The Muria are an adivasi

Adivasi

Adivasi is an umbrella term for a heterogeneous set of ethnic and tribal groups claimed to be the aboriginal population of India. They comprise a substantial indigenous minority of the population of India...

(scheduled tribe) of the Bastar district

Bastar District

Bastar District is a district of the state of Chhattisgarh in central India. Jagdalpur is the district headquarters. The district has an area of 8755.79 km²...

 of Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. They are part of the Gondi people

Gondi people

The Gondi, Goindi or Gond people are people in central India, spread over the states of Madhya Pradesh, eastern Maharashtra , Chhattisgarh, northern Andhra Pradesh, and Western Orissa. With over four million people, they are the largest tribe in Central India.The Gondi language is related to...

. Traditionally they are economically homogenous and strive to work as a collective. They have mixed-sex dormitories where adolescents are sent to practice premarital sex

Premarital sex

Premarital sex is sexual activity, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and anal sex, practiced by persons who are unmarried. Although it has always been practiced, in the West it has increased in prevalence since the mid-1950s...

, sometimes with a single partner and sometimes serially. They have an omnivorous diet, with liquor playing a key role in their society.

Etymology

Shiva Tosh Das writes that the name Muria comes from the root word mur, which can be translated as either either "root" or "permanent"; it may be based on the fact that the Muria are settled, unlike the nomad

Nomad

Nomadic people , commonly known as itinerants in modern-day contexts, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but...

ic Maria.

Social structure

The Muria prioritize collectiveness. They are divided into five phratries: the Nagvans (Snake Race), Kacchimvans (Tortoise Race), Bakravans (Goat Race), Baghvans (Tiger Race), and Bodminkvans (Fish Race). They are not allowed to eat their totem animal, and must mourn it if one dies.

Costume

Male Muria wear clothing similar to that of the Chanda District, while the females often dress in simple garments that do not cover the breasts. The style of the garments appears to have been modified after contact with other tribes.

Location

The Muria live in the north-central part of Bastar district, north of the Indravati River

Indravati River

Indravati River is a tributary of the Godavari River, located in central India. The river rises in the Eastern Ghats in Kalahandi Orissa, and flows west to join the Godavari, forming the boundary between Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh states at places....

, located in Madya Pradesh state in central India. They live in two administrative divisions: the Kondagaon Tehsil in the east and the Narayanpur Tehsil in the west.

Economy

Compared to other adivasi, the Muria are relatively prosperous. Their economic stratification has traditionally been homogeneous, with exceptional consumption outside of designated periods, such as feasts, viewed as "socially threatening, hubristic, and disruptive"; conspicuous wealth has been considered to cause more problems than it solves. Alfred Gell writes that the disparity between their perception of the ethics of consumption and modern production technology has caused some to have more wealth than they are willing to spend.

Sexuality and marriage

The Muria embrace sexuality from a young age. Youths are sent to mixed-sex dormitories called ghotul

Ghotul

A Ghotul is a spacious tribal hut surrounded by earthen or wooden walls. It is an integral part of Gond tribal life in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh and the neighboring areas in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh in India. It’s a place by youths and for youths, an independent and autonomous children’s...

, where they live in close quarters and are expected to engage in sexual activities, up to and including intercourse

Sexual intercourse

Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...

; this expectation does not extend to group sex

Group sex

Group sex is sexual behavior involving more than two participants. Group sex can occur amongst people of all sexual orientations and genders...

, which is discouraged. In some ghotul, adolescents are put in monogamous relationships; in others they are discouraged from becoming emotionally attached to their partners, and those who sleep together for more than three nights are punished. Although having privacy for intercourse is considered important, it is not deemed a necessity.

Prior to engagement, Muria males may freely engage in sexual intercourse with their mother's brother's daughter or father's sister's daughter, while females may do the same with their father's sister's son or mother's brother's son; this is not allowed after betrothal. Females may freely grab each other's breasts or exchange sexually themed jokes

Off-color humor

The term off-color humor is an Americanism used to describe jokes, prose, poems, black comedy, blue comedy, insult comedy, cringe comedy and skits that deal with topics that are considered to be in poor taste or overly vulgar by the prevailing morality of a culture...

, a custom which becomes more common as they get older.

The Muria generally marry late and do not pay dowries

Dowry

A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings forth to the marriage. It contrasts with bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both...

. They are not allowed to marry from within their own clan, although a Muria man may marry his grandmother, granddaughter, or cousin; cousin marriage

Cousin marriage

Cousin marriage is marriage between two cousins. In various jurisdictions and cultures, such marriages range from being considered ideal and actively encouraged, to being uncommon but still legal, to being seen as incest and legally prohibited....

 is common, with male Muria often marrying their mother's brother's daughter or father's sister's daughter.

Diet

The Muria eat beef and are generally self-sufficient in producing and consuming dal

Dal

Dal is a preparation of pulses which have been stripped of their outer hulls and split. It also refers to the thick stew prepared from these, an important part of Indian, Nepali, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, and Bangladeshi cuisine...

, chickpeas, and lentils. Vegetables, including radishes, eggplant, chili, and tomato

Tomato

The word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...

es are eaten during important ceremonies; rice is also eaten at these times. Luxury foods for the Muria tend to be traditional. The Muria are heavy drinkers of a local form of liquor, which plays a key role in social and ritual gatherings.

Religion

The Muria are traditionally animists

Animism

Animism refers to the belief that non-human entities are spiritual beings, or at least embody some kind of life-principle....

, with village and clan deities.