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The Kondhas Tribals (Orissa)
The
Kondhas once infamous for their human sacrifice during British colonialism in
India are believed to be from the Proto-Australoid racial stock. They have a
distinct language called "Kui" which has no written script. They are
plain land dwellers exhibiting greater adaptability to the forest environment.
However, due to development interventions in education, medical facilities,
irrigation, plantation and so on and so forth, they have started adapting to
the great tradition or modern civilization standards in many ways. Their traditional
life style, customary traits of economy political organization, norms, values
and world view have been drastically changed over a long period of time.
The most primitive sub group of kondhas is the Dongaria Kondhas. They inhabit
the plateaus of Niyamgiri hill ranges which cover parts of Rayagada and Koraput
and Kalahandi districts. Their major concentration is found in the blocks of
Kalyansinghpur, Bissamcuttack and Muniguda. They are called Dongaria or dweller
of "donger"(hill in Oriya) and love to settle in higher altitudes
due to their economic demands. They are the most primitive tribe in the district
and declared as one of the 13 primitive tribes of the state. On the basis of
their pre agricultural economy and very low literacy level, two Dongaria Development
Agencies (DKDAs) are in operation in these two blocks for the integral development
of those communities. They have a subsistence economy based on foraging, hunting
& gathering but they now primarily depend on a subsistence agriculture i.e.
shifting cultivation or slash and burn cultivation or Podu.
The Dongaria family is often nuclear, although extended families are not unexceptional.
The Dongaria females are considered as an asset because of her contribution
inside and outside the household and she contributes on equal footing with the
male members in constructing
a
house to cultivation. She does all the work for household ranging from fetching
water from the distant streams, cooking, serving food to each member of the
household to cultivating, harvesting and marketing of produce in the market.
Hence, the total domestic economy revolves around her. "She" is preferred
over the "he". Due to this, the "Bride price" is paid to
her parents when she gets married which is a striking feature of the Dongorias.
However, the family is patrilineal and patrilocal.
The Dongorias practice polygamy. The family is mostly polygamous, which shows
how much the Dongoria society depends upon the resourcefulness of female members.
In Dongoria society incest taboo is prevalent. The clan or "Puja"
is exogamous, which means marriages are made outside the clan. But, the Dongoria
tribe is endogamous. The form of acquiring mate is often by capture or force
or elopement. However, marriage by negotiation is also practiced. The Dongorias
have a dormitory for adolescent girls and boys which forms a part of their enculturation
and education process. The girls sleep at night in the dormitory (Daa Sala)
and learn social taboos, myths, legends, stories, riddles, proverbs amidst singing
and dancing the whole night, thus learning everything that is expected from
a potential wife and mother.
