from Asians, suggesting that they are either surviving descendants of settlers from an early migration out of Africa, commonly referred to as the Proto-Australoid
Proto-Australoid
The Proto-Australoids are a hypothesized group of ancient hunter-gather people descended from the first major wave of modern humans to leave sub-Saharan Africa ~100,000 years ago...
s, or that they are descendants of one of the founder populations of modern humans.
Etymology
The term "Negrito" is the SpanishSpanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
diminutive
Diminutive
In language structure, a diminutive, or diminutive form , is a formation of a word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning, smallness of the object or quality named, encapsulation, intimacy, or endearment...
of negro
Negro
The word Negro is used in the English-speaking world to refer to a person of black ancestry or appearance, whether of African descent or not...
, i.e. "little black person", referring to their small stature, and was coined by early European explorers.
Occasionally, some Negritos are referred to as pygmies
Pygmy
Pygmy is a term used for various ethnic groups worldwide whose average height is unusually short; anthropologists define pygmy as any group whose adult men grow to less than 150 cm in average height. A member of a slightly taller group is termed "pygmoid." The best known pygmies are the Aka,...
, bundling them with peoples of similar physical stature in Central Africa, and likewise, the term Negrito was previously occasionally used to refer to African Pygmies.
Origins
Being among the least-known of all living human groups, the origins of the Negrito people is a much debated topic. The MalayMalay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
term for them is orang asli
Orang Asli
Orang Asli , is a generic Malaysian term used for people indigenous to Peninsular Malaysia...
, or original people.
They are likely descendants of the indigenous Australoid populations of the Sunda landmass
Sundaland
Sundaland is a biogeographical region of Southeastern Asia which encompasses the areas of the Asian continental shelf that was exposed during the last ice age. It included the Malay Peninsula on the Asian mainland, as well as the large islands of Borneo, Java, and Sumatra and their surrounding...
and New Guinea, predating the Austronesian Mongoloid peoples who later entered Southeast Asia.
Alternatively, some scientists claim they are merely a group of Australo-Melanesians who have undergone island dwarfing over thousands of years, reducing their food intake in order to cope with limited resources and adapt to a tropical rainforest environment.
Anthropologist Jared Diamond
Jared Diamond
Jared Mason Diamond is an American scientist and author whose work draws from a variety of fields. He is currently Professor of Geography and Physiology at UCLA...
in his bestselling book, Guns, Germs, and Steel
Guns, Germs, and Steel
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies is a 1997 book by Jared Diamond, professor of geography and physiology at the University of California, Los Angeles . In 1998 it won the Pulitzer Prize for general non-fiction and the Aventis Prize for Best Science Book...
suggests that the Negritos are possible ancestors of the Aboriginal Australians and Papuans of New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, groups regarded as Australoid.
A number of features would seem to suggest a common origin for the Negritos and African pygmies
Pygmy
Pygmy is a term used for various ethnic groups worldwide whose average height is unusually short; anthropologists define pygmy as any group whose adult men grow to less than 150 cm in average height. A member of a slightly taller group is termed "pygmoid." The best known pygmies are the Aka,...
, especially in the Andamanese
Andamanese
The Andamanese people are the various aboriginal inhabitants of the Andaman Islands, which is the northern district of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands union territory of India, located in the southeastern part of the Bay of Bengal. They include the Great Andamanese, Jarawa, Onge, Sentinelese, and...
Islanders who have been isolated from incoming waves of Asiatic and Indo-Aryan peoples. No other living human population has experienced such long-lasting isolation from contact with other groups.
These features include short stature, very dark skin, woolly hair, scant body hair and occasional steatopygia
Steatopygia
Steatopygia is a high degree of fat accumulation in and around the buttocks. The deposit of fat is not confined to the gluteal regions, but extends to the outside and front of the thighs, forming a thick layer reaching sometimes to the knee.- History :...
. The claim that Andamanese pygmoids more closely resemble Africans than Asians in their cranial morphology in a 1973 study added some weight to this theory before genetic studies pointed to a closer relationship with Asians.
Other more recent studies have shown closer craniometric affinities to Egyptians and Europeans than to Sub Saharan populations such as that of African Pygmies. Walter Neves' study of the Lagoa Santa people had the incidental correlation of showing Andamanese as classifying closer to Egyptians and Europeans than any Sub Saharan population.
Multiple studies also show that Negritos from Southeast Asia to New Guinea share a closer cranial affinity with Australo-Melanesians
Australoid
The Australoid race is a broad racial classification. The concept originated with a typological method of racial classification. They were described as having dark skin with wavy hair, in the case of Veddoids from South Asia and Aboriginal Australians, or hair ranging from straight to kinky in the...
. Further evidence for Asian ancestry is in craniometric markers such as sundadonty, shared by Asian and Negrito populations.
It has been suggested that the craniometric similarities to Asians could merely indicate a level of interbreeding between Negritos and later waves of people arriving from the Asian mainland. This hypothesis is not supported by genetic evidence that has shown the level of isolation populations such as the Andamanese have had.
However, some studies have suggested that each group should be considered separately, as the genetic evidence refutes the notion of a specific shared ancestry between the "Negrito" groups of the Andaman Islands, Malay Peninsula, and Philippines.
While earlier studies, such as that of WW Howell, allied Andamanese craniometrically with Africans, they did not have recourse to genetic studies. Later genetic and craniometric (mentioned earlier) studies have found more genetic affinities with Asians and Polynesians.
A study on blood groups and proteins in the 1950s suggested that the Andamanese
Andamanese
The Andamanese people are the various aboriginal inhabitants of the Andaman Islands, which is the northern district of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands union territory of India, located in the southeastern part of the Bay of Bengal. They include the Great Andamanese, Jarawa, Onge, Sentinelese, and...
were more closely related to Oceanic peoples than Africans. Genetic studies on Philippine Negritos, based on polymorphic blood enzymes and antigens, showed they were similar to surrounding Asian populations.
Genetic testing places all the Onge and all but two of the Great Andamanese in the mtDNA Haplogroup M
Haplogroup M (mtDNA)
In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup M is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup. An enormous haplogroup spanning all the continents, the macro-haplogroup M, like its sibling N, is a descendant of haplogroup L3....
, found in East Africa, East Asia, and South Asia, suggesting that the Negritos are at least partly descended from a migration originating in eastern Africa as much as 60,000 years ago. This migration is hypothesized to have followed a coastal route through India and into Southeast Asia, which is sometimes referred to as the Great Coastal Migration.
Haplogroup C (Y-DNA)
In human genetics, Haplogroup C is a Y-chromosome haplogroup, defined by UEPs M130/RPS4Y711, M216, P184, P255, and P260, which are all SNP mutations. It is a sibling clade of Haplogroup F, within the more ancient grouping of Haplogroup CF...
and haplogroup D
Haplogroup D (Y-DNA)
In human genetics, Haplogroup D is a Y-chromosome haplogroup. Both D and E lineages also exhibit the single-nucleotide polymorphism M168 which is present in all Y-chromosome haplogroups except A and B, as well as the YAP unique-event polymorphism, which is unique to Haplogroup...
is believed to represent Y-DNA in the migration.
Historical distribution
Negritos may have also possibly lived in TaiwanTaiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, where they were called the "Little Black People". Apart from being short-statured, they were also said to be broad-nosed and dark-skinned with curly hair. The little black population shrank to the point up to 100 years ago only one small group lived near the Saisiyat tribe. A festival celebrated by the Saisiyat gives evidence to their formal habitation of Taiwan. The Saisiyat tribe celebrate the black people in a festival called Ritual of the Little Black People
Pas-ta'ai
Pas-ta'ai, the Ritual to the Short People, is a ritual of the Saisiyat people, a Taiwan aboriginal people of Taiwan. It commemorates a tribe of the "Little Black People" who they say used to live near to them, which some anthropologists believe may have been a tribe of Negritos who may have lived...
(矮靈祭).
After the negritos on Taiwan, thousands of years before any Han came to Taiwan in 1600, the Aboriginal Austronesians moved into Taiwan. Estimates of their arrival date from 6,000-1,000 years ago from the Malay Archipelago
Malay Archipelago
The Malay Archipelago refers to the archipelago between mainland Southeastern Asia and Australia. The name was derived from the anachronistic concept of a Malay race....
, although it is controversial. Chinese historians called them "black dwarfs" in the Three Kingdoms period (AD 220 to AD 280) and they were still to be found in China during the Qing dynasty (1644 to 1911). There are other stories about them in other aboriginals and some archeological sites are attributed to them.
According to James J.Y. Liu, a professor of comparative literature, the Chinese term Kun-lun
Kunlun Nu
Kunlun Nu is a wuxia romance written by Pei Xing during the Tang Dynasty. The hero of the tale is a Negrito slave that uses his supernatural physical abilities to save his master's lover from the harem of a court official.-Plot:...
means Negrito. There are many stories about them. Shandao
Shanyue
Shanyue was a tribe that was resided in the Yue area of ancient China during Han Dynasty. Since the Southern part of China was not yet controlled by the Han ethnicity , the Shanyue people would performe regular raids against Han citizens to gather living essentials...
, Geji (戈基), Juho
Jeju-do
Jeju-do is the only special autonomous province of South Korea, situated on and coterminous with the country's largest island. Jeju-do lies in the Korea Strait, southwest of Jeollanam-do Province, of which it was a part before it became a separate province in 1946...
, Wa
Wa (Japan)
Japanese is the oldest recorded name of Japan. Chinese, Korean, and Japanese scribes regularly wrote Wa or Yamato "Japan" with the Chinese character 倭 until the 8th century, when the Japanese found fault with it, replacing it with 和 "harmony, peace, balance".- Historical references :The earliest...
and Koro-pok-guru
Koro-pok-guru
, also written Koro-pok-kuru, korobokkuru, or koropokkur, are a race of small people in Ainu folklore. The name is traditionally analysed as a tripartite compound of kor or koro , pok , and kur or kuru and interpreted to mean "people below the leaves of the butterbur plant" in the Ainu...
peoples, are also said to be pygmies. Haplogroup D (Y-DNA)
Haplogroup D (Y-DNA)
In human genetics, Haplogroup D is a Y-chromosome haplogroup. Both D and E lineages also exhibit the single-nucleotide polymorphism M168 which is present in all Y-chromosome haplogroups except A and B, as well as the YAP unique-event polymorphism, which is unique to Haplogroup...
are found frequently among some peoples living in the same area. In China, stone coffins were used by these peoples.
See also
- Aeta peoples
- Ati people
- Australoid race
- Black peopleBlack peopleThe term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
- Dravidian peoplesDravidian peoplesDravidian peoples is a term used to refer to the diverse groups of people who natively speak languages belonging to the Dravidian language family. Populations of speakers of around 220 million are found mostly in Southern India. Other Dravidian people are found in parts of central India, Sri Lanka,...
- History of TaiwanHistory of TaiwanTaiwan was first populated by Negrito, and then Austronesian people. It was colonized by the Dutch in the 17th century, followed by an influx of Han Chinese including Hakka immigrants from areas of Fujian and Guangdong of mainland China, across the Taiwan Strait...
- Indigenous AustraliansIndigenous AustraliansIndigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
- Koro-pok-guruKoro-pok-guru, also written Koro-pok-kuru, korobokkuru, or koropokkur, are a race of small people in Ainu folklore. The name is traditionally analysed as a tripartite compound of kor or koro , pok , and kur or kuru and interpreted to mean "people below the leaves of the butterbur plant" in the Ainu...
- Kunlun NuKunlun NuKunlun Nu is a wuxia romance written by Pei Xing during the Tang Dynasty. The hero of the tale is a Negrito slave that uses his supernatural physical abilities to save his master's lover from the harem of a court official.-Plot:...
- List of topics related to the African diaspora
- Mamanwa
- Mani peopleMani peopleThe Maniq are an ethnic group of Thailand. They are the only Negrito group in Thailand and speak Maniq , a Mon–Khmer language in the Aslian language group...
- Negroid raceNegroid raceNegroid is a term sometimes used by forensic anthropologists and physical anthropologists to refer to populations that share certain phenotypic traits such as high Melanin levels and skeletal features associated with ancestry from Sub-saharan Africa.It was introduced by early Racial science used...
- Orang AsliOrang AsliOrang Asli , is a generic Malaysian term used for people indigenous to Peninsular Malaysia...
- Peopling of IndiaPeopling of IndiaThe peopling of India is a contentious area of research and discourse, due to the debate on topics such as the Indo-Aryan migration hypothesis. Some anthropologists hypothesize that the region was settled by multiple human migrations over tens of millennia, which makes it even harder to select...
- Proto-AustraloidProto-AustraloidThe Proto-Australoids are a hypothesized group of ancient hunter-gather people descended from the first major wave of modern humans to leave sub-Saharan Africa ~100,000 years ago...
- Pygmy peoples
- Saisiyat people
- SemangSemangThe Semang are a Negrito ethnic group of the Malay Peninsula. Lowland Semang tribes are also known as Sakai, although this term is considered to be derogatory by the Semang people. They are probably the indigenous peoples of this area. They have been recorded to have lived here since before the...
- ShanyueShanyueShanyue was a tribe that was resided in the Yue area of ancient China during Han Dynasty. Since the Southern part of China was not yet controlled by the Han ethnicity , the Shanyue people would performe regular raids against Han citizens to gather living essentials...
Further reading
- Evans, Ivor Hugh Norman. The Negritos of Malaya. Cambridge [Eng.]: University Press, 1937.
- Garvan, John M., and Hermann Hochegger. The Negritos of the Philippines. Wiener Beitrage zur Kulturgeschichte und Linguistik, Bd. 14. Horn: F. Berger, 1964.
- Hurst Gallery. Art of the Negritos. Cambridge, Mass: Hurst Gallery, 1987.
- Khadizan bin Abdullah, and Abdul Razak Yaacob. Pasir Lenggi, a Bateq Negrito Resettlement Area in Ulu Kelantan. Pulau Pinang: Social Anthropology Section, School of Comparative Social Sciences, Universití Sains Malaysia, 1974.
- Schebesta, P., & Schütze, F. (1970). The Negritos of Asia. Human relations area files, 1-2. New Haven, Conn: Human Relations Area Files.
- Zell, Reg. About the Negritos - A Bibliography. edition blurb, 2011.
- Zell, Reg. Negritos of the Philippines -The People of the Bamboo - Age - A Socio-Ecological Model. edition blurb, 2011.
- Zell, Reg. John M. Garvan - An Investigation - On the Negritos of Tayabas. edition blurb, 2011.
External links
- The Negrito of Thailand
- Negritos in the Philippines A detailed book written by an American at the turn of the previous century holistically describing the Negrito culture. Online document processed by Filipiniana.net
- Africans and Asians: Historiography and the Long View of Global Interaction