Kattunayakan (Kattunaika, Kattunaicken)

Appropriate education for Adivasi children: The Vidyodaya School model at Gudalur – Tamil Nadu

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The Viswa Bharati Vidyodaya Trust (VBVT) is a community-based organisation working with the Bettakurumba, Kattunayakan, Mullakurumba, and Paniya Adivasi communities in the Nilgiris since 1995, reimagining education as a path to dignity, identity and possibility. All four communities are recognised by the Government of India as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), reflecting both the depth … Read more

Learn more about tribal communities in Tamil Nadu

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Training and employment opportunities for India’s tribal youth: A round-up of recent initiatives and press reports – Kerala, Rajasthan & Telangana

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At a time when most art forms of the Scheduled Tribes in the country have faded into oblivion, the Kerala Institute for Research, Training and Development Studies of Scheduled Castes and Tribes (KIRTADS) in Kozhikode is on a mission to revive and reacquaint them to the new generation of the respective tribes. ‘Kol attai, Thotti Attai, Sododimi…’ … Read more

“We are nothing without the forest, and the forest is nothing without us”: Kattunayakans in the Nilgiris, one of the last few remaining honey gathering communities of the world – Tamil Nadu

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Living in the Nilgiris, the Kattunayakans are one of the last few remaining honey gathering communities of the world. Over many generations they have mastered the skills required to tap honey and they take great pride in their knowledge and expertise. For the tribal community, honey gathering is of social, cultural, economic and spiritual relevance. … Read more

“Rethinking tribals”: Articles on Adivasi culture in Folio Special issue

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Ever since the Portuguese travel writers and missionaries decided to describe the vast variety of ethnic and occupational groups and sects of the Indian subcontinent in terms of “caste” and “tribe”, the terms have stuck to society as long-worn masks that start becoming one’s real personality. The result is that today no Indian describes society … Read more