Effectiveness of Individual Intervention on the Level Self Esteem among Muthuvan Tribal Women in Adimali Gramapanchayath of Idukki District, Kerala

Abstract

India is a country that is home to a large number of tribes. These tribes are spread across the country and are a diverse lot, with each tribe having its own unique culture and language. Tribes are groups of people that share ancestry and cultural traditions. They usually live in small communities, which often cooperate to protect their land and resources from outsiders. Each tribe has its own customs and traditions, and members are usually fiercely loyal to their family, friends, and community. They speak the same language, often have similar cultures, and are often very religious. Whenever people hear the word ‘Adivasi’ or ‘tribal’, they immediately start thinking about scantily clad people living in the forests and many other mainstream misconceptions come to their mind! Rarely do people know the right facts about Adivasis and tribals. In Malayalam, the word Muthuvan means those who carry something on their back. It is said that they carried their children and belongings on their back during their migration to the Western Ghats, hence they were called Muthuvan. The Muthuvan are distributed in Idukki districts and in the adjoining Western Ghats of the Palakkad and Thrissur districts. They speak a dialect of their own. The patois is a debased form of Tamil. They speak to others either in Malayalam or Tamil. The Muthuvan have six matrilineal clans (Koottams), viz. Melaekoottam, Kana koottam, Thushanikoottam, Kanyakoottam, Elli koottam and Puthanikoottam with hierarchical order. Each koottam is again divided into six lineages. The functions of these divisions are mainly for marriage alliance, to keep up the social status and to indicate descent and ancestry. The Muthuvan are mainly a landowning community. In some areas, government has allotted agricultural land for them, but not on ownership basis. Traditionally the Muthuvans are nomadic agriculturists, hunters and trappers. Their primary cultivations are coffee, ginger, sugarcane and paddy. The Muthuvan are tribal religionists. The present day Muthuvans claims that they are Hindus. This study focused on effectiveness of individual intervention on the level self esteem among Muthuvan Tribal women in AdimaliGramapanchayath of Idukki District, Kerala.