The tribes of Odisha belong to three linguistic divisions, but they have many socio-cultural similarities between them. These commonalities signify homogeneity of their cultures, and together they characterize the notion or concept of tribalism. Tribal societies share certain common characteristics and these are distinct from complex or advanced societies. In India tribal societies had apparently been outside the mainstream of historical development of Indian civilization for centuries. Hence tribal societies manifest such cultural features which signify a primitive level in socio-cultural parameter.
Most of the tribal habitat is hilly and forest. Tribal villages are generally found in areas away from the flood plains near rivers. Most villages are uniethnic in composition, and smaller in size. Villages are often riot planned at all.
Tribal economy is characterized as subsistence oriented. The subsistence economy is based mainly on collecting, hunting and fishing (for example, Birhor, Kharia Hill), or a combination of hunting and gathering with shifting cultivation (eg, the Juang,, Hill Bhuyan, Lanji Saora, Kondh etc.) Even the so-called plow using agricultural tribes that often, wherever space is available, supplement their economy with hunting and gathering. Subsistence economy is characterized by simple technology, simple division of labor, small scale units of production and no capital investment. The social unit of production, distribution and consumption is limited to the family and lineage. Subsistence economy is imposed by circumstances beyond the control of human beings, the physical environment of poverty, ignorance of the art efficient exploitation of natural resources and lack of investment capital. It also implies the existence of exchange and the lack of trade.
Considering the general features of their (i) eco-system, (ii) traditional economy, (iii) supernatural beliefs and practices, and (iv) recent "impacts of modernization," the tribes of Odisha can be classified into six types, such as: (1) Hunting, collecting and gathering type (2) the type of cattle pastor, (3) Simple artisan type, (4) Hill and shifting cultivation type, (5) Settled agriculture type and (6) Industrial urban worker type.
Each type has a distinct style of life that could be better understood in the paradigm of man, nature and complexity of the spirit, that is, based on the relationship with nature, fellow men and the supernatural.
Tribes of the first kind, ie, Kharia, Mankidi, Birhor Mankidia and live in the forests of Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Sundargarh districts, exclusively depend on forest resources for their livelihood, practicing hunting, gathering and collecting. They live in small temporary huts made of materials found in the forest. Under constraints of their economic pursuit they live in isolated small bands or groups. With their primitive technology skills, limited and inflexible traditional and ritual practices, their way of life revolves around the forest. His world view is entirely consistent with the forest ecosystem. The population of tribes in Odisha, however, is small but its impact on the resources ever depleting forest is very significant. Socio-politically remained inarticulate and therefore remained at a relatively early stage, and also neglected.
The Koya which belongs to the Dravidian linguistic group, is the lone pastoral and cattle-breeder tribal community of Odisha. This tribe that inhabits the Malkangiri District has been facing crisis for lack of pasture.
In Odisha Mahali and crafts Kol-Lohara practice as basketry and black-smithy respectively. The Loharas with their traditional skill and primitive tools manufacture iron and wooden tools for other neighboring tribes, and thus gain their existence. Likewise the Mahalis earn their living by making baskets for other communities. Both tribes are now faced with the problem of shortage of raw materials. And yet they are not able to compete with others, especially in the tribal markets where goods from other communities come for sale, due to their primitive technology.
The tribes who practice hill and shifting cultivation are many. In northern Odisha the Juang and Bhuyan, and southern Odisha the Kondh cultivation, Saora, Koya, Parenga, Didayi, Dharua Bondo and changing practice. Foodgathering complement its economy and hunting as production in shifting cultivation is low. Shifting cultivation is essentially a regulated sequence of procedure designed to open and bring under cultivation patches of forest areas, usually on slopes.
In shifting cultivation the practitioners follow a standard cycle of activities which are as follows: (i) The selection of a piece of land or forest and hill slope of the distribution or placement of professionals for the same desired (ii) Worshipping of concerned deities and making of sacrifices, cutting (iii) of trees, shrubs, ferns, etc., existing on the land before summer months, (iv) Pilling trunks, shrubs and ferns in the land, (v) Burning of dry logs, ferns and shrubs etc. to ashes on a suitable day, (vi) cleaning the stain of earth before the onset of monsoon and the ashes spread evenly over the earth after a shower or two, (vii) Hoeing and showing of seeds on a regular basis beginning of monsoon rains, (viii) Crude bunding and weeding activities follow after seed germination, (ix) To assist and protect crops, (x) harvesting and gathering of crops, (xi) Threshing and grain storage, grain, etc., and (xii) Merry-making. These operations all the family members are involved in some form or another. Work is distributed among family members according to the ability of individual members. However, the head of the family assumes all the responsibilities and operation in practice of shifting cultivation. Adult males, between 18 and 60 years old with less take the strenuous work of cutting down trees, plowing and weeding, and watching of the crops at night where the cutting of grass and shrubs, cleaning seed for sowing and weeding are made by women.
Shifting cultivation is not only an economic pursuit of some tribal communities, but is responsible for their way of life. Their social structure, economy, political organization and religion are all responsible for the practice of shifting cultivation.
In the past, land in tribal areas had not been raised and resolved. Therefore, the tribals freely practiced shifting cultivation in their respective habitats assuming that land, forest, water and other natural resources belonged to them. The pernicious, but the inevitable practice of shifting cultivation continues unchecked and all attempts to wean away the tribals from shifting cultivation so far failed. The colonization scheme of the State Government failed in spirit.
In certain hilly areas terraces are built along the hillsides. Believed to be a step towards settled agriculture. Culture is practiced by terraces, and Gadaba Saora Kondh. The terraces are built on the hillsides with watercourses.
Several large tribes, such as, Santal, Munda, Ho, Bhumij, Oraon, Gond, Mirdha, Savara etc. are settled agriculturists, though supplement their economy with hunting, gathering and collecting. Tribal agriculture in Odisha is characterized by unproductive and uneconomic holdings, the land alienation indebtedness, lack of irrigation in undulating terrain, lack of credit facilities easy or smooth, as well as use of traditional skill and primitive tools. They generally raise only one crop during the monsoon, and therefore its economy to complement other types of subsidiary economic activities.
Tribal communities practicing settled agriculture also suffer from other problems, namely: (i) lack of record of right for land under occupation, (ii) land alienation (iii) debt problems, (iv) lack of energy for irrigation (v) lack of adequate roads and transport migration (vi) seasonal to other places for employees and (vii) lack of education and adequate scope for modernization.
Considerable crowding of the tribal people of Odisha moved to mining, industrial and urban areas to earn a living through wage labor guaranteed. During the last three decades the industrial process of urbanization in the tribal belt of Odisha has been accelerated through the operation of mines and establishment of industries. Most persons from advanced tribal communities, such as Santal, Munda, Ho, Oraon, Kisan, Gond etc. have led to this economic persecution in order to relieve pressure from their lands and other limited resources.
In some cases, industrialization and mining operations led to the eradication of tribal villages, and displaced became industrial nomads. They lost their traditional occupation, agricultural land, houses and other real estate. They have become unemployed and face unfair competition with other people in the labor market, their aspirations - a gradual climb, but invariably failed to achieve what they aspired to. Thus, the net result was frustration.
The kinship system of the tribes may generally be taken as tempered classificatory label. In the terminology the emphasis is on the unilinear principle, generation and age. Descent and inheritance are patrilineal and authority is patripotestal among all tribal communities of Odisha.
Among the tribes, there is very little specialization of social roles, except for role differentiation in terms of kinship and sex and some specialization in crafts, the only other role specializations are Head-man, Shaman, Priest, and the Haruspex.
There is very little rigid stratification of society. The trend towards stratification is gaining momentum among several settled agricultural tribes under the impact of modernization. The tribes of Odisha are at different levels of socio-economic development.
The position of the priest, the village chief and village head-man inter-are hereditary. The village chief is invariably clan original settlers' village, which is obviously dominant. Punishments or corrective measures are proportionate to the gravity of the violation of established norms or crime, and punishments range from simple oral admonition to other measures such as corporal punishment, fines, compensation payments, the observance of prophylactic rites and excommunication from the community . Truth of an incident is determined by the oath, ordeals and occult mechanism.
Regarding the acquisition of brides for marriage, the most widely prevalent practice among the tribes of Odisha is through "capture", although other practices, such as flight, purchase of services and negotiation are also there. With the passage of time negotiated type of marriage, which is considered prestigious, is increasingly being preferred. Payment of dowry is an inseparable part of tribal unity, but that changed with the system of dowry between the sections of education.
The religion of the Odishan tribes is a mixture of animism, animalism, nature worship, fetishism, shamanism, anthropomorphism and ancestor worship. Religious beliefs and practices intended to ensure personal safety and happiness, as well as community well-being and group solidarity. Their religious performances include life-crisis rites, cyclic community rites, ancestor and totemic rites and observance of taboos. In addition, the tribals also resort to various kinds of occult practices. , In order to tide over a crisis whether personal or group of tribes begin with occult practices, and not yield any results following the use of prayer is supernatural force.
Crisis Rites: As most of the tribes of Odisha, practicing agriculture in one way or another, and as others have remaining a vital role in agriculture, the rites of sowing, planting, and eating the first fruits of harvest are common among them. Their common cyclic rites revolve around the pragmatic problems of ensuring a stable economic condition, the recovery of declining soil fertility, crop protection from harm, human welfare and animal husbandry, safe from predatory animals and reptiles poisonous and to ensure a good yield of annual and perennial crops.
The annual cycle of rituals start from the beginning of farming, for example, among the Juang, Bhuyan, Kondh, Saora, Gadaba, Jharia, Didayee, Koya and Bondo, who practice shifting cultivation. The annual cycle begins with the cleaning before the slopes during the Hindu month of Chaitra (March-April) and, among others, begins with the first fruit eating ceremony of mango in the month of Baisakh (April-May). All the rituals centering agricultural operation, the first fruit eating, human, livestock and crop welfare are observed by members of a village on a common date which is fixed by the village head-man, in consultation with the village priest .
The joy of free life find expression in tribal art and crafts. It is through this cultural effort your self-image and aesthetic sensibility are displayed. The artistic skill of the tribal peoples not only manifests in its dance and music, but also on their clothes and ornaments, wall paintings, wood carvings and decorations, etc. The beautiful wall-paintings and floral designs of the Santals and icons Saora that depict geometric designs and stylistic figures of plants and animals are the best example of tribal art. The multicolored designs and figures in relief of animals and humans that decorate the walls of Mandaghar Juang society are indeed works of very high order. Similar wall-paintings and decorations, as observed between the Mundari group of tribals are also very attractive.
Some tribal communities like the Bondo and Gadaba have their own looms for weaving clothes for their own use. These hand-woven spun colored yarn are examples of best artistic skill of these people. So also among the Dongaria Kondhs ladies are very skilled in making embroidery work in your beautiful scarf. Tribal women in general and Bondo, the Gadaba Dongaria Kondh and women in particular are fond of wearing ornaments. Bondo women who are considered more primitive, look majestic when using tiaras made of grass, colorful beads and belts made of brass in their bodies. All these are expressions of their artistic quality and aesthetic sense.
The tribal people just excellent craftsmanship for its own use. The wood carving of the Kondhs, metal works by the lost wax process between Bathudi, cane and bamboo basket works and between Juangs Bhuyans, are all symbolic of artistic creation.