Bonda Tribe

About Bonda Tribe:

• The Bondas are exclusively found in Malkangiri district of Odisha and are mostly concentrated in Khairaput block of the district.
• It is a particularly vulnerable tribal group and one of the oldest tribes of India.
• They are also known as Bondo, Bondas, Bonda Paraja, and Bhonda.
• They belong to the Austro-Asiatic racial stock and speak Remo-an Austro-Asiatic dialect.
• The Bondas are divided into two groups because of their distinct cultural practices:
  • The Lower Bondas, who live in the Malkangiri district in south Odisha and border Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and
  • The Upper Bondas, who live in the remote villages of the district’s hilly terrain.
• They have an interesting dressing style – ladies are semi clad and wear different sorts of rings and pieces of jewelry around their bodies.
• Occupation: They are primarily farmers, but they also hunt, gather forest products, and perform labor.