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Key Facts about Ho Tribe

Dec. 28, 2025

The Ho Samaj Yuva Mahasabha (AHSYM) recently called upon tribal people not to celebrate picnics but to observe ‘Black Day’ on January 1 and 2.

About Ho Tribe:

  • The Ho, or Kolha, people are an Austroasiatic Munda ethnic group of India.
  • They call themselves the Ho, Hodoko, and Horo, which mean ‘human’ in their own language.
  • Distribution:
    • They are mostly concentrated in the Kolhan region of Jharkhand and Odisha.
    • Ho also inhabit adjacent areas in the neighboring states of Odisha, West Bengal, and Bihar.
    • They also live in Bangladesh and Nepal.
  • Language: Ho people speak the Ho language, an Austroasiatic language closely related to Mundari.
  • Occupation: The majority of the Ho tribe is involved in agriculture, either as landowners or labourers, while others are engaged in mining.
  • The men and women of this community wear very minimal dress. The women prefer to wear tribal jewelleries.
  • Women have higher status among the Ho than they do in most tribes.
  • Dance is very important in Ho culture. Most villages have a dedicated dancing ground, called akhra, usually consisting of a cleared space of hard ground under a spreading tree.
  • Traditional Ho music incorporates native instruments, including a dama (drum), dholak, dumeng (mandar), and the rutu (flute).
  • Religion:
    • The majority of the Ho have their own nature-based religion (Sarnaism) that doesn't fit in with Hinduism.
    • They have a village priest called a deuri.

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