Understanding Entitlement Failures and Sciences of Primitive Tribes in the light of Kutia Kandh of Kalahandi
Sunday, June 2, 2024
Understanding Entitlement Failures and Sciences of Primitive Tribes in the light of Kutia Kandh of Kalahandi
(Problem)
Science and human being goes together since time immemorial. Modern man is scientific and primitives are un scientific is neither true nor a fact. Facts are, lack of ample knowledge and lack of use of ample scientifically created machines, equipment, gadgets and it's products and findings is not unscientific.
(Objectives)
1. To unveil the truth that primitive tribes have hidden science in their day-to-day life.
2. Land and Forest rights determines the preservation of the sciences of primitive tribes.
(Methodology)
1. Book review
2. Field visit
3. Focus group Discussion
4. Interview
(Hypothesis)
All over the world, seeing the primitives, less clothes, muddy house, forest gatherer, hunter, worshiper of nature eat raw or boiled without much spices, etc. one can't say, they have no science. But the sciences, both in humanities and in physical sciences, which are sustainable and panacea for humanity and earth are hidden in the life of primitive tribes.
Title: Understanding Entitlement Failures and sciences of of Primitive Tribes in the light of Kutia Kandh of Kalahandi
Author’s Full Name: Dwit David Philip
Designation: Legal Consultant
Contact Number: 9437104303/9425292992
e-mail: klddavid@rediffmail.com
Complete Postal Address:
|
Current Address |
Permanent Address |
|
Leheri Thana, Kantapar, Bihar Sharif, Police Station, Nalanda 803101 |
Mother’s Care School Badpada Bhawanipatna Kalahandi, 766001 |
Affiliation: Social Work, Freelance Legal Consultant.
Introduction: Songs, dances, music and food gives an identity to any racial group. Their functions and festivals, indigenous knowledge, techniques medicines, along with their smiles and tears, depicts their originality and identity. Their anthropology and tombs preserve their ethos and that is same with Kutia Kandha who dwell in the dance forest and hill terrain of Kalahandi, Raigada and Kandhamal districts with their own identity and test of primitive life style since time immemorial. With their forests, streams, flora and fauna, Kutia Kandha have no separate identity. Their name is their life, their religion, their economy, their physiology and even their sociology. They themselves are an academic discipline, a philosophy and an institution. And there is enough to unpack by champions and scholars of humanities and physical sciences in the domain of academic disciplines of universities of the Globe to bring their hidden truth into the light.
The Privative Vulnerable Tribal Group is named PVTG. This is to specifically identify them who are prone to extinction. They are distinguished from other tribal communities for their pre agricultural forest-based economy. Though they have low levels of literacy, isolated habitations they are socio economically vulnerable and dependent on forest-based livelihood but have a better social cohesion and bonding among themselves and with the nature.
*Out of 635 tribal communities in India, 62 are found in Odisha. Among the STs 13 are Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) spread over 12 districts in the state namely, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Sundargarh, Deoghar, Anugul, Mayurbhanj, Keunjhar, Malkangiri Rayagada, Kandhamal, Gajapati and Ganjam. The scheduled tribe communities have distinct social cultural and occupational practices and traits. Tribals speak as many as 74 dialects, The Particular Vulnerable Tribal Group in Odisha include Bonda, Chuktia, Bhunjia, Didayi, Gongria, Kandha, Juang, Hill Kharia, Kutia, Kandha, Lanjia, Saora, Lodha, Mankiridia, Pauudi, Bhuyan, and Saora. [1]
Strength of the community: Kutia Kandha are different from other Kandha in many respects. By language they speak Kui[2] a Dravidian language. Language is a science of communication which gives information to act and react. They identify themselves Kuienju. The climate of Kutia Kandha areas is cooler. The life is tuned with climate. Their food, clothes and shelter are designed as per the climate. Sal (Soria Robustha) is the prime trees of their forests related to their socio-economic and religious life. Mango, Mahul, Sagopalm, Kusum, Asan and many others tress too are also part of their life line. Shiali and baboo are useful for their cottage and boundaries. Different edible roots, berries adds to their food. Animals like elephant, leopard, deer, bear, wild goat, boar, monkey, deer, peacock, wild fowl, snake, mongoose, etc are inevitable parts of their life.
House: Kutia Kandh stay together with high social bunding and mutual cooperation. Their houses are constructed in two or more lines being courtyard at the middle and houses both side of the courtyard where they get ample sun light.
Food: Generally, they eat thrice in a day, morning, afternoon and in night. The food they eat are maze, millet, ragi and rice. In their food, green leaves, shoots, tubers, roots, stems, flowers, fruits, seeds, mango, kernels etc are common. Shifting cultivation is their prime agriculture. They get major food stuff from it. They grow pulses, millets and miner millets. Green leaves, vegetables, fish or dry fish, meat Dall are important components of their food. Revenue Acts and forest Act controls their access and independent use of land to which they belong and depend for generations, time immemorial.
Language: They have their own Kutia dialect mixed with Kui. Kui is the dialect of other tribal groups of neighboring districts. Being in Odisha they speak the Odia language as transection of livelihood needs are done with them. Being exposed to government staffs and market of the nearby towns, some of them know Hindi and they know many English words. OPELIP project has tried to collect the Kutia words in Odia scripts with its meaning. But there is much to do to establish and preserve the language. Their language holds the culture, values, ethos and practices. The dance, drama, songs and music live in their dialect.
Role on natural resource management: Kutia Kandha know their soil, water, weather, forest. They cultivate against slope where water flows. By that soil erosion is controlled. Tubers they eat but while collecting, they do not destroy it for the continuation of its availability, they replant the tubers top before leaving the field. They do not destroy growing trees. Like kendu, chahar, harida, bahada, oanla, mahula, panasha amba, khajuri, barakoli, lembu, kamala, kushuma, kanticoli, sapuri, salap, bamboo, tamarin, costard apple, khursha, shiali,
Seeds they eat: tamarin, Shaili seeds, Khursha
Flowers they eat: Neem, Kuler, Kanchan, Agasti, drumstick,
Leaves: Kuler, Gunjer, Bahal, Kobi, Sunia, Kalam, Kosla, Khada, Khapri, Leutia, Kauria, Leutia,
They don’t want to leave the forest, though the Act is dissociating them or forcing them to leave the forest because their faith revolves on the “Dharni Khuta” their God, which are there in different parts of the forest. Their God and the mountain are almost one. Separating from forest is separating them from their God and from their religious faith. And around Dharani Khuta their life, language, culture, values revolve.
Gender: It’s is looked from the prospective of access and control to resources, activity profile, role in day today life especially in life cycle, birth, marriage and death. as such there is no gender difference relating to work but the harder work is done by male and lighter work is done by female. But mostly women found busy round the clock. Women and man do cultivation together, while the equipment like frames and settings are made by the male the rest of the work are done together. Frame of the houses are made by male but plastering and flooring in mud and its beautification done by female. Grinding and cooking mostly done by female. Before farming and cultivation in each season male take the lead in rituals and sacrifices to the spirits. Sacrificial meat and ceremonial food are neither cooked nor eaten by the female folk due to socio-religious prohibitions. The Kutia Kandha do not drink milk. Eating egg and pork is strictly prohibited for women. The emerging youths of both sexes have given up eating beef. During pregnancy a few food taboos are observed. Male some time marry more than one wife but stay together and share all the belongings. Women with which and barren are given diverse. Women goes for purification ceremony after child is born to her.
Technology and engineering: Art, craft, musical instruments, nets, ornaments, housing frames, farm equipment shous their skills and innovations. Their cloth garments and utensils in wooden, metal, earthen material shows their expertise for living and surviving skill. The frame of the house, carpentry of furniture, lifting water against the slopes, agriculture equipment manifests their engineering skill, their food preservation, use of forest leaves, tubers, herbs, animal body parts during health issues manifests their Sense of Medicine and their Calculation of Days, Week, Months, Year based on solar and lunar calendar and climatic predication shows their knowledge in astronomy. In spite of this Kutia the PVTG due to their lack of knowledge on numbers and letters of others’, are considered backward and are ignored in different walks of life.
Work and earning: Kutia Kandh engage themselves in cultivation, wood cutting, gathering forest products, road making, plantation, sale their own cattle and crops and forest products. They do not work in other ethno-cultural groups.
Borrowing and mortgaging is done during food scarcity, marriage, festivals bride price, court case in land lord or middleman or in shop keepers. They are an opportunity of credible investment for better return as they are faithful borrowers.
Entitlement: The moment s/he takes birth, an individual is surrounded by land, but the pity is that, all do not have the right on it because of lack of rights over the land. Like that many Kutias have no right over the land where they are born, dwell and cultivate since their ancestor. The village, where they reside have no record of rights to show to anyone.
Disability: It is seen that many of them are under nourished and malnourished. They don’t go for treatment nor for certification for availing government disability benefits. Due to working in forest and climbing trees many of them get injured. They do the local indigenous treatment. Often it does not bear fruit.
Leadership and Judiciary: leadership is both traditional and as per government by election. Traditional clan leaders are Mutha Majhi and Majhi and religious leaders are Jani who is magico-religious leader who is also an astrologer and healer and they continue to serve the community hereditably. Birth death and marriage is a social function lead by leaders. Stealing, begging and robbery is not found in Kutia Kandh.
Marriage, diverse, premarital, extramarital post marital affairs, inter clan marriage exists but it is not a regular practice. For this kind of situation financial fine is imposed on the culprits and convicted. Punishment and restrictions are imposed. Pregnancy of unmarried girls are seriously viewed. Mmarriage like marriage by love, capture, exchange and intrusion are also practised. Sororate and junior levirate is also practised. Marriage by bride prise is done in arrange marriage and it is costly.
Festivals and merry making: Major festivals are Meriah sacrifice, Phush Puni, Nua Khaee, Dadbinere, Dasehera, Kandanga, Dakina, Basa Dakina, etc. Meriah festival (Bia Katina Dakina) is the most significant and expensive occasion of Kutia Kandh
Threat to the community: On the visit to Taldumer and Uper Dumer it was seen that, there is an in accessible road to these interior village after the Multinational Corporate House, Vedanta Township. After the town ship the road has become narrow to narrower. After it there is dance forest till one riches to these villages. There are many villages scattered in the forest and hills, even after Taldumer. People are not fully clothed, look slim. From their villages, the watershed streams are flowing down to the valleys of the district. The mountain Niyamgiri, is the biggest bauxite store of Asia, seems going out of their control.[3] Deforestation due to industrialization and urbanization of Lanjigarh head quarter is clearly visible. Topo spare in many areas is seen opened looks red uncovered from the green coverings. People say number of animals, timbers, forest coverage is decreasing in number in a very fast rate though number of forest staffs are increasing. Vehicle movements and industrial products both consumable and non-consumable items are increasing. There are Schools and Staffs like Anganwadi and Accredited Social Health Activists but kindergarten care and maternal care looks at crude stage.
Development is a concept, taught in Schools and Universities with many sophisticated definitions and analysis with many parameters and indicators but the human development Index, parameters and indicators looks paralyzed in the village like village, Taldumer and Uper Dumer. The present Chief secretary of Odisha, who was a District Collector and Magistrate and Project Director of District Rural Development Agency, who says Kalahandi as his Second Home District, he too may cry seeing this entitlement failure of Kutia Kandha, because now the district remembers when the Collector was touring in Maruti Gypsy, by driving by self has given no result though now the colorful Government Offices, Banks, Panchayats and Vedanta Almunia Setup looks functional and active.
Conclusion: Over all among the Kutia Kandh there is gross entitlement Failure: Indian population can be broadly divided into tribals and non-tribals so is the population of Kalahandi. Though there are different kinds of tribes but it is believed that the primitive tribes of Kalahandi are the original inhabitant of the district. Most of them are lagging behind in comparison to tribes of the parts of the world and the state and the district. The Primitive Tribes are still in remote locations and are forest dwellers with their survival strategy. Their survival strategy has distinct science. Their language is a science, their agriculture, food, medicine, food storage are sciences. Their irrigation, their cottages, village, set up are engineering and science. Their days, months, year calculation is a science. They manage their flora and fauna; their animals and birds are a science. Though their goods and materials lloks primitive but they are innovator and sustaining the science since time immemorial which is sustainable. Their interpersonal relation, group behaviour and concept of rules and disciplines are a different sociology which has values and doctrines. They respect it and the values and doctrines bind them together and give them special identity in spite of modernism.
The non tribes’ dwell mostly in plain areas, villages, towns and cities. Socio economic situation of tribes are relatively lagging behind. In education and health and in other parameters of development, that amounts to further backwardness. The reason is, their dream and expectation are not so high. They are dependent on nature and forest products. They are not prone to migration. They are not exposed to higher education.
Apart from education none availability of lend is their new issue. Now Government and the forest act says they have no authority in the forest where their God in the form of dharni khuta or jani khuta /Saru Penu (Mountain God) is there. It is a stump for the non-tribe but it is their traditional God not matching with any other religion. So far, the different Definition of Entitlement failure are concerned it is, not having ownership of food shelter or clothes, land and water, in spite of exchange of capacity and capabilities to exchange with the state and the society. Tribes in India especially the primitive tribes do not have land rights though for generations they are inhabitants of this land. But the issue is, with the failure of entitlement of the forest land no one will take away their age-old scientific knowledge on land water, forest and their animal and society but by departing from the forest land the science they have in their dialect, interpersonal relation and in their goods and belongings will be lost. Science of primitive tribes must be restored.
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