The primitive tribes of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands were the Shompens, Onge, Great Andamanese, Jarawa, Sentinelese and others. Most of these small tribes came into contact with modern civilization and slowly lost most of their cultural identity. The Jarawa and Sentinelese became insular and even resorted to violent means to protect their cultural identity. The Jarawa have slowly given in but the Sentinelese culture based on tribe, family and clan still remains intact. On the other hand, the Nicobarese were larger in numbers and gradually integrated modern civilization into their socio-cultural structure. Their cultural fabric is woven around clan, religion and economy. They are best known for their love for music and dance.
The main crafts of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands include shell and exotic woods crafted for the tourists, palm mats, and beautiful natural shells. Due to the fear of over exploitation of the Islands' natural resources, trade of some products is now banned like mother-of-pearl jewellery, paduk, which is now banned
