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Digging eatable roots
No one is denied access to the natural resources on which all of them depend. No individual owns the forest. The families have equal rights to acquire these resources but each extended family knows its traditional hunting and “chena” circles and those are respected by others. Hunting grounds were strongly marked for every “warige” (clan), and the intruder would be killed and his liver taken, then the piece dried in the sun in a secret place was keeping in betel pouch. No other part of the dead man had been used and such a custom gave rise neither to warfare not to vendettas (Tennent 1860). The Wanniyala-aetto do not have the economic base to sustain a military effort for a protracted period. They are not accustomed to being organized that can be mobilize or draft warriors, direct them and give them reasons to fight, so a war can’t be conducted. There is not much to gain by plundering other Wanniyala-aetto people. There are no standard items of exchange that serve as capital or as valuables, and the material wealth of these hunters and gatherers is inconsiderable.
Males started to learn the skills of tracking and hunting around the age of ten to eleven years. A boy was given his first bow as soon as he has been able to hold one (around three years old). This type of bow was basically built on the same principle as the slingshot; it was strung with two cords, connected at the centre by a one centimeter wide woven fiber mat. A small stone was placed in the mat and firmly gripped between the thumb and the fingers. When they were eight to nine years old they collected honey together. At the age of eleven, twelve or thirteen years, a boy started to accompany his father on one-day hunting trips.
Wanniyala-aetto hunter with a digging stick, axe and two killed monitor lizards
There are no full-time specialists among the Wanniyala-aetto. The shaman, for example, only exercise his craft upon request – he passes his days like everyone else. His sons may or may not become a shaman – no one insists, if the sons are not interested in that. Seligmanns stated (1911) that sometimes at Village Veddahs (i.e. in Horaborawewa) the shaman could be the local Sinhalese headman, who stated the same “yaku” (spirits) were invoked by Veddahs and Sinhalese alike. In the village of Lindegala (neighborhood of Kallodi) was a “vederale” (medicine man), who was tall and has represented typical Sinhalese features, also he was employed by the Sinhalese for miles round. Wanniyala-aetto society was egalitarian. There was no common authority ruling over all; nobody from one compound could have exercised power in another. All labor in this society was valued equally. Three activities involve special skills practiced only by men: shamanism, healing and drumming.
There are no headmen or chiefs – leadership is based on recognized ability in different activities. Fulltime specialists and differentiated economic, political and religious institutions are alien to the Wanniyala-aetto. They do have shamans and people who know about herbal medicines, but other than the family itself is the group that fulfill all roles. The only consistent supremacy of any kind is that of a person of higher age and wisdom who might lead a ceremony, a person with a special skill may be asked to give advice or occasionally to lead, a hunter with sharper eyesight may walk some steps ahead of the others when searching for game.
Justice as employed by the Wanniyala-aetto is based on common understanding. Relatives and friends of the accuser and the accused discuss and negotiate with each other until an acceptable agreement or a compromise is made. Direct confrontation between the parties is not the rule. After the consensus the two main protagonists meet directly to clarify and to confirm what they have agreed to, mediated by their delegated relatives and friends. This is usually accomplished in a polite and cordial manner, which prescribes a symbolic contribution of betel by the accuser to the family of the defendant, who in turn is invited to share a meal with them. Both parties find it equally important to maintain good relations and peace between the hamlets (Stegeborn 1993).
Drilling a fire
Among the Village Veddahs the women wore ivory studs in bored ears. Fire was obtained from two pieces of wood by drilling. The method of making fire by stone and a piece of metal, which is showing for tourists in Dambana as a traditional and ancient, was a traditional for Sinhalese (Rutimeyer 1903; Sarasin 1893). The tradition of chewing of areca-nuts or bark of trees mixed with burned land-shells (“wantako”) was very common.
The soil is poor and unproductive. But the Wanniyala-aetto plant many different grains, vegetables and tubers. Most of the Wanniyala-aetto clear a piece of land close to the house to do swidden cultivation of maize and “kurakkan” millet (Eleusine coracana). This type of cultivation is practiced by both Sinhalese and Tamil small scale farmers and is called “chena”. An enormous fence surrounding the chena must resist the elephants, be taller than the sambhur’s leap and tight enough to keep out the hares. Staples include maize, finger millet (Eleusine coracana) and dryland rice. They obtain wetland rice from Sinhalese shops. Maize is sown just before the monsoon in mid-September, followed by kurakkan in October, and it is time for the boys to make use of the double-stringed bow – they guard the chena from birds, then sambhur who is looking for a taller plants, and wild boars seeking roots. The chena can’t be cultivated for more than two to three years – then it must lie fallow for ten to twelve consecutive years (Spittel 1950).
The harvest time of the kurakkan millet is in February, which is done by the wife and the children. The main danger in this period is elephant who can eat 250—300 kg of vegetation per day. In March or April the corn cobs are ready and all the family members cooperate before the monkeys steal the crop. The chena must be guarded night and day. The Wanniyala-aetto build watch huts on poles in the middle of the field and on the trees at the edge of it. The husband and sons bear this responsibility. If animals come, the watcher shouts and makes noises, hitting buckets with sticks and stones. If elephants threaten, the guards shout for assistance, make torches from bundles of tall grass and chase the elephants away from their homes (Stegeborn 1993).
Some Wanniyala-aetto also cultivate a small garden close to home, where they grow manioc, beans, chiles, curry leaves (Murraya koenigii), pumpkins and plantains. They may also try to grow some betel vines (Piper betel), which is highly valued among them, but it is cheap to buy, so they generally obtain it at the local tea-shop (ibid.). A very old habit adopted from the Sinhalese long ago is betel chewing, together with the accompanying ingredients – areca-nut and lime. Betel is chewed together with the bitter tasting areca-nut from the betel palm (Areca catechu). Before putting the wad in the mouth, a “pinch” of lime is smeared on the leaf to give it the “right” taste. To give a mildly spicy flavor they sometimes add pieces of cinnamon bark and cardamom seeds (ibid.). The areca doesn’t grow wild in the Eastern Province (Seligmann 1911) or in the bordering Uva Province where the Wanniyala-aetto live. They buy areca-nuts, betel leaves, chewing tobacco, lime, coconuts, spices and edible fruits such as jack-fruit (Artocarpus integrifolia) at Sinhalese owned tea-shops. But it was difficult to obtain them in the forests, so they have modified their own substitutes which can be found in the forests. Such analogs can be made from the bark of the “demate” (Gmelina asiatica) and “davata” (Carallia brachiata, corkwood tree) trees which substitute for the betel leaf and areca nut respectively (Seligmann 1911). Then they collect large, white land snails (Cyclophorus volvulus), burn them in fires, pulverize the shells into powder, add water to make a paste and use this in place of lime (Spittel 1950).