A changed Veddha

Uvindu ILLEPERUMA in Dambana, Mahiyanganaya

The deprivation of our own identities with exposure to the swift commercialization world cannot be undone since commercialization has overdriven our lives stealthily.

What we witness today in every lifestyle and every walk of lives is shaped or crafted by the determinations of the commercial agendas.

The recent visit to Dambana has proved that the Veddha people also could not withstand the pressures of commercialization and the importance attributed to money. Veddha people had become one of the good reasons for tourists to visit them and to look into their intrinsic lifestyle which was totally different to that of our ways of living.

Yes, they were living a totally different lifestyle in the gone past. What caused me to opine like this is a statement made by a member of the Dambana Veddha community. "Mahaththya, Mehe veddho na. Balanna ena aya thama Veddho"( Sir, there are no Veddha people here. We are not Veddhas. The people who comes here to see the Veddha are the real Veddhas. )

With the influx of local and foreign tourists coming into Dambana, their patterns of income now depends on the dealings they would do with the tourists. No sooner you get down from the vehicle even little children come to you asking for us to fancy their performances (songs and dances) for money. Most of the children have stopped schooling to become the marketers of their culture.

We have no right to say that they should not live their life accordingly to our ways. They have the right to engage in any of the legal industry they like. They can dress the way they wish and they can eat what they like. But there are some points to which they are still unknown to. Still they are marketing their intrinsic culture. What they are not doing is they do not try to enhance their culture to market it further for future sustenance of their tribe. Instead, what they are doing is none other than embracing the cultures of the tourists who come to visit them. In the near future they will definitely lose their cultural identity since they have no plan to promote their culture. On the other hand, no one will come to see their traditions when they follow the traditions of the people who come to visit them. What would be left to them is to market their loss of identity at the end.

No restatements are needed to say the loss of their identity would confuse the contemporary way of living which is dependent on the tourism. No matter what facilities they enjoy they have the responsibility to protect their traditions. They are deviating to our culture without knowledge. Most of the people in the Veddha community are still illiterate to withstand the coming challenges. If they are educated they can find a solution to it. Yes, there are famous educated ones in the Veddha community but it is a surprise to us even why they are hamstringing these negative trends.

Sri Lanka is not the only country having aborigines and tourists visiting them. In most of the countries tourism is conducted with those aborigines while promoting the culture of their respective tribes. If the Veddha people think they would be successful by deviating into our culture, that is a flimsy idea.

They may be thinking that they cannot be akin to outside society by being in their tribe. But the only way of being akin to outside society can only be determined by being a member of their community.

If these things are not taken into considerations these aboriginal people will have to face the same aftermath Red Indians had to face in American hemisphere.