The Vanniyaletto continue of offer intimate knowledge of flora and fauna the environment. While some critics proclaim they don’t exist as a people, I argue the Vedda are not a primitive or non-existent ‘tribe’; they are an important heritage community in Sri Lanka laying a foundation, in part, for a plural nation. They are a people wrapped in the matrix of the Sinhala and Tamil communities from earliest times, yet since the 19th century relegated as a fringe people, curiosities at best, without acknowledgement as significant contributors in today’s ‘national program’.
This is important to anthropology in terms of understanding forest dwelling heirs of an existence of foraging dating back to the Mesolithic of Southern Asia to the present. This community represents a sphere of cultural expression that requires attention in conserving a folk diversity of knowledge that is rapidly disappearing. The indigenous knowledge of Vedda (Vanniyaletto) is essential for sustainable environmental development in Sri Lanka.
