Generational Evolution of Wellness Perceptions and Practices of the Primitive Tribes of the Nilgiris Tamil Nadu India

Abstract

This research examines the generational evolution of wellness perceptions and newlinepractices among the six primitive tribes/PVTGs of the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu, India: newlineTodas, Kotas, Kurumbas, Irulas, Paniyans, and Kattunayakans. It explores ways newlinetraditional knowledge has historically shaped indigenous wellbeing and how modern newlineinfluences are altering these perspectives. Among these communities, wellness is not newlinemerely a measure of physical health but a complex, multifaceted concept that integrates newlinespiritual, environmental, social, and economic dimensions. However, over the past few newlinedecades, modernization, urbanization, and digitalization have significantly altered these newlinetraditional wellness frameworks, resulting in a shift in health priorities. Younger newlinegenerations now prioritize mental and educational wellbeing, diverging from the cultural newlineand ecological perspectives of their predecessors. newlineThe research employed is an ethnographic qualitative method to elucidate the newlinelived experiences of indigenous tribes in the Nilgiris. Data collection involved in-depth newlineinterviews, focus group discussions, and observations to consolidate information. Data newlinewas collected over a period of one and a half years, from April 6, 2022, to September 3, newline2023, across 55 cumulative fieldwork days. The fieldwork covered multiple hamlets newlinewithin the Nilgiris District. In total, 72 participants were interviewed, comprising 47 elder newlinetribal members (48%) aged over 55 years, and 25 younger tribal members (52%) from all newlinesix identified tribal groups. Additionally, three FGDs were conducted with participants newlinefrom three tribal groups: the Todas, Paniyans, and Irulars, to facilitate collective newlinereflections and deepen contextual insights. The data were analysed for themes after newlinecoding the transcripts. The findings identify four fundamental wellness dimensions shared newlineacross generations: social, environmental, economic, and spiritual wellness. However, newlinedistinct generational differences exist in the prioritization of these dimensions newline