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

thumb|right|180px|A Veddah hunter with bow and arrow

Veddas were originally hunter-gatherers. They used bows and arrows to hunt game, harpoons and toxic plants for fishing and gathered wild plants, yams, honey, fruit and nuts. Many Veddas also farm, frequently using slash and burn 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).

thumb|left|60px|Traditional Vedda bow and fishing harpoon

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.

thumb|Some of the bows used by the Veddahs

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 (Eleusine coracana) 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 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

Some observers have said Veddas are disappearing and have lamented the decline of their distinct culture. Land acquisition for mass irrigation projects, government forest reserve restrictions, and the civil war have disrupted traditional Vedda ways of life. Between 1977 and 1983 under the Accelerated Mahaweli Development Project and colonization schemes, more than 50,000 hectares were turned into a large hydroelectric dam and irrigation project. Subsequently, the creation of the Maduru Oya National Park deprived the Veddas of their last hunting grounds.

However, cultural assimilation of Veddas with other local populations has been going on for a long time. "Vedda" has been used in Sri Lanka to mean not only hunter-gatherers but also to refer to any people who adopt an unsettled and rural way of life and thus can be a derogatory term not based on ethnic group. Thus, over time, it is possible for non-Vedda groups to become Veddas, in this broad cultural sense. Vedda populations of this kind are increasing in some districts.

In zoology

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

A species of Sri Lankan snake, Indotyphlops veddae, was named in honor of the Vedda.

See also

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

References

Bibliography

Further reading

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