Mankidia Tribe

About Mankidia Tribe:

• The Mankidia community is an Austro-Asiatic community that ekes out a living mainly from the forests.
• They constitute a semi-nomadic section of the Birhor tribe.
• They have been identified as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) in Odisha.
• Occupation: They are primarily a food gathering and hunting community. They are one of the most little-known forest dwelling and wandering communities of the state as well as the country.
• They wander inside forests in small bands and stay at different tandas — the temporary makeshift settlements consisting of temporary dome-shaped leaf huts known as Kumbhas.
• Language: They speak a form of Munda language and some of them are also conversant in Odia.
• They believe in both malevolent and benevolent spirits and Gods. Logobir and Budhimai are their supreme deities.
• They worship their ancestors for the purpose of enjoying health and achieving success in hunting and collecting forest produce.
• They are mainly found in Odisha, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.

Q1: Who are known as Tribes?

A tribe is a collection of families bearing a common name, speaking a common dialect, and occupying or professing to occupy a common territory. 

Source: FRA implementation: Mankidia community becomes 6th PVTG to get habitat rights over forests in Odisha