Context: Odisha’s Kutia Kondh tribe worship and exchange millet seeds in a celebration during Burlang Yatra festival.
About Kutia Kondh Tribe/ Tribes of Kalahandi:
Kutia Kondha is one of the primitive sections of Kondha tribe.
The Kondha’s who live in hill top and valleys are known as Kutia Kondha.
Whereas those who live in high land and near the streams are called Dongria Kondha and kondhas who are residing in plain area are known as Desia kondh.
Kutia kondh are mostly dependent on shifting cultivation, cultivation of minor agriculture products and collection of NTFP.
The Kutia kondhs are residing mostly in Langigarh,Th.rampur,M.Rampur and Bhawanipatna block of Kalahandi.
They practice shifting cultivation, cultivating varieties of crop and during lean period collecting food stuffs from the forest.
Minor forest products also fetch them cash income.
The social organization is very strong and unified. The family is mostly nuclear and patriarchal in character. Social unity and co-operation is remarkable. Women play a bigger role in the family economy.
They are mostly nature worshipper.
Jani is the fulltime magic religious specialist of the village.
In the pre-independence era, they were practicing human sacrifice but now a day as substitute buffalo and sheep sacrifice.
The practice of youth dormitory are though gradually losing its importance but still prevalent among Kutia kondh villages.
Dhap, Salap Baja are the important musical instruments of Kutia Kondhs.
About Burlang Yatra Movement:
A movement built around the Burlang Yatra, a traditional festival of the ‘Kutia Kondh tribe’ of Odisha, has involved traditional millet crops in reviving their ancient food palate.
In collaboration with Millet Network of India (MINI), a forum founded for the promotion of millet, NIRMAN started celebrating the Burlang Yatra on a large scale to increase awareness about millet.
In the past, millet used to be the staple food for tribals in Odisha. When paddy and other foods reached their doorstep through the public distribution system and the expanding consumer market, tribals started treating millets as subsistence crops that they grew to use or eat for themselves rather than to sell.
Some millet started to disappear from the tribal food basket.
In 2017, the Odisha government realized the importance of highly nutritious and climate-resilient millets in tribal society.
The Odisha government has also started celebrating ‘Mandia Dibas’ (Millet Day) on November 10 to popularise the crop.
