Kota tribe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kotas or Kota and also the Kota tribe are tribes who inhabit the area just below Coonoor on the slopes of the Nilgiri hills, Kotagiri in Tamil Nadu in South India. The name ‘Kota-giri’ means ‘mountain of the kotas’. While the Todas are the traditional agriculturists of the Nilgiris, the Kotas are the traditional artisans and are experts in the arts of pottery and terracotta baking.
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[edit] Lifestyle
The Kota tribes are known for their reclusiveness and their reluctance to meet or mix with any outsider. They currently number just around a 1000, and are fast declining.
The Kotas are a consanguineous tribe (literally, the existing members have descended from the same ancestor). Inbreeding has taken place due to the tribes' self-imposed isolation which has led to their high rate of mortality.
[edit] Rite of Passage
Kota people paint faces Ghost-like color blue = transformation of boy to man. (age 9-10). They believe that in order to become a man, the child must die. Thus the ghost-like blue paint is a reference to the death of their childhood. Used to sacrifice wild animals, now, after schooling is completed, gifts of money take the place of sacrificing wild animal.
[edit] DNA Analysis
Along with the Toda, Kota too have been subject to many genome studies and are generally believed to be closely related to the Toda tribe.
[edit] References
- Sivakumaran T.A. and Karthikeyan S. "Effects of Inbreeding on Reproductive Losses in Kota tribe" [www.pubmed.gov]
- S.K.Basu. "Status of Tribal Women in India"
