Context: Recently, tribal people from the Hakki Pikki tribal community in Karnataka got title deeds to the land they had been cultivating for about a century. 

About Hakki Pikki Tribe

• They are a semi-nomadic tribe, traditionally bird catchers and hunters and a designated Scheduled Tribe of Karnataka.

• They mainly reside in Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) of Karnataka.

• Iruliga tribals are also present at the edge of BNP.

• In 1974, the Bannerghatta wooded area was declared as a National Park, leading to the criminalisation of these communities living on the edges of the forest.

• Hakki in Kannada means ‘bird’ and Pikki means ‘catchers’.

• They are divided into 4 clans, called Gujaratia, Panwar, Kaliwala, and Mewaras.

• There is a hierarchy among the clans, with the Gujaratia at the top and the Mewaras at the bottom.

• It is believed that their ancestral relation is with the Rana pratap Singh.

• Tribe members go to many places across the globe to sell herbal oil, especially in Africa.

Where do the Hakki Pikkis live in India?

• They are believed to hail originally from the bordering districts of Gujarat and Rajasthan.

• Reason: Women used to wear the ghagra (skirt) common in Rajasthan, although now they wear saris and other garments.

• They had arrived in Karnataka via Andhra Pradesh and are now spread across south India.

Language

• Despite being surrounded by Dravidian languages and living in southern India, the community speaks an Indo-Aryan language.

• Their mother tongue was designated as 'Vaagri' by scholars.

• UNESCO has listed 'Vaagri' as one of the endangered languages.

Rituals and customs

• The tribe follows Hindu traditions and celebrates Hindu festivals.

• The society is matriarchal, where the groom gives dowry to the bride’s family. They prefer cross-cousin marriages, with the usual age of marriage is 18 for women and 22 for men.

• The eldest son in a family is not supposed to cut his hair so that he can be identified easily.

• They are non-vegetarians.

• The society is matriarchal and follow monogamy.

• Monogamy: it is a form of dyadic relationship in which an individual has only one partner during the length of the relationship.