Today is International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples:

Experiencing the Adhivasi life

by Mahil Wijesinghe

Typical Adhivasi house

It was a sunny day and the harsh rays of the sun bounced off the green foliage of the verdant forest canopy, sparking off a dance in the darkness of the jungle. I am at Dambana, the ancestral habitat of the Veddas or Adhivasi as they are called, about 20 kilometres from Mahiyangana, to experience a way of life that is fast getting relegated to history books - the lifestyle of the Adhivasi community.

As I get down from my vehicle, a self-appointed young Adhivasi guide attaches himself to my side, guiding me along the footpaths and forest cover, giving me an experience of Dambana before taking me to the house of the present Vedda clan chief, UruwarigeWannila Aththo, son of Uruwarige Tissahamy. Chiefdom in the Vedda society, like in any dynasty, is passed on from father to son.

An Adhivasi making Roti

Legends hold that the Veddas are descendants of the fabled founder of the Sinhala race, Prince Vijaya, who came from North India 25 centuries ago and married a native princess called Kuveni. Anthropologists however, trace the Vedda lineage to early farmers who ranged from as far as Australia 25,000 years ago.

Dwindling

In the course of the past half-century, a significant portion of the dwindling Vedda population still living in the remotest reaches have abandoned their traditional jungle habits of hunting and gathering, and taken up lives as farmers opting for an alternative life style: Many now live side by side with the Sinhala peasantry in the Central and Uva Provinces around Mahiyangana and Bibile. Similarly, a few hundred of them in the Eastern Province, near Gal Oya, have assimilated with the Tamil population of the area and adopted Tamil ways and customs.

Today, the Veddas are a fast-vanishing tribe, though the chief, Wannila Aththo, has to date staunchly withstood pressure to coax his people out of the jungle habitats that have been the sanctuary of their forefathers for millennia.

The land of Bintanna to the south east of Kandy was once a mighty forest abundant with wildlife. The Veddas made this land their home and the jungle near Dambana provided the traditional hunting ground.

The Mahaweli development program in 1980 greatly affected not only the environment of the Adhivasi, but also their traditional way of life. With this doorway to civilisation opening in their midst, the Veddas have accepted that their primitive lifestyle cannot survive for much longer.

UruwarigeWannilaAththo, Chief of the Adhivasi clan in Dambana

A closed front door of an Adhivasi house

Today, around 200 Vedda families live in their ancestral homeland of Dambana and in villages such as Kotabakina, Kandeganwila and Keragoda. A majority of the villagers who accepted relocation to Hennanigama, 60 kilometres from Dambana, were given all facilities, including land, proper access way, wells and money to build their homes. Most are happy with their new life as farmers, but some miss the thrill of the hunt.

Dambana has become a destination for visitors and the Vedda village is changing-gradually, becoming more a model village of a once upon a time lifestyle, with the inhabitants relying more and more on making and selling various souvenirs, as a livelihood, rather than hunting, which was the livelihood of the Vedda forefathers.

Traditions

However, not all traditions have been wiped out. The Adhivasi clan still worships tree gods and practice many traditional exorcist rituals such as Kiri Koraha, to invoke the blessing of their dead, who lie buried in the Dambana jungle. They invoke the spirits of the Nae Yakku to protect them from calamity, disease and distress.

As I approach, a group of young Adhiwasis are waiting to perform the Kiri Koraha ritual to invoke blessing on visitors to Dambana. Though the adult visitors are eager to observe the ritual and receive the blessings of the Kiri Koraha, it is a traumatic experience for the children, many of who tightly cling on to their parents.

In the village, clan chief, Uruwarige Wannila Aththo, relaxes on a mat, with his famed axe resting on a stand made of clay. His hut, usually the centre of attention, has thatched roofing and mud walls. The latter is covered in framed, colour and black and white photographs of his meetings with Buddhist monks and various dignitaries, both local and foreign. In the corner of the hut are several bottles of herbal oil and bee honey. These are for sale.

Young Adhivasi performing the ancient ritual of ‘KiriKoraha’

As much as trade is becoming a new way of life, a koda moment with the Vedda chief has also become part of the Dambana experience, with every visitor clicking a selfie or posing for a photograph with the Wannila Aththo.

The chief's son and heir, Uruwarige Gunabanda, a young man with a scanty beard and mustache, sits in a sits in a shaded area of the forest near his father's hut, axe on shoulder in traditional Vedda style. Like his father and grandfather, he too will one day don the mantle of the clan chief, but just how true to tradition the clan will remain is left to be seen.

Rare

One of the most striking features of the Dambana village is its museum, which showcases weapons and utensils used by the Veddas when times were different. These together with the rare photographs of early generations of the Adhivasi people prod home the reality of changing times, changing lifestyles.

The museum, propped up with clay walls also contains a few cave drawing done by the Adhivasi peoples during the stone-age. Both the lifestyle depicted in the drawing and the items on display are alien to the younger generation of Adhivasis, who are rapidly acclimatizing themselves to change. Some of them have become paddy cultivates and some have taken up other professions. They look to the future with great expectations.