Sri Lanka’s original people the Wanniyalaeto or Veddas
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Wanniyala-Aetto Cave Art
Vedda cave drawings such as those found at Hamangala provide graphic evidence of the sublime spiritual and artistic vision achieved by the ancestors of today’s Wanniyala-Aetto people. Most researchers today agree that the artistes most likely were the Wanniyala-Aetto women who spent long hours in these caves waiting for their menfolk’s return from the hunt.
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Sri Lanka’s Last Indigenous People
By Zinara Rathnayake The Veddas were traditionally forest dwellers, who foraged, hunted and lived in close-knit groups in caves in the dense jungles of Sri Lanka. But most people haven’t heard of them. “This is our cave,” said the man. He was tall with curly, shoulder-length hair and his lower lip was caked red with…
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Indigenous Lanka: Consensus for Survival
Indigenous cultures are helping to save the world’s environment Long, long ago, according to the word of the Buddha in the Agganna Sutta, the earth’s inhabitants all lived in bliss, knowing no discrimination between such opposites as male and female, rich and poor, good and bad, ruler and subject. The very earth itself was delightfully…
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Tissahamy Vows to Preserve Identity of His People
Interview with Wanniyalaetto Chief Tissahamy Colombo: The Sunday Times, Sunday, May 24, 1992By Ravindra Wickremasinghe Vedda chief Tissahamy, whose community is embroiled in a major controversy over their traditional homelands and the ill-effects of development, in an interview with The Sunday Times this week went to the core of the crisis. Following are extracts from the…