Kolam Tribes

• 14 May 2019

Why is it in News?

Kolam tribals of Adilabad district are in fear again of someone casting an evil eye on them after the death of three children of the group. Earlier, the superstitious nature of the tribe often has villagers shifting locations.

About Kolam Tribals:

• Kolam are a designated Scheduled Tribe in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
• They practice agriculture and have a patriarchal society.
• Kolam tribals are listed as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) in the state of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.
• Kolam tribals speak Kolami language.

Other Tribal Groups in News:

Toda Tribe:

• Toda people are a Dravidian ethnic group who live in the Nilgiri Mountains of Tamil Nadu.
• The life of Toda people is dependent upon the Shola forest of the Nilgiri region. They worship mainly the forces of nature like hills, mountains etc.
• They live in small thatched houses which are called dogles/munds, primarily built with bamboo, grass and cane.
• ‘Pukhoor’ is the hand embroidery craft of the Toda people that is mainly done by women. This embroidery of the tribe has been given the Geographical Indicator Tag.

Monpa Tribe:

• The Monpa tribe is a major ethnic group of Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India.
• They are also one of the 56 officially recognized ethnic groups in China.
• Monpa people are completely dependent upon the cattles/animals like sheep, yak etc. for their survival.
• Their languages have usually been assumed to be a part of the Tibeto-Burman languages separate from the Tibetic cluster. They are written with the Tibetan alphabet.

Source: TH