Kurumbas

Mostly residing in the southern and eastern belts of the Nilgiris, this group was historically known for their sorcery powers and providing medicine from the forest. They were the `people of the jungle’ and lived in caves inside thick forests. Kurumbas collected myrobalans, barks and roots, both for personal use and exchange for grain and salt. They also practiced slash and burn cultivation with millet, chillies and pumpkin. Today, these Kurumbas are settled in villages, adjacent to forests, eking out their living, partly by working on their own lands, working for wages in nearby estates or from collections from the forest. These people are today becoming part of the world around them – e.g. the adivasis of Joghi Kombei have shifted from their remote village of Erukal Kombei. The homesteads are often unkept, close to large rocks which they use for various chores like drying, cleaning, washing sharpening tools, cutting firewood, etc. Some of the Kurumbas villages have house made by the government – in rows with flat drying yards in the front. The settlement size varies from 3-60 households, with an average of 14 households and a population of 40 people. These are usually dispersed settlements