ABSTRACT
Tsunami on 26 December 2004 brought with it unprecedented damages to lives and livelihoods of people in 12 Indian Ocean nations. This was by far, the worst disaster in the recent past, causing heavy death toll and huge devastation. Studies conducted during the post-tsunami period among the coastal communities of the island nations in South Asia and the Pacific found survival strategies of the local community in the face of disasters. The paper examined resilience of the coastal and small island communities in Indonesia, the Philippines, Timor-Leste and Solomon islands in the Asia-Pacific; Andaman & Nicobar Islands in the Indian ocean; and Bangladesh coast in the Bay of Bengal in the face of earthquake, tsunami and hazards like cyclones, floods and tidal surges. Based on observations of animal behavior, of celestial bodies, of the environment; material culture; traditional, religious and faith-based beliefs and practices, the local community was able to develop a coping mechanism for themselves with these hydro-meteorological disasters.
The paper argues that because of practicing of age-old indigenous knowledge, the ethnic communities in the coastal island countries could save themselves from the earthquake and tsunami related disasters. The paper further argues that they have been maintaining a co-existence with natural disaster by applying their indigenous knowledge and practices acquired from their forefathers over the years.
With a brief description on indigenous knowledge and practices, the paper deliberates on the survival strategies of these coastal and small ethnic communities. Based on secondary sources of literature, the paper examined how their age-old beliefs were found handy in time of disaster like earthquake and tsunami. The paper suggests that indigenous knowledge and practices need to be integrated with science before it can be used in policies, education, and actions related to hydro- meteorological hazards.
