Scheduled Tribe of Kerala

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Scheduled Tribe of Kerala

  • Based on 2011 Census total popultaion of India is 121 Crore out of which ST population is 10.45 Crore (8.6%).
  • The tribal communities in India are enormously diverse and heterogeneous. There are wide ranging diversities among them in respect of languages spoken, size of population and mode of livelihood.
  • The number of communities that find their place in the list of the Schedule of the Indian constitution is reflective of this diversity. The Government of India, in its Draft National Tribal Policy, 2006 records 698 Scheduled Tribes in India.
  • As per the Census of India 2011, the number of individual groups notified as Scheduled Tribes is 705.
  • Tribals in Kerala are living on the hill ranges, mainly on the Western Ghat, bordering Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The mountainous regions of Kerala are inhibited by the tribal communities.
  • They are reckoned as the descendants of the Negrito race. A majority of these tribes of Kerala build their settlements in the dense forest grounds and also on the top of the mountains.
  • The tribes of Kerala differ from each other depending upon the region they reside.
  • All the tribes of Kerala build a rich, unique, varied and critical element of Indian tradition.
  • There are 35 tribal communities in Kerala that make up 1.5% percent of the state’s total population.
  • In According to 2011 Census and Ministry of Tribal Affiars Reports the Tribal Polpulation of Kerala
Total Population of Kerala

 

3,34,06,061
Total Population of ST in Kerala

 

4,84,839
Percentage of ST population in Kerala

 

1.5%
% STs in the State to total ST population in India

 

0.5%
Sex Ratio in STs (Gender Composition of Scheduled Tribe Population)1,035
Literacy Rates of ST Population in State75.8%

 

Total Scheduled Tribes in Kerala that included in Constiturional List of Scheduled tribe by Government of India through President order with Name like

 

  1. Adiyan
  2. Arandan, Aranadan
  3. Eravallan
  4. Hill Pulaya, Mala Pulayan, Kurumba

Pulayan, Karavazhi Pulayan, Pamba

Pulayan

  1. Irular, Irulan
  2. Kadar, Wayanad Kadar
  3. Kanikaran, Kanikkar
  4. Kattunayakan
  5. Kochuvelan
  6. Koraga
  7. Kudiya, Melakudi
  8. Kurichchan, Kurichiyan
  9. Kurumans , Mullu Kuruman, Mulla

Kuruman, Mala Kuruman

  1. Kurumbas, Kurumbar, Kurumban
  2. Maha Malasar
  3. Malai Arayan, Mala Arayan
  4. Malai Pandaram
  5. Malai Vedan, Malavedan
  6. Malakkuravan
  7. Malasar
  8. Malayan, Nattu Malayan, Konga

Malayan (excluding the areas

comprising the Kasargode, Connanore,

Wayanad and Kozhikode districts)

  1. Malayarayar
  2. Mannan
  3. Marati (of the Hosdurg and Kasargod

Taluks of Kasargod District)

  1. Muthuvan, Mudugar, Muduvan
  2. Palleyan, Palliyan, Palliyar, Paliyan
  3. Paniyan
  4. Ulladan, Ullatan
  5. Uraly
  6. Mala Vettuvan (in Kasargode and

Kannur districts)

  1. Ten Kurumban, Jenu Kurumban
  2. Thachanadan, Thachanadan
  3. Moopan
  4. Cholanaickan
  5. Mavilan
  6. Karimpalan
  7. Vetta Kuruman
  8. Mala Panickar

 

 

State  List of the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups

PVTGs, currently including 75 tribal groups, have been identified as such on the basis of the following criteria:

  1. Forest-dependent livelihoods,
  2. Pre-agricultural level of existence,
  3. Stagnant or declining population,
  4. Low literacy rates
  5. A subsistence-based economy.

In Kerala Cholanaikayan (a section of Kattunaickans), Kadar, Kattunayakan, Kurumbas, Koraga are included in PVTGs list.

Detailed Explation of Some Major Tribes of Kerala are as Following

Koraga Tribal Group

Total Population: 1579

  • Koraga people, listed as primitive tribe, are found in Kasargod and Majeswaram. The Koragas are believed to be the ancestors of a defeated dynasty, which was driven to forests and subsequently became slaves to the mighty..
  • According to the State’s Tribal Research Institute the Koraga population during 1998 is only 1330. A good number of Koragas are also seen in Karnataka, the neighboring State.
  • The Koragas are seen mostly in rural areas and due to their unhygienic way of life all other communities used to observe untouchability with them. They have very little interaction with other communities. It is said that in earlier days they used to remove carcasses and ate the flesh of dead animals.
  • All of them were slaves until the State banned slavery through the Bonded Labour Abolition Act.
  • The Koragas speak a language of their own which resembles to Tulu and Kannada.
  • The Koragas who live in plain areas are called Kuntu Koraga and those found in forests are named as Sappu Korag. Both these groups observe different dress code.
  • Kundu Koragas are seen only in Kerala and the Sappu Koragas are found in Karnataka State. The Kuntu Koraga further has two sections- Badiyadika and Pulikoor.
  • A large section of the Koragas is engaged in basket making. Some resort to begging while a few to agriculture or minor forest produce collection. Koragas were experienced in capturing crocodiles and used to eat its flesh.
  • Usually the Koraga huts are thatched with grass or leaves, with open sides. Now most of them live in houses provided by government.
  • Traditionally they used to worship sun and a few other gods, but the younger generation is interested in worshipping the Hindu deities.

Cholanaikkan Tribe-

  • Total Population -191 Persons only belong to PVTGs group.
  • The Cholanaikkans are an ethnic group of India. They primarily inhabit the southern Kerala State, especially Silent Valley National Park, and are one of the last remaining hunter-gatherer tribes of the region.
  • The Cholanaikkans speak the Cholanaikkan language, which belongs to the Dravidian family.
  • They currently have a 16% literacy rate.
  • The Cholanaikkan call themselves as ‘Malanaikan’ or ‘Sholanaikan’. They are called Cholanaikan because they inhabit the interior forests. ‘Chola’ or ‘shoals’ means deep ever green forest, and ‘naikan’ means King. They are said to have migrated from Mysore forests.
  • They are generally of short stature with well-built sturdy bodies. The complexion varies from dark to light brown. The faces are round or oval with depressed nasal root, their bridge being medium and the profile straight, lips are thin to the medium, hair tends to be curly. They live in rock shelters called ‘Kallulai’ or in open campsites made of leaves.
  • They are found in groups consisting of 2 to 7 primary families. Each group is called a ‘Chemmam’. The Cholanaikans are very particular in observing the rules framed by their ancestors for the purpose of maintaining the territories under the Chemmam.

Kurumban Tribal Group

Population: 1820

  • Kurumban is considered as a ‘ primitive’ tribe in the list of scheduled tribes of Kerala. Their hamlets are found in both sides of the Bhavani River in Attapady area of Palakkad district.
  • Most of them are still food gatherers and also do shift cultivation. Near some of their colonies in the interior forest they cultivate ganja plants.
  • Their staple food is used to be ragi but now-a-days they also use rice. Consumption of liquor is common among them.
  • The language they speak is close Kannada but also converse in Malayalam and Tamil. The clan system is of very high order among Kurumbas.
  • Old Kurumbas wear very minimum clothes and young women wear rings, chains, and ear ornaments made of brass, tin, aluminium, plastic and glass.
  • Traditional houses of Kurumbas are built with bamboo, mud and wild-grass.
  • They are made as linear structures with compartments, each to be occupied by a marital family. Usually two to three such families live together in such houses. Temporary huts are also made in the middle of cultivated land for guarding crops and destroyed after harvest.
  • They use bamboo, reed, and cane to make carrying vessels and baskets. Now- a-days they use vessels made of aluminium and pottery for cooking.
  • A hamlet is called Ooru and the head of the ooru is called Oorumooppan who administers the socio-political unit. He represents the Ooru in interacting with Government Officials and settling inter-hamlet disputes, assisted by other social functionaries like ” Bhandari, Kuruthalai and mannookaran’. The bhandari serves as a treasurer to social functions and the mannokaran is a traditional agriculture expert. The society is divided into eight clans and various social functionaries are from different clans.
  • Kurumbas worship both their traditional gods and the Hindu deities. They are famous for which-craft, and magical performances, and traditional herbal medicines.
  • The families are nuclear and they observe matrilineal inheritance. Kurumbas have marriage relationships with the Mudugar, another major tribal community found in the lower valleys of Attapady hills.
  • They observe pollution around life-cycles. The dead are buried on the third day of the death.

Irula Tribal Group

Population about 25,000

  • Irulais an ethnic group of India. They inhabit the area of the Nilgiri mountains, in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, India.
  • People of Irula ethnicity are called Irular, and speak Irula, which belongs to the Dravidian family. In Tamil Nadu they live in the Nilgiris In Kerala they live in the Palakkad district and Attapady and Walayar panchayats.
  • Irularmeans “dark people” in Tamil and Malayalam, from the root word irul, meaning “darkness”, in reference to their dark skin complexion.
  • Early 20th century anthropological literature classified the Negrito ethnic group
  • Traditionally, the main occupation of the Irulas has been snake and rat catching. They also work as labourers (coolies) in the fields of the landlordsduring the sowing and harvesting seasons or in the rice mills. Fishing is also a major occupation.
  • Rats destroy a quarter of the grain grown on Tamil Nadu-area farms annually. To combat this pest, Irula men use a traditional earthen pot fumigation method. Smoke is blown through their mouths, which leads to severe respiratory and heart problems.
  • In January 2017, Masi Sadaiyan and Vadivel Gopal from the Irula tribe of Tamil Nadu were brought in, along with two translators, to work with detection dogs to track down and capture invasive Burmese pythons in Key Largo, Florida. The Irula men and their translators were paid $70,000 by the State of Florida, and captured 14 pythons in less than two week.

Mudugar Tribal Group

Population: 9,903

  • Mudugar are a native people group who live in the Attappadi hills in Palghat district of Kerala, and some in Guddalore, Nilgiris and Dharmapuri District of Tamilnadu.
  • The tribe though often misidentified as Muthuvan or Muduvan, including the Census of India List of Scheduled Tribes, they are a distinct people from Muthuvan (Muduvan) who live in the Anamudi hills of Idukki district.
  • The traditional occupation of the Mudugars is collection and trading of forest products like honey, spices, medicinal herbs and wild foods.
  • Many of them nowadays work as daily laborers or for the forest department as guards and travel guides at the Silent Valley National Park.
  • Most of the tribal settlements in the Attappady hill ranges used to notorious for ganja cultivation and it is said that the many tribals who live in abject poverty are employed by such cultivators.

Malayan Tribe

Alternate names: Malayan, Nattu Malayan, Konga Malayan

Population – 2395 & Literacy 39.51 %

  • The Malayan tribeare a Scheduled Tribe who live in Idukki District of Kerala, India. Their name derives from the Tamil word for Mountain. In the district, they are found in places like the Edamalayar in Kuttampuzha panchayat, Adimali block panchayat. Quite a handful of Malayan tribes are also found in Ernakulam district which is considered to be the official profile.
  • Following the tradition of most of the tribal communities of Indian subcontinent, these Malayan tribes too have adapted to various jobs like bamboo carving, fishing.
  • Gathering of the products from the dense forest areas is also a lucrative occupation of most of the Malayan tribes of Kerala. Instances are also found where these Malayan tribes have rented their cultivating lands and also get involve as manual laborers in the fields.
  • Today, these Malayan tribes have taken active participation in all educational as well as cultural fests.
  • It has been found out that due to their liquor consumption and rampant smoking, there has been a degradation of both the health and morality.
  • Malayan Tribe festivals and fairs play an important part in the society of these Malayan tribes, which also emphasizes the cultural exuberance of the community.
  • Amongst various feted festivals, especially in Idukki district, the Adimali Festis the most famous one. This festival is observed by the Malayan tribes during the last week of the month of December.
  • During theAdimali Festival, fairs and exhibition are organized in the venue. Myriads of the cultivators make a display of various items that they have prepared on their own hands. Exhibition of the stalls of various government departments, institutions and agencies are of huge appeal along with the exhibition stalls of the trade fair.

Paniyan Tribal Group

Alternate name: Paniya, Paniyar

Population: 67,948 Literacy 11.01 %

  • Paniyas are the largest tribal community in Kerala and are found in Wayanad, Kannur, Kozhikkode, and Malapuram districts.
  • They had been agricultural labourers and worked as slaves of land lords for several decades.
  • They were believed to be brought to Waynad by the king of Malabar, centuries ago as slaves for agricultural labour. It is said that they were sold and bought along with the fields they lived in.
  • After the government of Kerala abolished slavery system, they had been rehabilitated in different colonies set up by the government.
  • Kattupaniyar is a subgroup seen in the forest region of Nilambur (Malappuram District) leading a life style of primitive tribes.

Kadar Tribal Group

Population in Kerala is 1594

  • Kadars are now found in 15 settlements of Palakkad and Trissur districts.
  • Kadar is listed as a ‘ primitive’ tribe by the government. Kadars are also seen in the Western Ghat regions of Coimbatore district in Tamil Nadu.
  • Kadars were nomadic in nature and used to live in clans of 3 to 10 families. They survived mainly by collecting forest produces.
  • They make temporary leaf shelters for their stay in forests for the purpose of minor forest produce collection. Now-a-days they are seen leading a settled life, with the exception of a few families. Thy live in poorly huts made of mud, wooden poles, bamboo and leaves.
  • Kadars were in the habit of using bamboo nodes for carrying water but now a days they use aluminium and earthen pots.
  • The custom of chipping of incisor tooth was common amog them. Kadars are non-vegetarians and their staple food is rice. They are skilled in hunting wild animals and eat most of the animals except buffalo and cow.
  • In every Kadar settlement a headman viz, moopan controls the social customs and tribe administration. The moopans were said to be the servants of the Royal family of Kochi.
  • Kadars are generally monogamou Marriages between cousins are prevalent and there is no practice of dowry or ‘bridal price’; patri-lineal inheritance is dominant.
  • They observe pollution at childbirth, puberty and death. The dead body is buried along with all the belongings of the dead. Though animists they worship Hindu gods along with their ancestral spirits. Before going for gathering forest produces, they appease the spirits by fire walking and other rituals. They celebrate Hindu festivals like Onam and Vishu.

Mala Arayan  (Malayarayar)

Total Population – 24,949  Literacy 73.24 %

  • Mala Arayans are found in Meenachil and Changanasseri Taluks of the Kottayam district. Due to the educational work of the CMS missionaries, they are well educated, socially and economically more developed than any other tribal communities in Kerala.

Mannan Tribal Group

Population – 5813 & Literacy 19.12%

  • Mannan people are seen in Idukky and Kottayam districts and a few in Palghat district. They are engaged in agriculture, collection of forest produces and fishing. They used to live in bamboo huts on tree tops, in the forest areas until the recent past.
  • They were experts in weaving thin mats named ‘Kannadi paya’ (Mirror mat). Even now they have their own king named Kozhimala Raja-Mannan and his subjects used to gather together for meetings every year.

Ulladar Tribal Group

Alternate name: Ulladar

Total Population – 11687 & Literacy 50 %

  • Ulladar communities are seen in the forest as well as costal areas. Both these communities are included in the Scheduled Tribes list and are seen in Thrisur, Idukki, Kottayam, Alapuzha, and Kollam districts.
  • Their main occupation of those on the hills used to be cutting trees, collection of fire woods while those who are in the costal area engage in making country boats and it’s maintenance. Some of them are also experts in catching turtle with special type of rode (Amakkole).

Malapandaram Tribal Group

Total Population – 2122 & Literacy 35.4 %

  • Mala Pandarams are found in Achancoil, Pathanapuram, Naduvathumoozhy and Mannarappara forest ranges in the Pathanamthitta and Kollam districts of Kerala.
  • They live by hunting and collection of forest products.

Malappulayan Tribal Group

Alternate Names: Hill Pulaya, (Mala Pulayan, Kurumba, Pulayan, aravazhi Pulayan, Pamba Pulayan)

Total Population -3092 & Literacy 45.9 %

  • Malappulayan are seen in Chinnar and Marayur area (Devikulam taluk) of Idukky district.
  • Main occupation of Kurumba pulayar are goat farming and collection of forest produces, Karavazhi Pulayan are engaged in
  • It is believed that they had migrated from Madurai (Tamilnadu). Near Marayur there is a Malappulayan community settled in a colony built by the government.
  • They cultivate sugarcane which is popular in the area.

Malavedan Tribal Group

Alternate name: Malai Vedan

Total Population -2435 & Literacy 44.53%

  • Mala Vedans are found in the Pathanamthitta, Thiruvanathpuram and Idukki districts in Kerala.
  • The main occupation is hunting and collection of forest produces.

Malakkuravan Tribal Group

Population – 584  & Literacy 49.38 %

  • The Malakkuravan’s are found in Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta, and Kottayam districts.
  • They are engaged in hunting, collection of honey and agriculture. Women are engaged in fire-wood collection, fortune-telling and palmistry.

Malasar Tribal Group

Population – 967&  Literacy 12.47 %

  • Malasar people are seen in Palakkad and Thrisur districts. This once nomadic people are now they are settled in colonies, provided by the goverment. Maha Malasar is a subcommunity among them who are found at some parts of Thekkedi in the Parambikulam forests.
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