I read this amazing and very stirring article on CNN.com about a woman on a tiny island in India who died last week. Her name was Boa. She was the last surviving member of her tribe, and the last woman on the face of this entire earth who spoke her language. Can you imagine such a thing? How lonely that must have been for her! What a beautiful relief to finally die and return to the presence of all your loved ones and be able to speak your native tongue with those who understand you! What a blessing, seriously.
She was part of a tribe that is believed to be one of the oldest known human cultures on earth, dating back 65,000 years. How cool is that? They lived on the Andaman Islands, about 150 miles off the coast of India.
I wanted to post this neat video of her singing some of the old songs of her tribe, but the best I could manage was the link. I hope you'll follow it and see her and listen to her voice. It is a record of a culture that has died with her. It is a treasure that we can take with us, carry in our memories even though she and her culture have gone. Her entire language and culture have now vanished from the face of the earth, but here is a brief moment captured in time for us to relish. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I have. It really delighted me to know that I've been able to share in a part of something that has otherwise disappeared from our planet. I'll keep it in my mind forever, and that way it will live on after a fashion. It's nice to think of that way.
http://cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2010/02/05/bo.lost.language.cnn
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