Home First Project Wayanad Tribal Groups Kattunayakans
Kattunayakans PDF Print E-mail

Background

The Kattunayakans, whose name translates literally to “king of the jungle,” are one of the earliest known Wayanad inhabitants who subsisted primarily on the collection of forest produce, agricultural labor, forest labor, and small scale cultivation (Kakkoth, 2005).

Values and Beliefs

99.27% of Kattunayakans believe in Hinduism (“Kattunayakan of India,” 2008), and most are firm believers in black magic and sorcery. The main deity of the tribe is Lord Shiva, and they also worship animals, birds, trees, rock and snakes, along with other Hindu deities. Kattunayakans are non-vegetarians and are also fond of music, song and dance (“Kattunayakan,” n.d.).

Socio-economic Development

Nowadays besides gathering minor forest produce, Kattunayakans are employed by the Forest Department as elephant keepers or by tea estates as wage laborers, and they have developed expertise in collecting wild honey and wax (Kakkoth, 2005). Limited groups rear and sell poultry, pigs, and goats to supplement their income (Shashi, 1997).

As of 1997, the literacy rate of Kattunayakans was 20.77%, and Kattunayakan families living inside the forest still remain apathetic in sending their children to school. Among this community, only a few have made use of the government-led financial support for rearing domestic animals and cultivating vegetables in their land. Some of them have benefited from housing projects, but it is said that that the houses constructed for them are of low quality and do not consider their needs and ecological conditions. Some have observed that this community is in a process of settling down in permanent abodes, shedding their nomadic tendencies. But the problem is that a sizable proportion of their population is still residing in reserved forests, and the forest laws do not permit a permanent abode for them (Kakkoth, 2005).

References
  • Kakkoth, S. (2005). The primitive tribal groups of Kerala: a situational appraisal. Studies of Tribes and Tribals, 3, 47-55.
  • Kattunayakan. (n.d.). Retrieved March 26 2008, from http://ctrdtrust.com/kattu.html
  • Kattunayakan of India. (2008, March 12). Joshua project. Retrieved March 26, 2008, from http://www.joshuaproject.net/peopctry.php?rop3=112684&rog3=IN
  • Shashi, P. S. (Ed.). (1997). Encyclopaedia of Indian Tribes. New Delhi: Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd.
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