It was an experience of a lifetime. We had our bags packed and were ready to go to a place called ‘Thandarai’, which we heard, had some organization that worked for the welfare of some tribe. After about two hours of train journey and another half an hour journey by the local bus we were dropped on the Thirukalakundram High Road, in the Eastern Ghats with no one around us. There was no sign of any living being, whatsoever.
With little ponds on one side and a small hill on the other, we walked for about two kilometers, down a quite, breezy, freshly laid tar road. At last we were there at the entrance of the ITWWS (Irula Tribal Women’s Welfare Society). Never did any one of us have the slightest imagination that there could ever be such a beautiful, quite, serene place 70 kms away from the city. And neither did we know that tea made using Hibiscus Petals (we were welcomed with one) would taste so good. It truly was a wonderful place.
“The Irula Tribal Women’s Welfare Society (ITWWS) is a non- government organization established in the year 1986 to document the traditional knowledge of the ‘Irula’ tribe for the empowerment of Irula women. ITWWS is a center for Irula tribes and has its own center in Thandarai village, 10 kms from Chengalpet town, south of Chennai. The ITWWS campus covers 15 acres surrounded by the Eastern Ghats landscape of low hills covered with forests of the “tropical evergreen scrub” type.
The Irulas are basically a semi-nomadic tribe. They are spread over a vast area of northern Tamilnadu and southern Andhra Pradesh and were initially hunter-gatherers depending on forest products for their day-to-day food and medicinal needs. They are the ultimate jungle folk, and their knowledge of plants and animals is a data bank of immense value. The Irulas typically live in small groups on the outskirts of villages. Their diet includes herbs, tubers, rats, termites, mongoose, turtles and monitor lizards.
The Irulas are one of the most marginalized groups in Tamilnadu. Their socio-economic rights as well as access to forests for minor-forest produce have been severely curtailed by society as well as government. The Irulas do not have any assets and they migrate for food and employment.
Most of them have serious health problems including sexually transmitted infections, and the children are malnourished and often chronically ill. They are landless laborers with a low participation in politics. They have lost their forest-based livelihoods supports and indigenous identity because of “modern culture”.
Illiteracy, poverty, steady exploitation and discrimination are some of the major problems faced by the Irulas every single day.
Immense Knowledge about medicinal Plants
Forest resources provide life to many communities and especially to the tribes/adivasis, through various means such as food, shelter, water, fodder, firewood and medicine. Among them medicinal plants are an important and valuable means of livelihood. They have tremendous scientific and commercial potential; but many species are in the verge of extinction because of unbalancing factors like de-forestation, over-grazing and over-extraction. Hence there is an urgent need to document and regenerate adivasi knowledge of medicinal plants.
There is close relationship between the adivasis and the natural forest. Due to forest conservation policies and environment protection laws the actual conservators (tribal people) have been displaced and forced to leave forest areas. The irula tribe is one of the victims of this process. A concrete strategy to reclaim such rights for adivasis will both protect forest resources as well as promote conservation practices.
A dwindling community!
The Irulas are considered to be the poorest tribal community with a population of just over 2.1 lakhs. They are concentrated mainly in the north-eastern parts of Tamilnadu and are traditionally hunters and food gatherers, very much known for their snake catching and rat catching skills.
As members of a cooperative they collect snake venom and sell it to the state for the production of anti venom serum. During the last century the community became nomadic, as they had to search for productive forestland. But their situation became impossible during the last forty years due to state interventions / ’development processes’ in the forest areas. They were forced to leave the forests.
The state has not provided any welfare services, reflected in low literacy (less than 4%), land or employment opportunities. They suffer from social and economic discrimination and with low life skills they can just about eke out a living. Irulas are landless and typically inhabit small hamlets on the fringes of villages; some of these settlements are located on the mouths of rivers and canals, which are good for fishing and hunting.
Equality is the substance of the Irula community in all aspects of hunting, sharing, eating, singing dancing and gender.
Customarily, they worship ‘Kanniyamma’, a version of Shiva’s wife Parvathi. There is annual festival in worship of Kanniyamma called mamsimagam, which is filled with singing and dancing and a gathering of over fifty thousand people. Irulas are known for their spiritual talent in fortune telling (“Kuri Solluthal”). The Irulas have their own marriage rituals, which they still follow. They do not cremate their dead; they bury them in separate burial grounds.
Economic situation of the Irulas!
Some of the Irulas in north Tamilnadu still continue to practice the traditional occupations of food gathering and snake catching for venom extraction. In Thiruvallur and Kanchepuram districts many of them (roughly 10,000) are working as bonded laborers in the rice-mills, earning an average of Rs.15 for an 18-hour day. In the brick making industries, the wages are about RS.60 a day for a man and Rs.40 a day for women.
While in the coastal areas, they work as construction workers, catching fish and taking up any other seasonal employment. For construction work, men earn about Rs.80 a day and women about Rs.60 a day for other agricultural and seasonal employment work, men earn Rs.50 a day and the women earn Rs.25 a day. In marine and inland fishing activities, the men catch fish, process it and sell it in nearby villages and in the process they earn about Rs.70 a day.
Health!
The Irula habitations on the coast are small and isolated habitations, and hygienic practices are low among the Irulas in the districts. They generally use the herbal medicines but many of them die due to serious illness, which cannot be treated by them. Hygiene is very poor especially among children and hence they become malnourished and fall victim to disease. Access to medical assistance is very limited; they cannot even visit the primary health centers.
Status of Women!
The women and children are the most neglected from the development process. Within the community however there is an equal status for women, there are no assets in any form and children lack opportunities to go to school, because of distances and discrimination. The Irula community did not consider education as an important dimension for the well being of their children, as they considered themselves to be alienated from entire development process and thus they did not show any interest to send their children to school. And therefore, there exists a very high prevalence of child labor.
But nowadays, the children have started going to schools. “Our children are the first generation of school goers in our community” says Rani, the Cultural Secretary of ITWWS proudly.
However due to the traditional practices, early marriage and early childbirth is common among the Irula community. And as a result of early marriage and childbirth the Irula women suffer from early adulthood and they face gynecology problems, which generally are not treated. Many women die due to complications during childbirth, as there is no trained assistance.
Government Service!
Most of the Irula community members do not have voter identity cards, as they are semi nomadic and their names, and/or any other information do not feature in any statistics. They do not have birth certificates, community certificates and ration cards. Due to the lack of all these, they are not considered to be eligible for any jobs in the government services.
Basic amenities like drinking water, electricity, roads, housing etc. are not provided in the Irula hamlets. They are an extremely knowledgeable and exceedingly skilled Tribe, which is pleading for recognition and livelihood at the same time.
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