The Andamanese regarded visiting strangers as departed ancestral spirits
Evidence
In the Andaman Isles … “the natives had not the faintest knowledge of even the neighbouring coast of Burmah, much less the world at large … The few voyagers who from time to time ventured near their shores were regarded as deceased ancestors who, by some dispensation, had been permitted to revisit the earth … In confirmation of this may be cited the name by which the natives of India are to this day called, viz. chawgala (literally, departed spirits).” — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 45
Categorization
- XREF: A second ethnographic case of stranger-as-nonhuman alongside the Tiwi — supports the reader’s mapping of how societies handle the unknown other, contrastable with urban anonymity. — connects to: Many peoples credited strangers with special magical powers requiring ritual handling
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 45