Placing Indigeneity: Betta Kurumba Narratives of Territory and Clan Structure

Abstract

The Betta Kurumbas are one of more than sixteen indigenous groups of the Nilgiri-Wayanad hills of southern India, a region that, since the nineteenth century, has experienced wide-ranging cultural and political changes, including extensive immigration by people from other parts of India. This article describes the Betta Kurumbas’ view of their homeland, based on the information contained in native-language narratives in which they describe their social organization into clans and their spiritual beliefs. The narratives provide a glimpse into the Betta Kurumba perspective on the changes that have overrun the region, changes that have rendered them—along with other Nilgiri-Wayanad groups—politically and socially marginalized in their own homeland.