SEASIDE STORIES ORAL HISTORY PORTAL
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"Kottivakkam Kuppam is roughly 200 year old fishing hamlet located with a population of about 1056 people. The village has over 20 boats, some of which are mechanized boats. Sometimes groups of people upto 6 can co-own the mechanized boat, others can have one per family."
The unique aspect of fishing communities like these is their self-governance mechanism and customary rights to the sea governed by a traditional Panchayat mechanism. The interrelation between fishers and their landscape reflect their lifestyle and environmental knowledge, making them a cultural landscape with immense use values. Fair share of resources and respect of village boundaries are aspects of this governance system.
Often these perspectives are ignored from mainstream planning and decision making.
Fragile Ecosystem Management Practices
"When we accidentally capture or injure an endangered species like the Turtle, that get caught in our nets, we mourn the entire day." -
Sasi, Village Head
"We follow the Lunar Calendar for all our rituals and practices. The full moon night (Pournami in tamil) and New Moon Night (Ammavasya) are important days for our communities. We do our internal meetings at these times."
"Sundays are the busiest days for Women in the market. While Early morning are busy for those who venture into the sea."
"Every time we buy crafts and fear we perform a bhoomi pooja using sand"
"During the fish spawning period, we perform a Ganga Puja, pouring milk into the sea and worshipping for fertility and good fortunes for the community." - Jayakumar
Children's Ecological Knowledge
"From a very young age, we watch the Olive Ridleys and Turtles that lay their nest. I once helped protect many eggs that were laid along this stretch of the beach."
"We often see our elders and some children defecating on the beach. We avoid playing on these places because its not hygienic."
"We are very of climate change and its impact on our families future."
Landscape Changes
"The Muthallaman Temple, was destroyed during the Tsunami. We pooled resources to rebuild this important community heritage."
"When I was young the hamlet was often overgrown with Seemai Karuvelam, invasive species of Trees in many areas that were used for firewood or as shaded refuges in the afternoon.." Sasi, Village Head
"To cast a shore seine you need a lot of beach space of around 500 m wide. These days very few hamlets use this net due to lack of space to cast it."
Image: Korah Abraham, Citizen Matters
வரலாறு மற்றும் கலாச்சாரம்
"நான் எப்போதும் எனது சமூகத்துடன் தீவிரமாக ஈடுபட்டுள்ளேன். எங்கள் கடற்கரை காமன்ஸின் குறுக்கே மேம்பாலம் கட்டுவதை நாங்கள் வெற்றிகரமாக தடுத்துள்ளோம்."
"தாயம் என்பது பெண்களுக்கு மிகவும் பிடித்தமான விளையாட்டு மற்றும் மாலை நேர விளையாட்டு."
"படகு பந்தயத்தில் நாங்கள் சாம்பியன்கள். கபடி போட்டிகளையும் நடத்துகிறோம்"
"நாங்கள் கடலை வணங்குகிறோம்."
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