Mudhaa Mooppan was a familiar figure in the tribal hamlets of Kerala’s Attappadi. He could be seen walking about wearing his trademark black coat and white turban. Mooppan, who died in 2013, was a treasure house of the traditional, indigenous knowledge of the tribals.

A tribal chief, Mooppan was more than a 100 years old, had married 23 times and had 113 children and grandchildren, according to a video published on the newly launched YouTube channel Gothra Kalamandalam.

There are scores like Mudhaa Mooppan who are no more, their knowledge about the traditional ways of life, indigenous medicines and art forms of the tribal communities undocumented. There are numerous stories the tribal people told and retold, but these are undocumented too. The Gothra Kalamandalam channel, launched on January 16, attempts to present the unsung stories of the tribal people and document their knowledge of art and medicine, so that it does not become extinct. The channel’s name comes from ‘Gothra’, meaning a tribal clan, and Kerala ‘Kalamandalam’, a learning centre for Indian performing arts based in Thrissur.

“Some of the tribal art forms are already extinct. There are 37 different types of tribal people in the state. All of them have immense indigenous knowledge on various things. We have to conserve and develop them,” VH Dirar, a writer and researcher on tribal issues, tells TNM.

Azad Kala Sangam, a platform of tribal artistes, is the brain behind the channel. The channel is a collective attempt of the tribal people with the backing of those who do research on them.

“What happens now is that the indigenous knowledge is lost with the death of a tribal head or an elderly person, who might be the only ones in a hamlet who used to learn about it or to whom it was passed on for generations. This shouldn’t be so,” Pazhaniswami, who is a part of Azad Kala Sangam, tells TNM. Pazhaniswami belongs to a tribal community in Attappadi.

Their aim is to gradually start a Gothra Kalamandalam centre, to preserve the art forms and indigenous knowledge of the tribal people on the lines of Kerala Kalamandalam.

There are 480 indigenous medicines in Attappadi alone. This could be more or less the same in other regions like Attappadi (where tribal people live in large numbers in the state). There is plenty of ethnic knowledge too. This knowledge and art forms shouldn’t vanish in the course of time. The newer tribal generations should also be taught about this,” Dirar adds.

Dirar worked as Assistant Project Director for the Attappady Hills Area Development Society (AHADS) from 1997 to 2011.

According to a study done by AHADS in 2005, there are 4.15 lakh tribals in Kerala. Wayanad, Palakkad, Idukki and Malappuram are the districts where tribals live in large numbers. Among this, Wayanad is the district with the most tribal population, with around 1.45 lakh tribals.

https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/kerala-tribals-launch-youtube-channel-conserve-indigenous-knowledge-142402