Tribals write their history book in Kozhikode

Kozhikode: Outsiders have tried to document their history many a time. But for the first time, they are coming out with a history book, documenting their journey in life.

The tribals of Ambedkar Paniya Colony, Chembukadavu, near Adivaram in Kozhikode, are bringing out a book Enkale Pire (our house) narrating their story.

“The 50-plus page pictorial will tell their culture, traditions and the shift to the settlement," its author Kunhikannan R., himself a tribal, said.

“I have completed 40 pages, and we have to take more photographs of the colony and its traditions before the book goes to print. We have not fixed the publisher yet. It also contains interviews with the Ooru Moopan (tribal leader) and the eldest member of the colony.”

It was six months ago, he got the charge of the colony under the Scheduled Tribe department and he tried to document the life inside from a tribal perspective.

At least 96 people are living there, with the eldest being Cheera, 90.

Centre for Research and Education for Social Transformation (CREST) associate programme coordinator Vinod Krishnan says such an initiative from the tribal community is rare and to be encouraged.

They are believed to be shifted from Nilambur in Malappuram and have a strange habit of destroying or abandoning their house once a death takes place in the family, says Kunhikannan.