Traditional Wisdom of Fishing Techniques and Rituals of Kuruman Tribe of Wayanad, Western Ghats

Abstract

Tribes residing in various parts of the world still use the traditional knowledge gained from their ancestors for the collection of wild and natural food. These techniques are usually simple and effective. It is essential to document the traditional knowledge (TK) of the tribes before these techniques get completely vanished. Wayanad district, in the North-East of Kerala, India, has the largest population of aborigine people and there are many tribal groups in this area. Fishes were found to be the major and easily available animal food source for them. Among the major tribal groups, mostly kurumans are involved in fi shing activities. Fishing is associated with their marriage, death and important festivals. The present study is an attempt to list out the various traditional fi shing gears of kuruman tribes of Wayanad district. A detailed survey was carried out in the selected tribal settlements of Wayanad district using unstructured questionnaire, among various age and gender groups. The results ratifi ed that traps were the major fi shing device of kurumans. Besides traps, simple gill nets, cast nets and lines are other fi shing gears of this community and there was no craft based fi shery. Study also revealed that fi shing had signifi cant role in their customs and important ceremonies, like marriage, death etc. Tribes agreed that fi sh availability was drastically reduced due to various anthropogenic activities, such as check dam construction for irrigation, and uncontrolled used of chemical pesticide in the agricultural fi eld. They were also aware of need for conservation of fi shery resources and the ecosystem.