Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has granted habitat rights over forests to the primitive and vulnerable tribal group (PVTG) Mankidia, a semi-nomadic community known for their traditional skill of rope making, trapping and eating monkeys.
The Mankidia community is an Austro-Asiatic community of Birhor that ekes out a living mainly from the forests. The community has been identified as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) in Odisha.
Members of this community eke out a living primarily by food gathering and hunting. They are among the most little-known forest dwelling and wandering communities of Odisha as well as the country.
They wander inside forests in small bands and stay at different tandas the temporary makeshift settlements comprising temporary dome-shaped leaf huts known as Kumbhas.
The members of Mankida community speak a form of Mundari language and some of them are also conversant in Odia. Aside from believing in Logobir and Budhimai as their supreme deities, they worship their ancestors for the purpose of enjoying health and achieving success in hunting and collecting forest produce.
