What is happening atJenuKuruba Digital ArchivePrepared on 25 October, 2008Preparedby RaysonK. Alex

Foci of ResearchDocumentation/making of:Indigenous knowledge on elephants and elephant-trainingTree-house constructionOral history of displacementDictionary of JenuKuruba wordsMedicinal plant gardenCultural aspects of JenuKurubar

Indigenous Knowledge on Elephantsvisited Murkal hamlet where JenuKurubar train elephantsinterviewed mahouts and members of the hamletvideographed the activities of mahouts and elephantsdocumented Dasra festival in the perspective of JenuKuruba mahouts

A rogue elephant being trained by a JenuKuruba mahout

Angusha

Making of angusha

Agga

Metal chains used instead of agga

Food made for elephants

Raagimuddhemade for elephants

Wooden bowl where food is mixed

Cage for untamed elephants

Elephant in the pond

Elephants drinking water from the pond

Elephants decorated for Dasra

Decorated elephant in front of Mysore Palace

Two trees worshipped by JenuKurubar

A JenuKuruba talking to a wild elephant

Tree-houses are built to scare wild elephants out of hamlets and cultivated lands.

A tree-house built on a bamboo-cluster

Making of a tree-house

Dictionary making (220 words collected)Strategies used in the making of dictionary:finding words relevant to the culture of JenuKurubar – began with words denoting parts of body, things used at home and haadi, cultural institutions, family relations, animals and birds (domesticated as well as wild)learning the pronunciation of the words – to find out the difference between Tamil/Malayalam and JenuKuruba – a new transliteration key to be made for JenuKuruba language for the pronunciation of some phonemes are entirely different from any other Dravidian language.finding the meanings of wordsunderstanding the grammatical specifications of wordsrecording the pronunciation of words using Sound Forge Software

JenuKuruba words and their meaningsnitho stop kattu bunch baayi hole dammu breathing trouble (asthma) naatha fowl smell aalu2 tell bere another thappu wrong seri right koobi gun ithaakku left side athaagu right side inthaakku back munthaakku front aleethu old beeja testicle siitha (Adj) cold thannage (Adj) cold bili (Adj) white basiri (Adj) pregnant kari (Adj) black osaathu (Adj) new neenga (Adj) you (plural) nee (Adj) you (singular) ona (Adj) dry alla (adv) down mele (adv) up aathu (adv) over guddappa (n) A person who invokes spirit (shaman) thenginaa (n) coconut athi (n) cotton agga (n) coir kooli (n) chicken guye (n) cave kattepoonja (n) centipede yajamaana (n) chieftain of a hamlet aadu (n) lamb banaakku (n) lamp

Field workers collecting medicinal plants from hamlets

Medicinal plants being planted in the office campus by elders

Medicinal plant garden

Documented Mini-Dasra festival at HD Kotetwo art forms of JenuKurubar displayedKolaattamPuliyaattam

Puliyaattam

Kolaattam

Niralukaraivathu(niralu-shadow, karaivathu-calling)

Things used in ritual

Guddayya

A test to check the arrival of spirits

Ritual performed at the river-side

Fowl sacrificed during the ritual

Spirit came on a woman’s body

Chasing out of devil

Land being prepared for the ritual

Workshop done on “Digital Visualization” at Government Hostel for College students, HD Kote

Workshop organized by JenuKuruba Digital Archive for students at the government hostel, HD Kote

Mr.Ksheerasagar translating Rajasekar(photograph taken by shailandra)

Process of ArchivingWriting report of the field trip in SIL softwareNaming photographsStoring the materials collected (photographs and audio files) as separate files on computer as per the dates on which they are takenPreparing log sheets for photographs audio files and video in EnglishPreparing log sheets for photographs audio files and video in JenuKuruba language (at the second stage of the project)Uploading report, photographs and other materials collected in Wiki(2900 Photographs, 12 hours of audio and 25 hours of video were collected from various hamlets of JenuKurubar)

Report on JenuKuruba Digital Archive done on SIL Software

A model of Still-log sheet1. Camera model used : Canon and Fugi2. Images stored at : NFSC Archive, Nungambakkam & Digital Community archive, H.D. Kote A] Date of collection : 01 October 2008 B] Name of the project : Project of the oral history of displacement at HD.Kote C] Name of the place : H.D. Kote, Mysore3. Field notes : Mini Dasra Festival at HD Kote

Video log sheet – 01Camera model used : Panasonic MD 100Images stored at : NFSC Archive, Nungambakkam & Digital Community archive, H.D. KoteA] Date of collection : 01 October 2008B] Name of the project : Project of the oral history of displacement at HD.KoteC] Name of the cinematographer: S.RajasekarD] Name of the place : H.D. Kote, Mysore 4. Field description : At NFSC Digital Archive Office

The Materials that are archived are uploaded on Wiki for a wider access

Report uploaded on Wiki

Photograph uploaded on Wiki

Technical training for the field workers

Bamboo being sliced for making photo frames

Photos and things used by JenuKurubar displayed in the archive

Photographs being shown