Vedda

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Vedda

Tamils

The Vedda (

The Ratnapura District, which is part of the Sabaragamuwa Province, is known to have been inhabited by the Veddas in the distant past. This has been shown by scholars like Nandadeva Wijesekera. The very name Sabaragamuwa is believed to have meant the village of the Sabaras or "forest barbarians". Place-names such as Vedda-gala (Vedda Rock), Vedda-ela (Vedda Canal) and Vedi-Kanda (Vedda Mountain) in the Ratnapura District also bear testimony to this. As Wijesekera observes, a strong Vedda element is discernible in the population of Vedda-gala and its environs.

Etymology

Ethnonyms of Vedda include Vadda, Veddah, Veddha and Vaddo.^[5] "Vedda" is either a Dravidian word that stems from the Tamil word Vēdan meaning "hunter",^{[5][9][10][11]} or from Sanskrit vyādha ("hunter") or veddhṛ ("the one who pierces").^[12]

Population affinities

Anthropology

The Vedda are often seen as the native population of

A 2013 craniometric study by Raghavan et al. showed that the Vedda are closely related to other groups in Sri Lanka and

Genetics

Groups ancestral to the modern

In one study on maternal (mitochondrial DNA) haplogroups in Sri Lankan populations (the Vedda,

Another study on maternal haplogroups in Sri Lankan groups (also the Vedda, Sri Lankan Tamil, and Sinhalese) found similar results, with the Vedda belonging predominantly to the mitochondrial haplogroup N (which "exists in almost all European, Oceanian, and many Asian and Amerindian populations.") and its subgroups U and R (with those comprising about two thirds of their maternal lineages), differing from other South Asian groups (such as the Sri Lankan Tamil, Sinhalese, and several Indian Tribal groups) among whom haplogroup M is predominant. The study also found that "South Asian (Indian) haplogroups were predominant" in the three Sri Lankan groups (including the Vedda) but that the Sinhalese, Sri Lankan Tamil, and Vedda populations also "had a considerable presence of West Eurasian haplogroups." One phylogenetic study on mitochondrial DNA hypervariable segments HVI and part of HVII showed the Vedda to be "genetically distinct from other major ethnic groups (Sinhalese, Sri Lankan Tamils and Indian Tamils) in Sri Lanka." Another study on alpha-2-HS-glycoprotein allele frequency showed the Veddas and Sinhalese to be more biologically related to each other than to most other ethnic groups in Asia.^[18]

Language

The original language of the Veddas is the

.

The parent Vedda language(s) is of unknown

substratum

influence in the formation of Sinhala.

Veddas that have adopted Sinhala are found primarily in the southeastern part of the country, especially in the vicinity of Bintenne in Uva Province. There are also Veddas that have adopted Sinhala who live in Anuradhapura District in the North Central Province.^[19][20]

Another group, often termed

Cultural aspects

Language

The parent of Vedda language is of unknown

Veddas consider the Vedda language to be distinct from Sinhala and use it as an ethnic marker to differentiate them from Sinhalese people.[24]

Religion

The original religion of Veddas is animism. The Sinhalized interior Veddahs follow a mix of animism and nominal Buddhism; whereas the Tamilized east coast Veddahs follow a mix of animism and nominal Hinduism with folk influences among anthropologists.^{[clarification needed]}

One of the most distinctive features of Vedda religion is the worship of dead ancestors, who are called nae yaku among the Sinhala-speaking Veddas and are invoked for the game and yams.^[25] There are also peculiar deities unique to Veddas, such as Kande Yakka.^[26]

Veddas, along with the Island's

There are a number of less famous shrines across the island which are sacred to the Veddas as well as to other communities.^[27]

Rituals

Vedda marriage is a simple ceremony. It consists of the bride tying a bark rope (Diya lanuva) that she has twisted, around the waist of the groom. This symbolizes the bride's acceptance of the man as her mate and life partner. Although

marriage between cross-cousins was the norm until recently, this has changed significantly, with Vedda women even contracting marriages with their Sinhalese and Moor neighbors.

In Vedda society, women are in many respects men's equals. They are entitled to similar inheritance. Monogamy is the general rule, though a widow would frequently marry her husband's brother as a means of support and consolation (levirate marriage). They also do not practice a caste system.^[28]

Death, too, is a simple affair without ostentatious funeral ceremonies where the corpse of the deceased is promptly buried.

Burial

Since the opening of colonization schemes, Vedda burials changed when they dug graves of 1.2–1.5 m (4–5 feet) deep and wrapped the body wrapped cloth and covered it with leaves and earth. The Veddas also laid the body between the scooped out trunks of the gadumba tree (

pouch of the deceased were eaten after his death.

Cult of the dead

The Veddas practice what is referred to by Western ethnologists as "a cult of the dead".(Seligman and Seligman,1911) The Vedda perception of the world when originally studied in the mid 19th and early 20th centuries was not divided into polarities as life and afterlife or living and dead. At that time when asked whether the dead lived on as spirits they found that "they did not consider whether the departed were living or dead, they were just spirits...all spirits were alike neither good nor bad". (Seligmann and Seligmann,1911)

In the words of John Bailey studying this population in 1853 "the Veddahs have a vague belief in a host of undefined spirits, whose influence is rather for good than evil...they believe the air is peopled by spirits, that every rock and every tree, every forest and every hill, in short every feature of nature, has its genus loci;but these seem little else than nameless phantoms whom they regard with mysterious awe than actual dread". (Bailey, 1863).

In addition to this experience of the world often referred to as "animism" they have a belief that after death every relative is a spirit "of those who watches over the welfare of those left behind. These, which include their ancestors and their children, the term their 'nehya yakoon', kindred spirits. They describe them as ever watchful, coming to them in sickness, visiting them in dreams, giving them flesh when hunting". (Bailey, 1863)

The Vedda behavior at the time of these original ethnological studies regarding the recently dead is quite different from our behavior toward the dead. "When a person dies it is the hetha that killed him; and the hetha of the dead one remains by the corpse and haunts the vicinity for years." (Spittel, 1945)

The majority of the Vedda tribes studied at that time held what is referred to as a "kirikohraha ceremony". This was often held "to present an offering to the newly dead within a week or two of their decease...The yaku of the recently dead....are supposed to stand towards the surviving members of the group in the light of friends and relatives, who if well treated will continue to show loving kindness to their survivors, and only if neglected will show disgust and anger by withdrawing their assistance, or becoming actively hostile." (Seligmann and Seligmann,1911)

Sources of verified research:

Bailey,John, An Account of the Wild Tribes of the Veddahs of Ceylon: their Habits,Customs and Superstitions. (Transactions of the Ethno-logical Society of London, Vol 2 London 1863) found inHuman Relations Files, Microfiche ed.AX5/771

Seligmann, C.G. & Brenda Z. Seligmann The Veddas ( Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1911) found in Human Relations Area Files, Microfiche ed., AX5/769 (New Haven, Ct. : Human Relations Area Files

Spittel,Richard Lionel, Wild Ceylon: Describing in Particular the Ljves of the Present Day Veddas. Third Edition. (Colombo: Printed by the Ceylon Daily News for General Publishers Ltd., 1945 in Human Relations Area Files, Microfiche ed. AX/771 (New Haven, CT.: Human Relations Area Files)

Clothing

Until fairly recent times, the clothing of the Veddas was limited. In the case of men, it consisted only of a loincloth suspended with a string at the waist, while in the case of women, it was a piece of cloth that extended from the navel to the knees. Today, however, Vedda attire is more covering, men wear a short sarong extending from the waist to the knees, while the women clad themselves in a garment similar to the Sinhala diya-redda which extends from the breast line to the knees.

Music

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Bori Bori Sellam-Sellam Bedo Wannita,

Palletalawa Navinna-Pita Gosin Vetenne,

Malpivili genagene-Hele Kado Navinne,

Diyapivili Genagene-Thige Bo Haliskote Peni,

Ka tho ipal denne

— A Vedda honeycomb cutter's folk song^[29]

Meaning of this song: The bees from yonder hills of Palle Talawa and Kade suck nectar from the flowers and made the honeycomb. So why should you give them undue pain when there is no honey by cutting the honeycomb.

Livelihood

Veddas were originally

or swidden cultivation, which is called Hena in Sri Lanka. East Coast Veddas also practice sea fishing. Veddas are famously known for their rich meat diet. Venison and the flesh of rabbit, turtle, tortoise, monitor lizard, wild boar and the common brown monkey are consumed with much relish. The Veddas kill only for food and do not harm young or pregnant animals. Game is commonly shared amongst the family and clan. Fish are caught by employing fish poisons such as the juice of the pus-vel (Entada scandens) and daluk-kiri (Cactus milk).

Vedda culinary fare is also deserving of mention. Amongst the best known are gona perume, which is a sort of sausage containing alternate layers of meat and fat, and goya-tel-perume, which is the tail of the monitor lizard (talagoya), stuffed with fat obtained from its sides and roasted in embers. Another Vedda delicacy is dried meat preserve soaked in honey. The Veddas used to preserve such meat in the hollow of a tree, enclosing it with clay.

Such succulent meat served as a ready food supply in times of scarcity. The early part of the year (January–February) is considered to be the season of yams and mid-year (June–July) that of fruit and honey, while hunting is availed of throughout the year. Kurakkan (

) is cultivated very often. Maize, yams, gourds and melons are also cultivated. The Veddas used to live in caves and rock shelters. Today, they live in huts of wattle, daub and thatch.

In the reign of Datusena (6th century CE) the Mahaweli ganga was diverted at Minipe in the Minipe canal nearly 80 km (47 miles) long said to be constructed with help from the Yakkas. The Mahawamsa refers to the canal as Yaka-bendi-ela. When the Ruwanweli Seya was built in King Dutugemunu's time (2nd century BCE) the Veddas procured the necessary minerals from the jungles.

Parakrama Bahu the Great (12th century), in his war against the rebels, employed Veddas as scouts.

Rajasinghe II (17th century), in his battle with the Dutch, had a Vedda regiment. In the abortive Uva-Welessa revolt of 1817–1818 of the British times, led by Keppetipola Disawe, the Veddas too fought with the rebels against the British forces.

Current status

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1881	2,200	—
1891	1,200	−45.5%
1901	4,000	+233.3%
1911	5,300	+32.5%
1921	4,500	−15.1%
1931	5,200	+15.6%
1946	2,400	−53.8%
1953	800	−66.7%
1963	400	−50.0%
1971		—
1981		—
1989 (est.)		—
2001		—
2011		—
Source: Sri Lankan Government Census.

Some observers have said Veddas are disappearing and have lamented the decline of their distinct culture.

However,

In zoology

A spider genus endemic to Sri Lanka was named Wanniyala as a dedication to Sri Lanka's oldest civilized people.^[42]

A species of Sri Lankan snake,

See also

• South Asian ethnic groups
• Charles Gabriel Seligman
• The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

References

Bibliography

• Brow, James (1978). Vedda Villages of Anuradhapura. University of Washington Press.
• Dharmadasa, K. N. O. (February 1974). "The Creolization of an Aboriginal language:The case of Vedda in Sri Lanka (Ceylon)". Anthropological Linguistics. 16 (2).
  JSTOR 30029514
  .
• ISBN 90-04-10390-2
  .
• Seligmann, Charles; Seligmann, Brenda (1911). The Veddas. Cambridge University Press.

Further reading

• Lee, Richard B.; Daly, Richard, eds. (March 2005). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Hunters and Gatherers. Cambridge University Press.
  ISBN 0-521-60919-4
  .

External links

A great deal of information on them can be found at Vedda.org

• Survival International profile on the Wanniyala-Aetto
• Sri Lankan history
• Veddas - now only a household name
• Veddas of Sri Lanka
• Last of the Devil Dancers