Abstract:
The Veddas are the most medieval community group in Sri Lanka and also they are
one of the oldest folk groups among the world aborigines. Many scholars have
pointed out that whatever their ethnicities these groups have a historical lifestyle.
The trappers/Veddas are basically categorized into three groups namely Trappers,
Coastal Trappers, and Village Trappers. C.G Seligman the researcher who made the
first significant analytical research related to Veddas of Sri Lanka reveals that the
Costal Veddas mostly reported in the northern and eastern areas of Sri Lanka. The
literature survey related to the study is enriched with the extensive contributions
provided by scholars like PB Meegaskumbura, EM Rathnapala, Nandadeva
Wijesekara and R.L. Spittle. Presently focused ethnic group appears in the areas of
Pellanchenai, Panichchankerni, Kudaladi, Parchenai, Nargantonai, Echalanputta
Ihalatottam and Thopoor. This study mainly focuses particularly on the Vaddas who
live in the eastern region. Accordingly, the study has drawn special attention to
identify and study the differences between the Coastal Trappers and Village
Trappers. The research is aimed to find the socio-cultural and eco-political patterns
and the new behavioral trends of the said community. Five villages belonging to the
Batticaloa district were taken as the focus area of study. The participatory
observations, case studies and key informants are used to collect primitive data and
the help of some literature used to fine-tune the argument. In the past, the livelihood
of Coastal Trappers was based on industrial fisheries. However, at present, they have
been transformed to an agrarian culture, just like the general society. The reasons for
this adaptation are lack of land, destruction of the jungle, repercussions of the past
ethnic crisis and mainly owing to communication technology. In the early days,
Coastal Vaddas used much uncomplicated methods of communication and now they
have completely shifted to modern communication equipment which has made a
considerable change in their lifestyle. This key emphasis of the study attempts to
reveal the relationship between the absolute changed lifestyle and the
communication tool, that they have been widely influenced over this transformation.
