Toto Tribe : Fighting For Identity
Totos, one of the smallest tribes in the world, are fighting for identity and suffering from infrastructure woes.
- Toto Tribe is an aboriginal Indo-Bhutanese tribe concentrated in the village of Totopara in the Alipurduar district of West Bengal.
- The Totopara village falls under the periphery of the Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary.
- It nestles just to the south of the border between Bhutan and West Bengal, on the bank of the Torsa River.
- Anthropologically, the Toto tribe is a branch of the Tibetan-Mongoloid ethnic group.
- They are one of the most endangered tribes in the world, with just over 1,600 members The Toto tribe is often described as ‘a vanishing tribe’ on the verge of extinction.
- They are categorised as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG).
- It is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the Toto people and is written in the Bengali script.
- Totos are endogamous and are divided into 13 exogamous clans, from which, they choose to marry.
- Unique to their culture is the idea of having only a single wife, and they strongly advocate an anti-dowry system, unlike neighbouring tribal practices.
- Their houses are elevated bamboo huts covered by thatched roofs.
- In the past, Totos were mainly food gatherers and practiced slashes and burn types, of cultivation.
- Along with this, the Toto families earn a good amount of money by working as porters carrying oranges from the different gardens of Bhutan to Totopara.
- With the passage of time, occupational diversification has taken place. At present, they have become settled agriculturists.
