The population of Great Nicobar is largely comprised of indigenous people, the tribes of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and settlers – individuals from the mainland whose families settled here well before and around the time of India’s independence.

There are two indigenous Nicobar island tribes – the Shompen and the Nicobarese.

The Shompen tribe is one that does not interact much with the urban settlements of the island. Designated as a Scheduled Tribe of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, they live in the forest areas of the island and follow a hunter-gatherer way of living. They engage in barter with different communities – both the settlers and the Nicobarese.

The Nicobarese is a term used to refer to the dominant tribes of the Nicobar Islands. These tribes are divided by island and the central location for this group of tribes is Car Nicobar. Although each tribe has its own language, the Nicobarese are all familiar with the Car Nicobarese language which is descended from the Roman script. Before the tsunami, the Nicobarese followed animism – worshiping animals and natural symbols on which they depended. However, after the tsunami, most of them have converted to Christianity. Some of the others who are still dependent on the forests, still follow animism.

Post-tsunami, lifestyles have changed completely for both the tribes and they have become more urbanized. For the Nicobarese especially, their livelihoods have changed from being forest-dependent to more market-centric.

Both tribes have been relocated and their new houses are made of materials that are different from the natural resources that they used earlier.

Tribal tourism is prohibited and individuals are only allowed to interact with them for research, after seeking prior permission from the Tribal Council.