Social group within the minority Sri Lankan Tamil ethnic group
Ethnic group
Coast Vedda
Team of Vedars preparing for the Sadangu ceremony in Vaharai in 1900s
Total population
ca. 8,000 (1983)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Eastern Province, Sri Lanka
Languages
Sri Lankan Tamil Vedda language also used for religious purposes
Related ethnic groups
Vedda people, Anuradhapura Veddas, Sri Lankan Tamil people
The Coast Veddas (Tamil: கரையோர வேடர்கள், romanized: Karaiyōra Vēṭarkaḷ, Sinhala: වෙරළේ වැද්දන්, romanized: Veraḷē Væddan), by self-designation, form a social group within the minority Sri Lankan Tamil ethnic group of the Eastern province of Sri Lanka. They are primarily found in small coastal villages from the eastern township of Trincomalee to Batticalao. Nevertheless, they also inhabit a few villages south of Batticalao as well. They make a living by fishing, slash and burn agriculture, paddy cultivation of rice, basket weaving for market and occasional wage labor. Anthropologists consider them to be partly descended from the indigenous Vedda people, as well as local Tamils. Residents of the Eastern province consider their Vedar (Tamil for "hunter")[2] neighbors to have been part of the local social structure from earliest times, whereas some Vedar elders believe that their ancestors may have migrated from the interior at some time in the past.
They speak a dialect of Sri Lankan Tamil that is used in the region. During religious festivals, people who enter a trance or spirit possession sometimes use a mixed language that contains words from the Vedda language.[3] Most Vedar are Hindu Saivites and worship a plethora of folk deities, as well as the main Hindu deities such as Murugan, Pillaiyar and Amman. They also maintain the ancestor worship tradition of the interior Veddas. Clan divisions, if they still exist, do not play an important role in choosing of marriage partners or place of domicile. Most identify themselves as a caste among the Tamils as opposed to a separate ethnic group.[4] Their economic conditions have been impacted by the Sri Lankan civil war.
^Jon Dart (Samarasinghe, S. W. R. de A[edit]), p.83
^The article uses Vedda to indicate those who are from the interior and Vedar to describe the Coast Veddas
^Cite error: The named reference JonDart73 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Jon Dart (Samarasinghe, S. W. R. de A[edit]), p. 70
social group Coast Veddahs, Coast Verdas or East CoastVeddas. Anthropologists have considered them to be at least partly descended from the Veddas of the interior...
other sub-communities such as CoastVeddas, Anuradhapura Veddas and Bintenne Veddas, are accorded indigenous status. The Vedda minority in Sri Lanka may become...
such as Coast Veddas and Anuradhapura Veddas who do not strictly identify as Veddas also use words from the Vedda language in part for communication during...
various groups of people who claim Vedda ancestry. They are also ethnically related to Tamil speaking CoastVeddas who live in the minority Sri Lankan...
romantically or sexually frustrated, and are ritually exorcised. The CoastVeddas, a social group within the minority group of Sri Lankan Tamil people...
castes and listed as their own ethnicities in Sri Lankan census. The CoastVeddas, found mainly in Eastern Sri Lanka are considered a Tamil caste among...
The Veddas who have kept out of the mainstream culture of Sri Lanka do not subscribe to Kataragama deviyo as their deity. Unassimilated Veddas consider...
physically closest to the aboriginal Veddas. Like the prehistoric people of the island, historical sources describe the Veddas as hunter-gatherers, who inhabited...
historical migrations, about half of the Akan population reside in Ivory Coast. Some time around 1860s, many Akha have been migrating to Myanmar, Laos...
seatraders, were listed as their own ethnicities in Sri Lankan census. The CoastVeddas, found mainly in Eastern Sri Lanka were considered a Tamil caste among...
ISBN 978-1-85065-033-1. OCLC 21523218. Sinhala-Tamil Nationalism and Sri Lanka’s East CoastVeddas The future of (Sri Lankan)Tamil nationalism Sinhala nationalism and its...
although its use has declined and the majority now speak Sinhala. The Veddas speak Vedda, a Creole language closely based on Sinhala. Use of English has declined...
Dart, Jon Anderson (1985). Ethnic Identity and Marginality Among the CoastVeddas of Sri Lanka. University of California, San Diego. p. 83. McGilvray,...
Lankan Tamils others include Moors, Sinhalese, Burghers and the indigenous Veddas population. The District of Batticaloa itself consists of several administrative...
was republished up to 1979. Melanesians of British New Guinea (1910) The Veddas (1911) with Brenda Seligman Some Aspects of the Hamitic Problem in the Anglo-Egyptian...
descend directly from "Negritos" as such. Groups ancestral to the modern Veddas were probably the earliest inhabitants of Sri Lanka. Their arrival is dated...
deities, venerated by Hindu Tamils. The Buddhist Sinhalese and Aboriginal Veddas venerate the local rendition of the deity, Katharagama deviyo. Yogaswami...
on the island since at least around the 2nd century BCE. The Indigenous Veddas are ethnically related to people in South India and early populations of...
groups include the Moors, Indian Tamils, Burghers, Malays, Chinese, and Vedda. Sri Lanka's documented history goes back 3,000 years, with evidence of...
featuring ex-Saosin and Dead American frontman Cove Reber on vocals, Don Vedda on lead guitar and Jordan Flower on bass. The tour lasted from January 13...
Sinhalese kingdoms in the south. Traditionally the forest regions were ruled by Vedda rulers. Later on, the emergence of these chieftaincies was a direct result...
Gilgit–Baltistan (administered by Pakistan), Kusunda (in western Nepal), and Vedda (in Sri Lanka).: 283 The validity of the Great Andamanese language group...
by the Indian government.[citation needed] In Sri Lanka, the Indigenous Vedda people constitute a small minority of the population today. Ainu people...
rule in the coastal Levant, and later to help them safeguard the Lebanese coast against Crusader retaliation by sea. In the early period of the Crusader...
Global Information