VEETA KURUMANS otherwise known as Urali Kuruman. They are seen at Purakadi, Kalpetta, Kuppathode, Noolpuzha and Kidagad Amsoms of Vythiri Taluk of Kozhikode District, Attapady valley of the Palakkad District and the reserve forest areas of the Kannur District. According to the 2011 census, their population can be estimated to be 739. Their dialect consisting mainly of words and phrases from Kannada and a few Malayalam, Tamil and Tulu, strengthens the general view that they are aborigines of Mysore and that those in Kerala and madras immigrants. Vetta Kurumans live in small scattered settlements to minimise food problems, and as protection against wild life. Their huts are made bamboo and thatched with grass. The floor is level with the ground and there is an open projection in front. When climatic conditions permit they sleep in the open round a lighted fire. Vetta Kurumans were cent per cent food gatherers and hunters. From dawn to dusk they were engaged in the battle for food to subsist. When regeneration centres are available for shifting cultivation they cultivate the land provided it is given free. Officers and social workers induce them to do so by providing seed and implements. Vetta Kurumans are outstanding devil worshippers and totemists. The members of a totem clan call themselves by the name of their totem, and commonly believe to have actually descended from it, and so consider themselves akin to it, and treat it with respect.
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