Legend of the ‘Niya Atto’ Nittaewo:

Unearthing the Folklore

Amalshan GUNERATHNE

The dwarves, elves, goblins or midgets may it be, the stories and legends which revolve around mythical creatures have always had the capacity to fascinate, enthral and intrigue the human mind. As spectacular though they may sound, sometimes you wonder whether there is more to such stories than just myth and magic.

The legends about creatures such as Big Foot and Yeti have aroused a great sense of fascination that ultimately led to scientific studies about these species. The fact is that no matter how sensational the legends may be, they could still shed light on great mysteries about our roots. Sadly though, not many meaningful scientific and archaeological research has been conducted to unearth the roots of our own local legend the ‘Nittaewo’.

However, the folklore about the local dwarfish race ‘Nittaewo’ is fascinating study. The legends derive mainly from two sources. The first source of study is the records of the British civil servant, Hugh Neville which was drafted during 1886. The other source is the records of the British Forest Officer Fredrick Lewis. Both were recorded after gathering information from local villages and ‘Vaddas’. Lewis made his records after his encounter with his Vadda guide Dissenhamy. It was noted that Dissenhamy vividly narrated the legend of ‘Nittaewo’ to the British official.

According to what was said by ‘Dissenhamy’ to Lewis, Nittaewo had very powerful arms and strong hands which gave them the ability to tear apart and disembowel anything they captured, within minutes. Dissenhamy also said that they had nails like talons of an eagle. The very name ‘Nittaewo’ derives from the Sinhala term ‘niya aththo’ (the ones with nails).

According to his tales, the Nittaewo surrounded their prey, if it was a small animal, and beat it to death with stones. Then they tore open its belly and drank its blood. Their language was very much similar to the twittering of the birds. Their legs were hairy like that of monkeys. The females were said to be shorter than the males and they lived in caves, hollow trees and crevices.

Speaking to Daily News Punch Pradeep A Jayatunge, author of Nittaewo, the Hobbits of Sri Lanka said, “Vaddas perceived them as savage cannibals. Dissenhamy’s reports say, if they come upon a sleeping Vedda, they fell on him and disembowelled him at once with their talons. According to legend they were in competition with local Vaddas for the same resources, ultimately becoming a nuisance to the Vaddas. Consequently they chased Nittaewos with dogs, cornered them and trapped them in their cave, piled firewood at the entrance and kept the fire burning till they suffocated to death.”

However, what makes the ‘Nittaewo’ folklore so credible is that we do not associate any supernatural element with their tales. “The unique factor about Nittaewo tales is that the stories do not depict Nittaewos as creatures that possess magical abilities. Nittaewo tales don’t have the supernatural element, which makes it a very credible legend. The other important factor is that the time of their extinction is consistent in every tale,” Pradeep noted.

Pradeep A Jayatunge

Sampath de Alwis Goonatilake, Programme Officer, IUCN

Nonetheless, many speculations have been made as to the authenticity of the legend. Some disregard the existence of ‘Nittaewo’ saying that they were just a figment of imagination. Sampath de Alwis Goonatilake, ICUN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Programme Officer noted, “Many speculations exist with regard to the Nittaewo legend. Some believed that people mistook Sun bears (‘Rahu Valasa’) for Nittaewos. Some suggest that it could just be some monkey species. But at the same time there could be a possibility that they could be an isolated species which evolved from Australopithecus or other humanoid species.”

Known writers such as R L Spittel have theorized that ‘Nittaewo’ were nothing but a hairy bear species. Spittel was told by a young village boy that Nittawaewos were shaggy-haired dwarfish creatures with long nails that walked like men. Judging from such stories, perhaps Spittel might have come to the conclusion that Nittaewo could either be brown bears or sloth bears, mistaken for a humanoid species.

But disregarding Spittle’s view, Pradeep Jayatunge explained, “Even when Hugh Neville conducted studies on Nittaewo, local villagers characterized them as bear-like creatures covered in fur. But when he inquired from Vaddas whether the Nittaewos had long hair, they were amused. Vaddas told Neville that Sinhala locals have confused brown bears with Nittaewo in making such assumptions. Vaddas knew how to identify brown bears. Therefore Nittaewo has to be a different species altogether.”

Regardless of the many speculations, no physical evidence has been unearthed to prove their existence. Although many legends have been circulating throughout the world about such species, many such tales are yet to be proven by hardcore scientific and physical evidence. However, the studies of such creatures took a positive change with the discovery of Homo Florensiensis in Indonesian island Flores. The discoveries were significant, because a legend about a humanoid creature called Ebu-Gogo who resembled the same physical size as Homo-Florensiensis had persevered for years in the region. Strangely though, the Indonesian legend of Ebu-Gogo and Sri Lankan legend of Nittaewo have almost identical storylines. The end of the both stories is almost identical. Even in the Ebu-Gogo legend, they were said to have been exterminated by locals after being trapped in a cave. “I find the similarities between the two tales rather strange and fascinating,” says Pradeep.

However, without clear physical evidence, the tale of ‘Nittaewo’ would remain a mere fable. The lack of sources of study on the subject is one of the major factors that threaten the legend. Almost all the studies and assumptions on Nittaewo are based on what Neville and Fedrick Lewis had to say. During the early 1960s, P Daraniyagala and some others conducted archaeological studies in the area, but apart from this not enough scientific studies have been done on the subject of Nittaewos.

“We do not have a system where archaeologists go parallel with the legendary tales and try to uncover the truth. Till physical evidence of ‘Troy’ was found, the city was just a fabled place in a piece of literature. Those archaeologists followed the legend and unravelled the truth.” Pradeep reiterated that it is the responsibility of our anthropologists and archaeologists to do a proper research on the subject of Nittaewo. “Even now, if we do a proper scientific, archaeological excavation in the Panama area, we could unearth some evidence, which would shed light on the Nittaewo story. I am not saying that we will find hardcore evidence, but at least we can try.”