Surviving the Tsunami

Tonight the BBC showed a program reflecting on the 'Tsunami: Seven Hours on Boxing Day'. It told the story of the aboriginal Andaman people of the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean. It was feared that this whole ancient people would have been wiped out by the boxing day tsunami. Not one of them died. Why? They knew it was coming, they had an early warning system, their traditions. An Andaman father walked down the shore and told of the struggle between Earth and Sea over territory, of the good and evil spirits that shake the tree on which our world is perched. He told how his people on the beach ran to camp as soon as they saw the tide depart quickly from the beach, shouting "the sea has left, but it will return to claim the forest", "The Earth and the Sea will decide their new boundaries". At this the Andaman people ran for their lives deep, deep into the forest. By the time the wave hit, they were safe, not one died. The simplicity of their existence saved them from certain death. Their harmony with the rhythms of nature saved them. Their traditions of storytelling, and passing down tales from one generation to the next, saved them.
And why did so many others die? Perhaps we should look more closely at the complexity of our societal and economic structures that force paupers and tourists together in the most dangerous places. Perhaps we should think about why animals fled the ocean shore, while people stood and watched the big wave come.