CAFAT

Collective for Action of Forest Adivasi in Tamil Nadu

Work Plan to build Paliyan Adivasi Forest Life Movement by CAFAT / PEAL

The aboriginal Paliyan tribes are dravidian semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers who live now scattered in the hills of Southern Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, originating from hilly forests perhaps from surroundings of Palani hills where Palar dam is now built.

In physical features Paliyans are mostly relatively dark and short , with curly hair and strong lips, assumed also to be close relatives to Astroloids or Semang Negritos of Malaysia.

Their subsistence has been based on collecting wild yam and other roots, tubers, leaves, wild fruits (jackfruit, mango, etc.) and honey, bamboo, jujube, etc., complemented later with shifting and other cultivation of minor millets like Samai, Thinai and Ragi.

Now Paliyans are however prohibited in the name of nature conservation from gathering these for their own use, even though at the same time the commercial trading of these forest products to outside markets through the middlemen is still allowed to continue (by middlemen bribing the officials, etc.).

Modern world has a lot to learn from Paliyans to understand Nature, ecological equality and forest and biodiversity conservation.

They were not individualistic or self centered and did not think of storing surplus or making profit out of it, but thought that “food, firewood and water are in forest for free for anyone to take”.

Paliyans are good in many abilities of forest life but did not see it as just to consider someone to have expertise, skill or competence by which one would have right to earn more than others. Their thought and production were for common modest living directly from what grew in forest. Forest was sustained in such condition that it gave every day something to live for them and for other living creations, who all had their space and right to live.

Paliyans used to live quite freely in small bands in the mountain forests with abundant water resource, self-sustained forest produce and a small habitat. Their habitats are rich in herbal plants, which Paliyans use with vast knowledge about them, but Paliyans are now marginalized by the outsiders who plunder the resources of the hills.

The Forest and Wildlife Acts and big dams have further displaced Paliyans. They are deprived from their own land. livelihood and identity, their near and dear Mother Nature, its forests, deities, etc. and forced to move out to the plains in search of jobs for survival, reduced to mere coolies for the plantations in their ancestral land.

Their peace loving nature with shyness to outsiders have increased their vulnerability to be exploited by outsiders and displaced from their mountain forersts - even though their song says "if you are born in the mountain, you should never get down from the mountain.

There are around 6000 Paliyan families scattered over the hills of Tamil Nadu as most exploited and voiceless people, who have a history of being oppressed and driven out from one place to another by outsiders. In wide areas Paliyars' traditional forest rights were denied and neglected. They have been forbidden to collect minor forest produce for their livelihood in their own ancestral lands but they are allowed to collect it only to the middle men, forcing their life in their ancestral land to become dependend on outside traders and middlemen. Paliyars, whose hunter-gatherer cultural heritage has its peculiar wide distance from the mainstream culture, need thus attention to be targeted more according to their culture and rights to live according to their own indigenous livelihoods adapted to their environment. Paliyars wish to lead their struggle for the survival of their sustainable indigenous life heritage in such a way which they feel to be most just.

Paliyan movement initiative by CAFAT; Collective for Action of Forest Adivasi in Tamil Nadu (PEAL, Act India Foundation, Humane Trust, Test, Arudecs & MMS) to build Paliyar Adivasi Movement

CAFAT works with Paliyars to learn from them and to orient them on Forest Rights Act provisions to ensure their rights over their land, livelihood, forests and wild life. The collective wants to ensure that Paliyars can actively participate to plan, execute, monitor and evaluate CAFAT work. The aim is to promote wider and deeper understanding to build Paliyan-led Paliyan movement based on their grass-root initiatives, to:

*Mobilize Paliyar communities into a movement to protect their rights in the current situation.
*Ensure rights of Adivasis to collect, use & dispose minor forest produce they have traditionally collected
and to protect, regenerate & manage forests, which they have traditionally used and sustained.
*Facilitate Paliyars to set committees to safeguard and preserve the traditions and customs of the Adivasis
their cultural identity, community resources and the customary mode of dispute resolution in gram sabhas.
*Promote dialogue between Paliyars and others to learn values of justice from Adivasi culture& habitation.
*Document the heritage of Paliyars, their traditional dance, music, rituals, faith, their knowledge on herbs,
herbal practices and to share the documents among Paliyar youth to cherish their eco-friendly tradition

By CAFAT Paliyans have started to form village sangams to be recognized as traditional grama sabhas. Sangam members have found places in District and Sub-divisional committees of Forest Rights Act implementation in Sothuparai dam area, Sirumalai hills, Dindugal. CAFAT equips these representatives to function effectively for the implementation of the legal rights of forest dwellers. Tamil translation of the Tribal Forest Rights Act 2006 and its implementation rules has been already widely distributed by CAFAT both in the Paliyan village communities and also among Forest Department officiers, who know now CAFAT and recognize it as a network to facilitate the implementation of the Act.

CAFAT has also conducted a training program for documenting the traditional, customary and land rights through PRA methods. Now the documentation of their land and other resources in the forest is in progress.

CAFAT acts only as facilitator in mobilizing and organizing Paliyars as sangams, helping them to become better informed about their rights under the Act. This helps Paliyans to lead themselves their fight for their rights. CAFAT believes in people's strength.

The work area of CAFAT is focusing on 3026 families to build Paliyan forest life movement in 106 Paliyan hamlets, with the total population of about 14 622 people. It aims at focusing on Paliyars to strengthen the effort of unifying the Paliyars who are scattered in different hills as unorganized. It would like to reflect the emotions of the Paliyar tribes, many of whom easily withdraw to save their traditional cultural integrity if they feel others determining what they should do. They build people's movement which consists of voluntary, natural interest and trust of people to cooperate for a common cause. Paliyar people when organized at village and Panchayat level to represent themselves in Grama sabha, will internalize the values of democracy and will chose / build their movement. This aims also to support wider unified struggle of all oppressed people.

Many Paliyans live quite isolated & marginalised, some of them using still caves. In long distances to walk, horses or human carried bamboo carts are often the only source for transportation.

Their houses are often damaged during rainy seasons and do not have electricity. Average family has seven people sharing one or two rooms. “Our cattle and hens live in the same house to ensure the security of animals”.

They get water from streams and water holes for themselves. But drinking water from the streams gets polluted with the wastes of coffee curing materials in the upstreams by the estate owners.

“Few decades back, we usually cultivated traditional crops ... and collected tubers and honey and other NTFP from the forests without any restrictions. In recent times we are restricted from the collection”, but now:

-“Strict forest laws have virtually put an end to hunting, food and herb collection and the ready supply of building/craft materials. We are employed to collect the Non- Timber Forest Produces by the contractors. So we are alienated from collection of forest produces which are abundantly available in the forest, but contracted to the outsiders or the land owners in the hill regions”.

- “We are working as the labours in our own lands which have been encroached by others”. In some villages “no-one of us has the knowledge and skills in agriculture because no one has land” (under modern ownership). Land once used for shifting cultivation and traditional Adivasi lands have mainly been occupied by non- tribals, even where it has been classified some time formally as “patta” for Adivasis.

“We would need ensured rights of collection and marketing of Minor Forest produces from the forest without any interventions of middlemen and contractors... But others are distributed with identity cards to collect ... Forest Produces( NTFPs)... to sell the forest produces collected from the forests” instead of Adivasis.