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| Wednesday, 10 March 2004 |
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Vignettes of Vedda country : Clans of Veddas by Gamini G. Punchihewa To many Sri Lankans caste or kulaya, is a social tag that has come down from time immemorial. With the recent social revolution caste consciousness is gradually dwindling. But the Veddas though fast becoming extinct still identify themselves by the waruge or the caste. Dr. R. L. Spittel in his 'Wild Ceylon' said the Veddas in 1925: There is almost certainly no Vedda today without some trace of 'Sinhalese' (or Tamil) blood in his veins. Today their descendants are commonly known as Gam Veddas. The waruges, or clans of the Veddas are Morana, Una Pane, Rugam, Tala, Debuna, Kiribo, Embille and Uru. The origin of each can be associated with some episode. As to the origin of Morana waruge, it appears that in days of yore, when Sinhalese kings wanted venison and honey they always obtained them from the chief of the Vedda clan. Once a certain queen developed a longing to taste mora fruit. The fruit was not in season at the time. When the need was proclaimed, a Vedda woman who had preserved some mora fruits in honey presented them to the king. The generation after her came to be known as Morana waruge. A king while out hunting in the jungles during a severe drought was fatigued and wanted to quench his thirst. There was not a drop of water in any stream or villu. A vedda woman saw a tiny spring of water trickling down from a rock. She cut a length of a bamboo from a nearby grove and tearing a piece of her cloth went to the spring and held it over the bamboo. As she squeezed the cloth drops of water fell into the bamboo. From this the king was able to satisfy his thirst. So all those who from her came to be known as the Una Pane Waruge (Una means in the Vedda language bamboo and Pane means a drink). The Rugam derive from an incident connected with the Rugam tank. Nomadic life The tank used to breach year after year during the floods, despite regular repairs of the damage. The king had a dream in which a spirit told him that if a pregnant woman was immured in the bund, it would never breach. A Veddha woman was sacrificed and her waruge got the name of the tank. Veddas always led a nomadic life. In the course of their peregrinations, women gave birth in various places. Once a child was born in a pig's hollow and after that incident Uru waruge come into being. Tala waruge originated when a birth took place in a talawa (plain or glade). The Nabudena, Kiribo and Embille clans were named after similar happenings, under Nebudena, Kiribo and Embilla trees. Today the only waruges that are spoken of are Morana and Una Pane. The other clans have ceased to exist. Pedigree The best known Veddas to go by the records of Dr. Spittel and foreign scholars like the Seligmanns and Dr. Sarasins in the early 20th century are those of Hennebedda, Danigala and Bingoda. With the inroads of civilisation like the damming of the Gal Oya, Hennebedda ceased to exist. The few Veddas who were there took refuge in Pollebedda. Those of Bingoda too evacuated about 20 years ago to Pollebedda, while those of Danigala (an ancestral Vedda rock about 2,000 feet high) migrated to Rathugala. These Veddas had their own pedigree with the ge name as the suffix. As to how they came by the ge names, their is a legend current. According to the Vedda law, when brothers of a clan went hunting, it was the eldest who should wield the bow and arrow to kill game. In a certain clan there were seven brothers - Maha Bandaralage Keerthie Bandara, Pe Bandara, Hanthana Bandara, Tala Bandara, Punchi Bandara and Ran Hotti Bandara. One day these seven brothers went hunting and they espied a sambhur. The youngest (known as Badapissa - Keerthi Bandara) who was a recalcitrant type of fellow, disdaining his brother's advice shot the sambhur. Over this infringement, a rift erupted among them and they went in different directions. The progeny of each had their own ge name thereafter. In this way, Maha Bandara, the eldest of the brothers, fled to Danigala hill in the Nilgalla range and his descendants were known as Danigala Maha Bandaralage. Hanthana Bandara went to Wellassa. Pe Bandara went to Maha Oya; Tale Bandara went to Kappangamuwa (in the Namal Oya area); Keerthi Bandara (Bada Pissa) to Nilgala and Punchi Bandara to Bulupitiya, in Bibile. The king used to bestow lands and other gifts on those who gave him kappam - meaning offering like honey and venison. The clan of Talaweyaya Veddhas were gifted with lands by the king and this land is still known as Kappangamuwa (now deserted). The only legacy they have left is an orchard of aralu, bulu and nelli (medicinal herbs). Some of these old descendants of Kappangamuwa are still living in Namal Oya. The Danigala Maha Bandaralage, Hanthana Bandaralage and Pe Bandaralage are the common Vedda ge names now found in these area. Burials The Morana clan of Veddas claim that they are the best waruges. However, Una Pane clan challenge them and they call the others the Uru Waruge (the lowest waruge). In this, of course, they are not different from people who go by caste. The traditional Vedda burials of the rock Veddas of the past who lived in rock caves and hunted game with bow and arrow to leave such dead bodies in the cave itself covered them with leaves or branches of trees. But owing to the inroads of civilisation into their habitat and intermarriages with the neighbouring Sinhalese, such burial customs petered out. In fact once, a death had occurred in their cave shelter, they abandoned it for one or two years and return later to it. But later, the borrowed burial customs from the Sinhalese in burying them in a scooped out trunk of the Godimba tree and laid it in it and was buried. Even still later when they lived in bark or wattle and daub huts, they used to leave it and build a separate once close to it. At the head of the grave, were kept three open coconuts and a small bundle of wood, while at its foot, were kept an opened coconut and an untouched coconut also. Some times, his possessions like the betel pouch, bow and arrow are buried with the corpse kept in the scooped out trunk of the Godimba tree. The placing of the coconut was to appease the relative dead spirit - Nae Yakka that was described in the article on the Kiri Koraha dance ritual. Land portion In those lawless days of the jungle, the rock Veddas had their land boundaries marked with the symbol of the arrow head on a tree. Thus defining each waruge's boundary. Anybody trespassing into it, was shot with the bow and arrow. His liver was taken out, later dried and kept in his betel pouch. This bizarre customs had faded long, long ago, as described in part II of this series. There were Panguwe Ralas (chieftains for each Panguwe) appointed to administer those marked boundaries. Their marriage customs, a nuptial knot (taken from the blast of the Niyada plant) was tied around the waist of the husband. It was renewed from time to time. Marriages were arranged by parents or close relatives. The dowry consisted of the bow, and arrow, betel pouch, hunting dog. Marriages to this day between blood cousins (children of the blood brothers) are a taboo. The correct marriage is between father's sisters' children. Fishing by rod was unknown to them. Instead they poisoned the swimming fish by extracting poisonous juice from the kala wel or the fruit of timbiri or Kukurumuwan. The juice is spread over the waters where shoals of fish are found. Owing to its poisonous dazed effects, the fish with their bloated bodies float down, when these are collected, dried or roasted over fire or taken fresh with some curry. **** Back **** |
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