Traditional Food Technology of the Aborigines
Until now, many researches have been done on the Vedi people of Sri Lanka. The research was done by Sri Lankan researchers and foreign researchers as well. The research done on our aborigines has made us know more about them than many expected. The article 'Eda Vedda' translated by Chandra Sri Ranasinghe, published in the 'Katarama' supplement of the Dinamina newspaper on the 19th of last month, can also be mentioned as an important research article. About two hundred years ago, by Lema'Sier. When talking about the Vedda of the past as well as the Vedda of today, we can see how they have undergone a change, such as Samatha among them. During my research on their food technology, I experienced their difference firsthand. This article is written based on one experience.
The Vedi people of Sri Lanka are a unique people. Their distinctive human characteristics, customs and language, as well as their unique culture and long history, testify to that uniqueness. The Vedi community in Sri Lanka is divided into three groups namely Gal Veddas, Village Veddas and Coastal Veddas. Galveddans are a group of people who lived in stone caves in the forests. But, today, there is no number of Veddas who lived in the rock caves in the forest, known as the Stone Veddas. Although the Stone Veddas did not exist, the village Veddas still live there today. Outside the caves, the villagers live in huts. They engage in farming for hunting. At present, only a few villages like Dambana, Hennanigala, Ratugala, Pollebedda, Dalukana etc. live in villages.
Shore Veddan Shore or Mudu Veddan is the Veddi region living along the eastern coast. The origins of the Coastal Vedi people are believed to have come from the inland Vedi people who in the past came to the coast while searching for food along the river routes. However, today the coastal Veddas have inherited their Vedda heritage due to the intermingling of their neighboring Tamils.
The traditionalists have to fulfill a few very limited requirements just to sustain their life. Among those limited needs, food occupies a prominent position. The food habits of the Vedi people, customs, finding food, use of food, preservation of food, etc., are endowed with unique characteristics than those of the common people.
Use of honey
Honey is a favorite food of Veddas. The methods that beekeepers use to find hives are rather surprising. It also amazes modern scientists. Because the knowledge inherited by the Veddans from their life experience and traditional knowledge is a great wealth of knowledge beyond modern research campaigns.
Bees are a living organism that lives a sedentary existence. Bees enjoy a unique communication ability to ensure their survival. Professor Karl von Frisch, who conducted research on it, won the Nobel Prize in 1973.
Modern research has identified bees and communication methods, called the 'bee dance'. Bigu dance is a series of rhythmic body movements. Hide the frog dance to alert the frogs of a food item they have found. Production, as modern researchers have found, of several forms of dance such as the circle dance, the cloth shape dance and the shrug dance. This single signal can sense the distance from the nest to the food source. For example, if a wagtail dances around, the idea is that food tends to be close to the nest. But if the shrug dance indicates that the food is available more than two meters from the nest. These modern researches made wonderful discoveries about the communication ability of bees. Another remarkable fact is that people all over the world have been more aware of this amazing communication ability of bees since before this modern research, based on their life experiences and traditional knowledge.
Beekeepers can predict the behavior of bees and make many predictions. That ability is offered to find beehives. For example, when bees fly with nectar, the bees are able to accurately predict the direction of the beehive from the direction of flight seen by the bees and the direction of the beehive as they ascend. Do the bees fly towards the hive, listening for their flight, even though they do not see them? More away from the hive? It can be said correctly. Not only that, but without seeing the beehive built by the bees, is it the amount of honey and the new bees? An old beehive? Veddas have the ability to make many predictions accurately, etc.
Not only in finding honey, but also in hunting, the Veddas display their traditional knowledge. Veddas are able to identify the animals without seeing them, their tracks, footprints, sounds, smells etc.
Among the traditional food of the Veddas, honey dadamas occupy a prominent place. Now, some animals do not eat meat. They do not take food from different animals like tortoise, cow, fox, village chicken, haban chicken, wallikula, tiger etc. Veddas, like raw dalamas, eat dry dalamas as well. Certain types of meat can also be seen in special ways.
For raw meat using skins
Veddan, hunting place
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