An Ethnographic Note on Khondh, a Primitive Tribe and Valmiki, an Acculturizing Tribe from Andhra Pradesh, India

The present paper reports the ethnographic profile of a primitive tribe namely Khondh and an acculturizing tribe namely Valmiki living in Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh, a southern Indian state. Three mandals (administrative units of the district) were selected and a total of 17 villages from these mandals were selected for the study. The data were collected using a set of ethnographic techniques viz., observation, informal interviews with the villages and in-depth interviews with the key informants in the community. Both Khondh and Valmiki occupy lower status in the tribal social hierarchy. These tribes widely vary in several aspects. The characteristics and factors that have contributed towards the relative statuses of Khondh as primitive tribe and Valmiki as acculturizing tribe are presented.