Kani Tribe

Kani Tribe Latest News

Recently, Kuttimathan Kani belongs to the Kani tribal community who revealed Arogyapacha has died.

About Kani Tribe

• The Kani tribals or Kanikarars are a traditionally nomadic community, who now lead a settled life in the forests of the Agasthyamalai hills of the Western Ghats in the Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala.
• Every Kanikkarar settlement has a community council for maintaining social control.
• It consists of the Mootukani (chief), the Vilikani (convenor) and the Pilathi (physician and priest). All these offices are hereditary.
• The traditional structure of the community was that of a highly coordinated unit under the control of a tribal chief, called the Moottukani.
• Traditionally the Moottukani combined the roles of the law giver, protector and dispenser of justice, physician and priest.
• Pilathi are believed to have magical powers and perform various rituals and chant mantras with the help of an instrument named ‘Kokara.”
• Today, the Kanis live in several tribal hamlets, each consisting of 10 to 20 families dispersed in and around the forest areas of Thiruvananthapuram district.
• Occupation: The Kani tribe’s traditional occupations include the production of handicrafts, seasonal collection of minor forest products such as honey and beeswax, and cultivation of edible plants such as tapioca, banana, millets and cash crops.
• Language: They speak Tamil and Malayalam as their language.
• They have vast knowledge about medicinal plants.
• According to Kani tribal customs, only the Plathies have the right to transfer and disseminate their traditional medical knowledge.

 Source: DTE

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