Omanatya

Abstract

Omanatya is a small and distinct tribal community of Odisha mainly concentrated in the districts of Koraput and Nowarangpur. According to their legendary tradition, their ancestor served as a minister (Amatya) in the royal council of lord Shri Ram at Ayodhya and after Shri Ram went to heaven, there was no one to look afterthem, so they took to agriculture for sustenance. Now they are popularly called Omanatyo, Amanatya, Omanaito, Omaito and wear sacred threads at the time of marriage remembering their glorified ancestry. They speak Odia language. Though they live in heterogeneous villages, they reside in separate wards maintaining theircultural identity. They construct their houses in a linear pattern inclusters leaving a wide open space as village-street. Their women adorn themselves with varieties of ornaments.They live in a close-knit society with intimately bonded kin groups who help each other at the time ofneed. They prefer to marry their maternal uncle's daughter. Like other tribes, they pay the bride price for acquiring a bride. They are settled cultivators. They carry out intensive agriculture using simple implements and grow avariety of cereals, pulses, oil seeds, vegetables and also tobacco by taming the undulated terrain. They make their own ploughs and other agricultural tools. Besides, like the neighbouring tribes, they also collect minor forest produce, go for occasional hunting and fishing to supplement their livelihood. Typically being a tribe, they worship their deities very dedicatedly, observe rituals and festivalsround the year and enjoy these occasions with song, dance and music. Though in these days changes have taken place in their way of life, they have still maintained the core of their culture. This photographic documentation of their life style is a part of the series on the Tribes of Orissa. It is hoped that interested readers will find this literature useful for looking at the tribal culture of Odisha.