The Paniyas

Numerically the largest group. Traditionally roamed the forest collecting food and practised small scale cultivation and hunting. Latterly they were employed as “bonded labour” by local landlords. Under this system, they were provided with the wherewithal to build a hut, clothes, paddy rice and leave at festival times. The degree of exploitation or paternalism depended on the individual landlords. Now the Abolition of Bonded Labour Act has introduced the cash economy and most work for daily wages. Though some are educated to higher levels, very few have been able to get good jobs.

Kattunayakan

From the ethnographic descriptions of Thurston, E. (1909), Gopalan Nair (1911), Aiyappan, A (1948), Luiz, A.A.D.(1962) and Nurit Bird David (1989), it is found that the Kattunayakan have been scattered mainly in the Nilgiris (Tamil Nadu)-Wayanad (Kerala)-Coorg (Karnataka) tri-junction region as a homogenous group of former hunter-gatherers speaking a Kannada dialect having some mixture of Malayalam and Tamil words and minor intra-cultural variations. They are also reckoned with a few other names such as, Jenu Kurumba (or Jenu Kuruba) derived from the Kannada word Jenu, meaning honey signifying their traditional occupation of honey-collection, Ththen Kurumban (from the Tamil word Ththen meaning honey) and Kattunayaka (Kattu or Kadu meaning forest and nayaka as a title signifying their courageous living in jungles) and Jenu Koyyo Shola Nayaka (meaning honey-cutting lords of the woods).

Betta Kurumbas

Also live in larger villages of sometimes very poor huts. Many were artisans producing bamboo baskets, umbrellas, pottery and steel axes, knives etc. Some have acquired further education. A number of them work in the Forest Department with elephants.

Mullu Kurumba

The community is spelled as Mullu Kuruman, Mulla Kuruman, Mullu Kurumba or Mulla kurumar. KURUMANS are inhabitants of the Wayanad District and also the adjoining Gudalur Taluk of Tamilnadu. They speak a dialect of their own called Kurumaba which is an unintelligible dialect of Kannada with a good admixture of Tamil and Malayalam words and phrases and that they have no script of their own. The Mullu Kurauman have four kulams, namely Villappa, Kathika, Vadakku and Vengage, which regulate marriage alliances. There is no hierarchy among the kulams. The land is the main matural economic resource of the Mullu Kuruman community, which is controlled by individuals. The traditional occupations of the Mulla Kuruman were hunting, gathering and shifting cultivation. At present, they are mainly engaged in agriculture and government jobs. Women help their men in agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing and poultry. Some of them have their own agricultural land.

Displacement of Tribal Community

In the past, the area was only inhabited by the Tribes, Wynaadan and Moundadan Chettys and a few other big landlords. They were fairly Isolated from the outside world and were to some extent interdependent on each other bartering goods and services. It was said the only things needed from outside were cloth and salt. Few outsiders came to the area because of malaria; however, in the 1880’s the British established tea plantations and kept malaria under control by draining swamps. They brought in labour from outside the area, but there was still plenty of space for Tribals.

In 1956 with the formation of linguistics states, the area became part of Tamil Nadu. The next wave of incomers was from Kerala in response to the governments ‘Grow More Food’ campaign of the late ’60s. Many people flooded into the area and settled on any available land, including the land the Tribals traditionally thought of as theirs. Later large numbers of Sri Lankan repatriates were settled in tea plantations on what had once been virgin forest land.

These influxes of migrants have put great pressure on land and have also affected the Tribals’ environment, culture, and traditions. From being a predominantly Kerala culture with wide-open spaces, it has become much more a Tamil one with pressure on land.

Problems ailing the community

In times past when there was a lack of food from the forest, animal or other confrontation, it was common to move somewhere else, avoiding the adverse situation simply. These characteristics of shyness, timidness, backing off from adversity and living only for today still predominate and affect progress and development. Much older and some younger people have been unable to cope with these changes, and alcohol abuse and suicide are not uncommon.

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Let's protect our Tribal Community

Some cultural traditions have died out in the last 30 or 40 years, though 3 of the groups preserve their own distinct languages, young and old. There have been attempts and legislation by the government to protect Tribal land and other interests as provided by the Indian Constitution, these have largely failed. Many Tribals are now dispossessed of land and work for daily wages. These are often quite high, but the saving habit and the subsequent benefits are not there.

Pandalur taluk where we work has the highest percentage of Tribal residents in the state. According to the 2011 census, this was around 10,000

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About Tribal Groups

We work with 4 Tribal groups. All are classed as 'Particularly Vulnerable Primitive Tribes’, having declining or stagnant populations, low literacy and health indicators.