Veddahs are the indigenous inhabitants of Sri Lanka. In the past, they lived in the jungle,
were clad in leaves and bark cloths, lived in caves, rock shelters and under shady trees.
They sustained their lives with wild plants, bee honey, fish and meat. Hunting was their livelihood. Their lifestyle was very simple and the main objective of their existence was to procure food. They did not practise a sophisticated religion but believed in the dead spirits of their ancestors. They possessed the knowledge of simple witchcraft to drive away evil spirits and stay protected from unseen spirits.
In Sri Lanka, two types of Veddhas can be found. One is known as inland Veddhas who dwell in the interior of the island and the coastal Veddahs who are settled in the eastern coastal belt of Sri Lanka. Coastal Veddahs are fishermen and speak Tamil language. Their religion is largely influenced by Hinduism.
Presently, Veddahs have been absorbed largely into the modern Sinhala and Tamil cultures and their aboriginal way of life is diminishing at an alarming rate. Rapid urbanisation and laws pertaining to wildlife conservation have barred them from living their aboriginal lives. Hence, their indigenous way of life is largely threatened.
Today, the community is in a dilemma. They are at a stage of transition whether to be fully absorbed into the modern way of life or to stay away from the outer influences to preserve their aboriginal way of life. There are about five hundred thousand Veddahs scattered across 62 villages in 6 districts in the country.
Below are the excerpts of the interview the Sunday Observer had with the leader of Veddah community, Uru Varige Vanniyalaththo.
Q: Unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic caused drastic changes in the lives of people across the globe. How has this pandemic affected the indigenous Veddah community? Has the pandemic caused a tremendous transformation in the lifestyle of the indigenous people too?
A: Coronavirus disease did not affect the traditional Veddahs, I mean the ones who live exactly in accordance with the aboriginal way of life. They are a robust and healthy group of people. Their immunity is higher than the others. The reason is their way of life. They live in harmony with nature. They are least affected by any epidemic, pandemic, communicable or non-communicable disease.
When we fall ill, or experience any mild symptoms of an illness, we are used to boil and consume wild plant substances such as barks, flowers, leaves and roots of herbs. Such plants have medicinal properties and cure illnesses or mitigate the danger of an illness.
Those who have settled out of the jungle area are affected by the pandemic. Nevertheless, the magnitude of the seriousness of the pandemic is less in the Veddah villages in comparison to urban areas.
Q: You are an aboriginal medical practitioner. What is your opinion on the Covid-19 pandemic?
A: Although Coronavirus disease is new to others, it is not new to us. The only difference is the name. We, the indigenous people of this land call this kind of a pandemic by a different name. Our people too have experienced such diseases. This kind of diseaseis known in our language as Koalaya. In our own aboriginal medical stream, we have identified 18 Koalayas such as Sem Koalaya, Gal Koalaya, Kalu Koalaya, Ali Koalaya, Thunda Koalaya and Hathda Koalaya. Among the 18 Koalayas, there are malignantKoalayas. They sometimes are fatal.
Generally, fatal Koalayas are rare in the community. People are often affected by ordinary Koalayas which are mild. Fatal diseases are difficult to cure with medicine.
I think, Koalaya which had been identified by our aboriginal ancestors and the present coronavirus disease are the same. When someone is affected with Koalaya, they first get cold, cough and fever with aching of the throat. After about three days, phlegm starts releasing. Excessive phlegm causes breathing difficulties and sometimes pneumonia.
Q: What do you think is the reason for spreading this pandemic in Sri Lanka?
A: Recklessness of people has caused the fast spread of the virus. People do not take good care of their health. They should do it at least during a pandemic like this. A concoction made of ginger and coriander is effective as animmunity-boosting beverage. When the Covid-19 outbreak was reported in China for the first time, people in Sri Lanka were extremely cautious and such beverages were often consumed. When Covid-19 reached Sri Lanka, they behaved in an irresponsible manner.
You can see people in today’s world are treading on a different path. People of this country have a lofty indigenous tradition of medicine. Any disease can be cured with our indigenous medicines. Western medicine was introduced to Sri Lanka much later. Ancient people of Sri Lanka used parts of various plants such as leaves, flowers, fruits, bark and roots as medicines to cure illnesses.
When the Western stream of medicine was introduced to Sri Lanka, people switched from indigenous medicines to western medicines for their easiness. Indigenous medicines, although are good for the body and sometimes become food itself, are difficult to prepare. We need to go to the wilderness, identify herbs, collect them, grind, boil etc. to prepare them. The process is not easy, but the medicines are effective. And with the introduction of western medicines, pills and vaccines became readily available. It was easy for people to take pills even for a mild illness.
Taking heaps of pills can instantly cure illnesses, but they are not without side effects.
Going away from our traditional lifestyle has weakened their bodies. Any disease is easy to infect.
In comparison to the other communities in Sri Lanka, Veddahs are more resilient to diseases.
Q: No medicine has been found so far for the coronavirus disease. As an experienced aboriginal medical practitioner, have you ever come across any cure for this in Veddhah’s medicines?
A: As I mentioned previously, this is one of the 18 Koalayas as per our aboriginal stream of medicine. We can cure many Koalayas other than the fatal ones. We, the indigenous people believe that when someone falls ill, malignant spirits such as Yakshas play a part in it. We cannot cure the person by only providing him with herbal concoctions and applications. Witchcraft and wizardry should be performed to chase the malignant spirits along with medications to cure the ill person. We have an integrated system for curing which is effective.
Q: We can see that the education of the children is in the country is largely affected due to the pandemic. Has the education of the children of the Vaddah community been affected too?
A: There are about 62 Veddah villages in the country among them Ratugala, Nil Gala, Hennanigala, Pollebedda, Dambana, Dalukana and Vakaraiare considered the main ones. The children of the Veddah community do not have much facilities to study in comparison to those studying in town schools.
For the children in the town, going to school to study is a must. They have no other way of obtaining knowledge. They have a target exam and they study to pass that exam.
On the contrary, children of the Veddah community do not have such targets. They never target an exam and study to pass that. If they have the chance to go to school, they go to learn to read and write. If not, they will go to the wild and learn to survive.
Covid- 19 pandemic did not affect their education because, they do not give importance to the education they receive from books. During the pandemic, when other children were locked down inside the houses, our children were freely learning the lessons of life in the jungle. They are least stressed and affected. The experience and knowledge they receive by spending time with nature are priceless.
Q: What is your opinion on providing formal education to the children of the Veddah community. The more they are educated, there is the tendency that they give up their aboriginal lifestyle. Isn’t that a threat to the existence of your tribe?
A: In fact, if the Veddahs were allowed to live their aboriginal way of life without interference from the outside society or the authorities, we have no issues pertaining to our original existence. Now, the law has proscribed us to entering the wild where a large part of our existence is determined. If we were allowed to lead our pristine lives, I would say that nature gives our children the best education. They need not go to school for education. Wilderness is our school, university, temple, hospital and everything. The knowledge a child acquires from the wilderness in nonpareil.
Today, the Veddahs are deprived of the right to enter into or live in the jungle. When we no more can maintain our original way of life, we have no option but to be assimilated to the modern way of life with reluctance for our existence. This will pose a threat to our tribe, but we have no option. Simply because of that we cannot prevent our children from obtaining formal education.
Q: Veddahs can boast of a lofty food tradition. Apart from that their knowledge of the environment is exemplary. They have a distinct healing system coupled with occultism. If your future generations become assimilated into the modern way of life, how these lofty values, traditions and knowledge be bequeathed and preserved?
A: I don’t see it as a problem faced by only our tribe. This is a problem faced by the whole country. The ancient wisdom and knowledge are discarded by the present generation. Politicians and others in authority take little interest in such valuable assets of our ancestors. The culture, traditions, faiths and beliefs of this land are diminishing.
There are still some people who value ancient wisdom and try to preserve them and live in accordance with that. They are looked down upon by others. But if anyone adopts such a valuable way of life, chances are less that they go wrong.
However, with the restrictions to live our original way of life, the younger members of our tribe are required to go to town in search of jobs. It is natural for them to then adopt the modern way of life because, it is not practical to live like a Veddah in the town. Gradually, they shed the traditional and aboriginal way of life and adopt the modern way of life.
To be honest, the future of Veddahs is highly uncertain. In the decades to come, it may not be easy to find a genuine Veddah in this country.