Negrito
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The Negritos include the Ati, the Aeta and at least 4 other tribes of the Philippines, the Semang of the Malay peninsula, and 12 Andamanese tribes of the Andaman Islands. The Malay term for them is orang asli, or original people. They are likely the indigenous people of south-east Asia, including New Guinea. Pygmy-sized, they are numerically and physically among the smallest as well as among the least-known of all living human races. The Negrito peoples have one of the purest genetic pools of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) among anyone in humankind so their mtDNA serves as a baseline in studying Genetic Drift.
The word is the Spanish diminutive of Negro, i.e. "little Black", and was given by early explorers who thought that the Negritos were from Africa.
The Negritos of the Philippines could make fire, whereas the Andamanese could not. The Semang are recorded to have made clothing of pounded tree bark, and to have lived in both caves and leaf-covered shelters. The Negritos are believed to be the aborigines of the Philippines. They are distinct from the Formosan-Indo-Malay peoples who arrived in boats or balangay (see Barangay). (See Antique, Philippines for the 1212 purchase of rights, by some Malay peoples, to settle on the island of Panay from the chief of the Negritos there).
See also
- List of Philippine Tribes and Ethnic Groups
- Andaman Islands for a description of the Andamanese tribes.
- Genetic Drift Theory
External links
- An Amazing Beginning, by Charles Kimball
- The Anadamanese Negrito
- "Negro and Negrito", by M. Stewart
- The Semang of Malaysia
References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition{{#if:{{{article|}}}| article {{#if:{{{url|}}}|[{{{url|}}}}} "{{{article}}}"{{#if:{{{url|}}}|]}}{{#if:{{{author|}}}| by {{{author}}}}}}}, a publication now in the public domain.
- "DNA Study Yields Clues on Early Human's First Migration" New York Times, May 13, 2005 p. A7.de:Negrito
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