The Coastal-Vedda Indigenous People 

Coastal-Vedda is a sub-group of the Sri Lankan Indigenous population termed Vedda or Wanniya-laeto. (Vedda refers to a person who uses a bow and arrow; Wanniya-laeto refers to ‘people of the forest.’) Coastal-Vedda are centered in the eastern part of Sri Lanka, and we partnered with Coastal-Vedda in the Kunjankalkulam community, which is home to the national Coastal-Vedda Chief, Nallathamby Velayutham. Kunjankalkulam Coastal-Vedda maintains their cultural identity while being less integrated with the majority of the Tamil and Muslim populations in the region. Coastal-Vedda is involved in multiple livelihood activities. They use a village tank (reservoir) to rear fish (i.e., culture-based fisheries) as a primary year-round livelihood activity. With the support of the government, fisheries and aquaculture institutions, and NGOs, an annual stock of various fish fingerlings (for example, tilapia, carp, endemic fish species, and freshwater prawn) grows in a natural reservoir system without the need for artificial feed. It is typical to see fisherwomen walk into the water and use fishing rods for subsistence fishing during the day. Other livelihoods include rice farming, vegetable gardening, hunting, and collecting honey, fruits, wood, and medicinal plants. Coastal-Vedda faces various stressors in the context of COVID-19, such as extreme weather, human-elephant conflicts, natural disasters, the unpredictable nature of weather patterns, and social pressure from modernization.