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I N T R O D U C T I O NOMANATYA also called as Omanatyo, Amanatya, Omanaito, Omaito is a numerically small ScheduledTribe of Odisha. They are an Odia speaking cultivating tribe largely concentrated in south Odisha.

The name "Omanatya" is derived from thepopular traditional name, amanatya, or amatyameaning a minister in the ancient Indianprincipality. According to their legends they claimthat their ancestor was a minister in the royalcouncil of lord Shri Ram at Ayodhya and afterShri Ram went to heaven, there was no one tolook after them, so they took to agriculture forsustenance.

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The community is divided into two endogamous sections called bodo (big) and sano (small). The latter is saidto be the illegitimate child of the former by Bhotoda, Gond or other community women.

Population & ConcentrationThey are mainlyconcentrated in districts ofKoraput and Nowarangpur.According to 2001 censustheir total population in theState was 23 364, out ofwhich 11 692 were males(50.04%) and 11672(49.96%) were females.Their level of literacyaccording to 2001 censuswas 21.20% out of whichmale literacy is 39.02% andfemale literacy is 10.20%.The sex ratio was 998females for 1000 males.

Dress and OrnamentsTheir dress pattern resembles that of their neighbouring castes. Males wear dhoti, lungi, banian and shirtsetc. where as women use both handloom and mill made saris with saya and blouse.

Females also adorn themselves with varieties of coloured bead and coin necklaces like, kanthimali, sukimali,adhulimali and takamali. They wear gold or brass nolis and phulis in the ears, kanphul in their earlobes,phasia in their ear helix, dandi, guna in their nasal septum, a silver armlet (tad) in their arms, khadu andglass bangles in their wrists, antador in waist and pahud, painri and godabala in their ankle and jhuntiaand pauji in their leg finger and dimsui, chipna and mundaphul over their hair. Poor among them useornaments made of brass and aluminium, by purchasing from local market but well to do females wearsilver and gold ornaments designed by the local goldsmiths.

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Young girls and married women wear coloured glass bangles. Tattooing(jhonti) done by their own women artisans in the past is now out offashion. The men also wear nolis in their ears.

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S E T T L E M E N T & H O U S I N G

The Omanatya live in heterogeneous villages keeping socio-economic ties with other communities. Theyusually live in separate hamlets by maintaining their cultural identity through traditional pattern of lifewhile keeping distance from other ethnic groups.

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Their settlements are usually located on hill slopes or foothills where water sources like perennial hill streamsare flowing to provide them drinking water. They construct their houses in a linear pattern in clusters leavinga wide open space as village-street.

Their houses are made with mud wall and floor and roofthatched with piri grass or country made tiles (khapar).The walls and floor of the houses are plastered with cowdung paste and the walls are beautifully decorated byplastering its boarders with red soil. The house hasverandahs both in front and back which is plastered withblack soil. It consists of two rooms and has no windows forventilation. The bigger one at the entrance is usually usedas living room and to store their grains whereas the otherone is used as kitchen. In one corner of their rear verandahthey construct a small shed to accommodate their livestock.

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They possess scanty household assets like some aluminum pots,tin lamps and lanterns; mats, winnowing fan, bamboo baskets,earthen wares and gourd vessels which they keep in the kitchennear their hearth. They hang their clothes, on a bamboo pole.Their hunting weapons like bows, arrows, spears and axes arealso hung on the walls of the living room. Their agriculturalimplements such as hoes, ploughs and yokes are kept at thefront verandah. At the entrance of their living room they keeptheir wooden mortar and pestle (paurani) for husking the grains.They keep a stone disc on their courtyard to grind the spices.

S O C I A L L I F EThe tribe is divided intotwo endogamous sectionsi.e. Bado (big) and Sano(little or small) which againis divided into a number ofexogamous totemistic septs(bansa) such as; bagh(tiger), nag (cobra),kachhap /kachhima(tortoise), sua (parrot),kumuda (pumpkin), kukur(dog), mankar (monkey),dudh (milk), sila (stone), etc.They use surnames likeOmanatya, Pradhani,Pujari, Majhi, Pakhna andChoudhury.

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Their family- the basic unit of their socialorganization is mostly nuclear, patrilocal,patriarchal and patrilineal. Few cases ofextended families or joint families arefound in their society which graduallybreaks down after marriage of sons. Afamily having no male issues adopts agharjoian (resident son-in-law) or any maleheir who later on enjoys the same rightsand privileges as a son.

L I F E C Y C L EPregnancy & Child birth

During 7th month of pregnancy they observe pre-delivery ritual sukhaprusab puja by offering arua rice,egg, country wine (mohuli) and tobacco (nasa) for easy delivery and to avert ill omens. The pregnantwoman is tabooed to visit crematoria, exposure to lunar and solar eclipses etc.

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They engage a midwife (sutrani) from their owncommunity to assist the mother for easy delivery ofthe child. The naval chord is cut off using a knifeand disposed off outside the doorstep (uchhana)wrapped with siali leaves and the pit is coveredwith a stone.

The sutrani continues to stay with the mother to takecare of the mother and the new born baby till thepurificatory rite is completed. During this time fireset in a broken earthen ware (entudi) is ignited andto keep the new born baby warm.

Birth pollution continues till the naval cord is dried and dropped. After that the purificatory rite haudibaulu/handibaura is observed. They pair their nails, clean their house with water and polish the floor and wallsusing cow-dung paste. All the used earthen wares are thrown away and replaced with new ones. The babyand the mother are given a ceremonial bath.

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Their traditional priest Disarypresides over the purificatoryrite. He collects mango barksand after grinding and mixingit with water he sprinkles it overthe family members and insidethe house for purification.During birth pollution thefamily is tabooed to observerituals and festivals and tooffer cooked food to others.

On the evening of the ninthday, they observe the namegiving ceremony conductedby the Disary through therice divination methoduttering the names of theancestors of the family.After this the tonsureceremony and the firstcereal feeding ceremonyare conducted on this day.Ear piercing and nosepiercing is conducted afterthe baby attains one yearof age.

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Puberty

The community observes puberty rite (yubatman) for adolescent girlattaining her first menarche. The girl is segregated in an isolatedroom for a period of seven days during which she is looked after byan experienced woman of her lineage and she is tabooed to look ortalk to the male persons.

On the dawn of the eighth day,the girl accompanied by her girlfriends goes to the nearest hillstream, where she takespurificatory bath anointing oiland turmeric paste and wearsnew clothes presented by herparents. The villagers andrelatives also present new clothsand cosmetics to the girl. In theevening the family hosts a nonvegetarian feast with countryliquor.

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Marriage

The boy is considered adult when his moustache grows. Then a bride is sought for him. Cross-cousin marriagebeing the general rule, a man has the first claim to the maternal uncle's daughter in marriage.

Adult marriage and monogamy is common among the Omanatya. They regard marriage, arranged throughnegotiation is most prestigious mode of acquiring a spouse. Other modes of marriages are by service, bycapture, by elopement and by service which are very rare. Polygyny is not altogether ruled out andresorted to where the first wife is barren. The custom of bride price (jhola) is prevalent and is paid both incash and kinds. Junior levirate, junior sororate, remarriage of widow, widower and divorcee are permittedin their society.

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In negotiation marriage, groom's parents visit bride's homewith some sweetmeats to putforth the marriage proposal. Ifthe proposal is accepted their priest disari fixes an auspiciousday on which a mahal keria (mediator) is sent to the bride'shome with some sweets and some money as a presentationto the friends of the bride after which the bride price (jholla)is fixed which amounts a jar of country liquor, some rice,paddy, bangles, a clothe for the bride's mother and one foreach unmarried sister and the marriage proposal is finalized.

On the wedding day, the bridegroom is conducted to bride'svillage in a procession.

On the marriage alter their traditional priest the disari linksthe fingers of bride with the groom together in marriage tie,while the women throw rice smeared with turmeric waterover them.

Then the newly married couple is dressed up in new clothespresented by the father-in-law. The bride's party hosts afeast along with country liquor and the marriage festival iscelebrated elaborately amidst dancing and singing.

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The next day the bride is led to the groom's house accompanied with her friends and relatives. At thevillage entrance, the groom's mother sprinkles turmeric water over the newly wedded couple. The disari tiesthe married couple with the cloth ends; after which they go around seven times the sacred poles beforeentry into the home.

The next day they observe kadofestival, in which mud and turmericwater are thrown around by theirkinsmen, guests and relatives, andafter that they bath in the stream.Then the bride is carried to home onthe shoulder of the groom. Thegroom's family hosts marriage feastto kinsfolk, guests and relatives.

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In their society a system of pseudomarriage is prevalent in which thegirl is married to a mahul tree postadorned with vermilion, kajal, etcand tied with seven sheaves ofturmeric and mango leaves placedin the courtyard. The bride isbrought to the pandal. Themarriage ceremony ends bypouring water on the mahul post,which is held tightly by the women.Then a feast is hosted. No stigmais attached to the girl.

DivorceDivorce is permitted andeither party can divorce his/her spouse for the reason ofmis-understanding ormaladjustment in conjugal life,cruelty, extra-maritalrelationship, alcoholism, poormaintenance, suffering fromserious diseases, impotency orbarrenness etc.

Divorce cases are adjudicated by theircommunity council. After divorce, takingfood and water from each others house istabooed. If wife divorces the husband,repayment of bride price is obligatory. Noother divorce compensation is allowed.

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Death

They practice both burial and cremation to dispose offtheir dead. In case of unnatural deaths occurred by snakebite, tiger attack, small pox, pregnancy and child birth,suicide, accident and premature death of small childrenthe corpses are thrown away in the jungle, piercing an ironnail near the heart, to be devoured by the wild beasts, asthey believe that the departed souls might have someunfulfilled desires and in order to fulfill those, they mightbe transformed into evil spirits or ghosts and cause harmto family members and villagers.

The death news is sent first to the deceased's sister's houseand after that to all other relatives. After all the relativesand kinsfolk assemble, the dead is anointed with turmericpaste and castor oil and bathed. After that they cover itwith a new cloth and the pal bearers belonging to theirown community carry the dead to the crematoria placingit on a cot with all the deceased's personal materials likeused utensils umbrella, walking stick and some tobaccoleaves etc. During cremation they place the corpse insleeping posture keeping the head towards north. After

Mourning continues for ten days and the family does not cook food and pursue their profession during thisperiod. Their kinsfolk provide food for the bereaved family. During this period relishing on non-vegetarianfoods, worshiping of deities, observance of rituals and festivals, sexual union and offering food and waterto others are tabooed.

At the end of the pollution period the bereaved family members shave and replace the earthen cookingpots with new ones. On the eleventh day, the purification ceremony is observed with a community feast.

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L I V E L I H O O D

Settled cultivation is the mainstay of their subsistence economy. It is supplemented by wage earning, animalhusbandry, forest collection, hunting, fishing and khali stitching etc.

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streams. They also raise sugarcane, tobacco, padadhan (hill paddy), maize, pulses like kandul, biri (blackgram), kolthi (horse gram), kating, oil seeds such as tila (nizer), rasi and grow minor millets i.e. ragi, kueri,kangu, janna, spices like ginger and turmeric in their high and dry lands.

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They grow chilly, onions, potatoes,garlics jhudung, baragudi, lau(gourd), kumuda (pumpkin), kakudi(cucumber), patalghanta (tomato),jhata (pea), brinjal, saru(colacasia), ladies finger andgreen leaves in their kitchengarden.

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They rear cow, buffalo, goat, sheep, poultry but not pigs in their houses. They are fond of rearing bullocks.

They collect varieties of seasonal forestproduce like edible roots and tubers,fruits, green leaves, baunsa karadi,mashrooms, honey, jhuna, lac, salap juice,salap kanda and varieties of wildmedicinal herbs from the jungle throughoutthe year. Women contribute substantiallyin the field of cultivation, animalhusbandry, fishing, besides theirhousehold chores.

They also carry out fishing and occasional hunting. They make their own ploughs and agricultural tools. Theyalso own the barsi, screwdriver, sickles, plough, ankudi, kodi, kodal, katuri, etc. Their implements include canebaskets, rope, string cots, knife, storing pots made of straw and other earthenware vessels, small fishingnets and traps, including bows and arrows for hunting purposes.

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Food habitsOmanatya are nonvegetarians. Riceand ragi are theirstaple cereals. Theyrelish on meat, fish,pork, chicken andeggs etc. Both menand women consumealcoholic drinks andsmoke handmadecigarettes.

R E L I G I O U S B E L I E F S & P R A C T I C E S

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Omanatya profess Hinduism with admixture of animism. They worship all local Hindu gods and goddessesand observe all Hindu festivals. Their pantheon includes thakurani, chamaria devta, dangerdevta and manyother deities of nature. Their household deity, istadevi is installed in a corner of their kitchen and is worshipedby females.

They believe in existence ofbenevolent and malevolent spiritsand ghosts which they think causediseases and mishaps. In order togratify these evil ones they resortthe help of local witch doctor calledgunia.

Their major festivals are kandulyatra, akhi muthi in Baisakh, gamha,amus in Sravan, dhan nua/nuakhia,guluchinua, in Bhodua, dasara inAsin, diwali, bali jatra in Kartik,laxmipuja in Magusira, puspunia inPusa, magha jatra in Magh, holi inPhagun, dangar puja and mahulnua,chait paroba, amnua, bisu sikar andsarhul in Chaitra.

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Pujari and disari are their sacred specialistswho perform their family and communityrituals. At marriage, a Omanatya assumesthe sacred thread for the rest of his life.

They have preserved their rich oraltradition of folk songs such as chait parabgeet, kutni geet and their folk dance i.e.junia nach, chera chera nach which theyperform on various festive occasions likewedding ceremony, pusa punia, chaitparab etc. Both men and women sing anddance with the tune of music provided byDom musicians.

S O C I A L C O N T R O LThe Omanatya has its owntraditional community councilboth at village level and inregional level to handle theircustomary affairs. The villagecouncil is headed by naik, andthe regional council (Desh), bythe bhat naik/kul naik. Theother office bearers are pujariand disari, and a messenger(barik) who is appointed fromDom community. The offices ofnaik, bhat naik/ kul naik, pujariand disari are hereditarywhere as the post of barik isthrough nomination.

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The community council arranges meetings to settle social disputes and deals with cases of excommunication,for getting sores, causing go-badha (cow death) or kidnapping of girls from other communities andadjudicates cases pertaining to theft, rape, incest, premarital pregnancy, family disputes, and partition ofancestral property and divorce affairs.

The community council is empowered to punish the guilty by cash or can take penal action like excommunicationfor breaking social norms and the offender may return to the society by offering a feast. It also organizestheir rituals, festivals and community feast.

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C H A N G E & D E V E L O P M E N TLike many tribal societies in India, the society of Omanatya is in a state of flux for the rapid changes at themacro level that the country witnessed since the early nineties. They are also influenced by it and thereforechanges are witnessed in their every walk of life. One can find these changes in their social, political,cultural, economic and religious spheres.

While the benefits ofglobalisation process havelargely accrued to the urbansector growth the tribal andrural sector has not been leftbehind. They are experiencingchange in their life style,aspirations and valueorientation

Various developmental programmes introduced by government to uplift the tribals to bring the tribals tothe mainstream have effected planned changes in the way of life of the Omanatya. As bulk of theirpopulation is concentrated in Tribal Sub Plan area of South Orissa, their development aspects are beinglooked after by various development agencies like DRDA, ITDA etc.

They need thedevelopment in situand attainment ofsustainability throughoptimum utilisation ofresources so that theydonot become victimsof negative impactof change and livewith the pride oftheir cultural identity.

202 Population Profile of Scheduled Tribes in Orissa

OMANATYA

1. Location (Major) : Koraput, Nowrangapur2. Language : Oriya (Indo-Aryan)3. Major Occupation : Settled Cultivation, Hunting,

Fishing, Wage earning, Forest Collection.4. Major Festivals & Rituals : Pus Purnima, Magha Jatra, Am nua, Amus, Dasara,

Diwali, Holi5. Religion : Autonomous Tribal Religion6. Other Distinct Socio-Cultural Features : The Omanatya settlements are uniclan andhomogeneous. In heterogeneous villages they live in separate hamlets. Family is mostly nuclear,patrilocal; patrilineal and patripotestal. A few cases of extended families are found in their society.The community is divided into two endogamous sections i.e. Bado and Sano which again isdivided into a number of exogamous totemistic septs viz.-Bagh (Tiger), Nag (Cobra), Kachhap(Tortoise), Sua (Parrot), Kumudu (Pumpkin), Kukur (Dog), Mankar (Monkey), Dudha (milk), Sila(stone), etc. Family is generally monogamous but polygyny is not altogether prohibited. Marriagethrough negotiation is commonly practised. The custom of bride price is prevalent among themwhich is paid both in cash and kind. Remarriage of widows, widowers, divorcees and juniorlevirate and sororate are permitted. Cross cousin marriage is prevalent. Other modes of marriagesare by service, capture and elopement which are becoming very rare now-a-days. They observedeath pollution for ten days and the purificatory rites on the tenth day. The Omanatya communityhas its own traditional council headed by Kul Naik whose office is hereditary. The regional head iscalled Naik or Bhat Naik. The other office bearers are Pujari and Dissari, the religious functionaries.They have preserved the rich tradition of their popular folk dance.7. Selected Demographic Profile and Parameters :

Sl.No. Parameters Census Year1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 2011

1 Population Total 14365 17671 19465 25915 23364 28736Male 7055 8710 9658 13415 11692 14204Female 7310 8961 9807 12500 11672 14532

2 Decadal Growth Rate 23.01 10.15 33.14 - 9.84 22.993 Sex Ratio 1036 1029 1015 932 998 10234 Literacy Rate Total 3.20 5.20 8.20 13.53 21.20 36.27

Male 6.33 10.20 15.47 22.22 39.02 48.63Female 0.22 0.38 1.09 4.09 10.20 24.30

5 Workers Total Workers Total 9152 7317 10865 14527 12597 15112Male 5162 5750 6589 8536 6830 8128Female 3990 1567 4276 5991 5767 6984

Main Workers - - 8070 12357 6322 7514Marginal Workers - - 2795 2170 6275 7598

203Population Profile of Scheduled Tribes in Orissa

* Child Population for 1961 & 1971=0-14 yrs, For 1981 = 0-4 yrs, For 1991 & 2001 = 0-6 yrs** Working Age Group Population for 1961 & 1971=15-44 yrs, For 1981, 1991 & 2001=15-59 yrs

6 WPR 63.71 41.41 55.82 56.06 53.92 52.597 Martial Status Never Married 5476 7589 8434 10601 10500 -

Married 7773 9194 9440 13702 11079 -Widow 984 782 1354 1355 1559 -Divorced or Separated 128 88 223 257 226 -Un-specified 4 18 14 - - -

8 Dependency Ratio 0.95 : 1 1.31 : 1 0.66 : 1 0.65 : 1 0.81 : 1 -9 * Child Population Population 4768 6796 1955 4965 4202 5152

Ratio to Total Population 0.33 : 1 0.38 : 1 0.10 : 1 0.19 : 1 0.18 : 1 0.18:110 ** Population in the working age group 7379 7655 11754 15728 12884 -

Source : Census of India ' 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991, 2001 & 2011

DISTRICTWISE DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION (1961 - 2011)

Sl.No. Name of the Old & New District YEAR1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 2011

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 91 Balasore Balasore - - - 80 231 132 Bhadrak - - - - - 03 Bolangir Balangir - - 23 63 - 34 Sonepur - - - - 38 05 Cuttack Cuttack - - 01 - 6 26 Jagatsinghpur - - - - 2 07 Jajpur - - - - - 08 Kendrapara - - - - - 169 Dhenkanal Dhenkanal - - 01 114 - 010 Anugul - - - - - 011 Ganjam Ganjam 01 377 236 04 42 7912 Gajapati - - - - - 013 Kalahandi Kalahandi 04 - 03 50 24 914 Nuapara - - - - 31 2415 Keonjhar Keonjhar - - 12 29 - 016 Koraput Koraput 14145 17245 18792 24489 13504 1746317 Malakangiri - - - - 83 11418 Nowrangapur - - - - 8975 1074519 Rayagada - - - - 5 620 Mayurbhanj Mayurbhanj 112 - 08 55 194 14721 Phulbani Kandhamal 103 49 140 382 152 7422 Boudh - - - - - 023 Puri Puri - - 40 83 - 024 Khurda - - - - 10 125 Nayagarh - - - - - 2926 Sambalpur Sambalpur - - 56 319 - 027 Baragarh - - - - - 1128 Deogarh - - - - 15 029 Jharsuguda - - - - - 030 Sundergarh Sundergarh - - 153 247 52 0

Total 14365 17671 19465 25915 23364 28736