They used to hunt small game with bows and arrows, and were expert rat catchers - these rodents formed a delicacy in their diets. They also had a variety of traps and snares. The meat would be distributed among them in traditionally sanctioned equitable basis. Non-tribal farmers desirous of getting rid of pestilential rats hired their rat-catching skills. They caught birds by using birdlime to make them stick to the specially treated bamboo sticks. They cultivated coarse grains for survival in shifting cultivation circuits, but depended mainly on roots and tubers, fruits and honey, to collect which they roam long distances. Their main occupation, other than shifting cultivation, is the collection of minor forest produce, which they now hand over to the co-operative societies. Many work as casual agricultural labour in the lands of the non-tribal ‘settlers' who have grabbed the forest lands in the area. Until the Abolition of Bonded Labour (Act of 1975), they used to be bonded for nominal amounts. Nowadays, after the enforcement of the Forest Conservation Act 1980, they are being re-located from their original habitats in areas near the forest peripheries. The Department has demarcated lands along the border to them for intensive agriculture. It is supposed to protect these lands by providing trenches, but contractors seldom do the work satisfactory, though of course they are paid the full amounts. A consequential experience is described below:
Around 1985, the Kattunaikkar of a portion of the Nilambur Forests that fell in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, were relocated at Appankappu, at the periphery of the forests. They had experience of shifting cultivation, which was severely put down. They were allotted ‘agricultural land' that they were expected to cultivate and make a living. The Kerala Agricultural University adopted them, trained them and helped them to cultivate various crops. The intensity of vegetation increased with tapioca, pulses, grass and fruit varieties. A trench that had been excavated b the Forest Department to keep wild life out had got silted due to lack of maintenance, even though contractors had been paid to do it. A herd of elephants soon enough thoroughly raided the crops. Being Kattunaikkar, they knew how to save themselves from the animals, but their crops were totally damaged. The departmental procedures took years to decide on the scale of compensation payable to them. In the meantime, the majestic tusker that had led the herd was found, shot dead by poachers. Kattunaikkar were suspected, probably with reason, for having helped the poachers.
The Kadar
The Kadar of Parambikulam form one of the communities most studied in the literature. A century back, Thurston recorded:
"Living an isolated existence, confined within the thinly populated jungle, where Nature furnishes the means of obtaining all the necessaries of life, the Kadar possess little, if any knowledge of cultivation... But armed with a keen-edge billhook, he is immense.... Give him a simple billhook and what wonders he will perform. He will build houses of etah so neat and comfortable as to be positively luxurious. He will make a raft of bamboos, a nerving knife out of etah, a comb out of bamboo, a fishing line out of fibre, and fire from dry wood. He will find food for you where you think you must starve, and show you the branch, which, if cut, will give you drink. He will set traps for beasts and birds, which are more effective than some of the most elaborate products of machinery..."
Thurston described the variety of food that Kadar had access to, without indulging in any cultivation activity whatever - succulent roots, bamboo seed, jungle fowl, pythons, deer, porcupines, field rats, wild pigs, monkeys, fruits - which gave each Kadar a "hard well-nourished body". The mealy portion of the cycas palm, thoroughly soaked in running water, dried and ground into flour, was baked in hot ashes. They had amazingly bold technologies to suspend themselves down precipitous rock faces, and collect honey from the ferocious rock bees, apart from ladders of bamboo for climbing trees well over 30 meters tall. They hunted small animals with the help of dogs, but preferred to trap them in a variety of ways. They had been doing all these things for millennia, and the Parambikulam Forests remain rich in wild life, despite a few decades of management by Forest Departments!
Of course, some of the BEST forests, thick and dense in the river valleys, have been permanently lost, inundated by the mighty reservoirs of the Parambikulam Aliyar Project, built by non-tribal Government Departments for non-tribal areas in Tamil Nadu. And the Kadar themselves have been impoverished, their sporadic efforts at cultivation doomed to be raided by wild life. They subsist as casual employees of the various Departments having jurisdiction there, and their contractors, tradesmen, subordinates, etc., who throng the place. Tourists contribute occasional tips and largesse. Cooperative Society has replaced the old MFP Contractor. The Government administer the customary "welfare". The forest is beautiful, teeming with wild life, but alas, the charges are so heavy that only the affluent and the privileged can visit and enjoy the facilities. This is another typical example of the refinement of a natural asset by Government agencies, until it becomes the limited resource of the elect few, especially the ‘sustainable' darlings of Globalized political economies, viz., the dollar-spending ‘foreign' tourists.
The Todas of Nilgiris
One of the most studied communities, the Toda were pastorals, with herds of buffaloes, some of which were considered ‘sacred' and formed the nucleus of their religious beliefs. They considered it beneath their dignity to cultivate land. Wealth of a family was measured by the number of buffaloes he had. Milk from their buffalo herds and tributes from other communities in the region constituted their means of livelihood. Milk itself was considered a sacred substance, to be reserved for the males of the tribe. But it could be converted into buttermilk, butter and ghee, which were marketable. Their homeland, the high ranges of the Nilgiris, were encroached upon by British holidaymakers, tea planters, traders and associated servants. The Toda became an object of study by anthropologists and others. Now, their social structures have been altered, and they are engaged in all sorts of economic activities. They cultivate various horticultural crops in their lands. Many are employed in the estates. Some are educated and have government jobs. The association with buffaloes and sacred dairies is not broken because of the religious significance, and because they are ‘tourist attractions'. Though not found in Kerala, they consider the Malleeswaran Peak in Attappady one of their deities. Though they have a well-developed language with oral literature of their own, they use a special language, similar to Malayalam, for secret sacred rituals and "magic" (sorcery). They dread the Kurumba of Attappady, and the associated Kurumba of Niligiris, as sorcerers.
