Odisha: Tribal Healing System, Healers in Crisis

At around 11 o’clock at night, Hima is decorating the ground with vermilion, rice and some firewood. Red flowers wrapped in cow dung are scattered on the painting. Some leaves kept nearby have been folded in the shape of a bowl with some white-coloured water. A diya (oil lamp) is burning with a dim flame right in the middle. Right in front of Hima, a 35-year-old young man is sitting. He has been ill for the past two months. "While sleeping at night, he has a strange itch in his body and his veins swell up. A visit to the city doctor was of no avail," he says.

Hima starts the treatment, his language is not Odia, but a bit similar to Kui. It's a cold December midnight.  The young man is squatting without clothes. Hima constantly whispers some mantras. The patient is given a drink. After some time, a spoon-shaped red tool is brought to the fire and is quickly removed with a slight stitch in a corner of the young man's back. A slow sound of mantras resounds in which his scream in pain seems to disappear. On his back, some brittle paste is applied. Hima hands over some herbs to the young man, he stands up and starts walking toward his house slowly.

Hima, 63, belongs to the Kondh tribal community of Mahuli village in Boipariguda block of Koraput. He has been working as a tribal healer for the past four generations. In the local language, they are called Bhisari and Pujari. He is the only healer in this area. Hima says that Pujari, Bhisari, and Ojha are all different, but their work is similar: treating sick people by using herbs and praying to God. But now it is becoming difficult to do this work.

What is Tribal Healing? 

Tribal healing is a traditional medical practice among the community in which physical and mental ailments are treated by using herbs, wild fruits, flowers, seeds and other natural things, such as cow dung, breast milk, cow urine, blood of animals, accompanied by mantras and worship of God.

Tribal healers generally do not have any formal education in medicine and healing, and many of them can't even write their names. But they have healing for generations. 

Hima says he first went to the forest when he was 4 years old. His grandfather (Rajaram) knew every medicinal plant in the forest. Many times they were bitten by snakes but it had no effect. "When I was digging the root of a plant from the forest, I too have been bitten by a snake twice, but there are some mantras and herbs that help”. 

Although Hima’s words reflect an element of superstition, it is the truth here. The good number of tribal people who come to Hima for treatment make this ‘deception’ a reality. 

BRS published a research report in which 1,649 tribal healers were contacted in 43 districts of seven states of the country. Some of the report's findings were surprising. 

-A huge majority of tribal healers did not have any valid medical degree. Only 2% claimed to have a degree. 

-Faith in tribal healing was maximum among tribal communities of Odisha.

-- The average age of tribal healers is 52.6 years. 

 -- About 83% of tribal healers follow Hinduism and 13% Christianity. 

What Kinds of Diseases to Tribal Healers Tackle? 

Hima's hut is on a small hill outside the village. This is where he treats people. From a distance, it looks like a monastery. He has cultivated many types of medicinal plants on a large piece of land near the house.

"I have a house in the village, too, where the rest of my family lives. But his job requires a certain amount of privacy, so we built a house here," said Hima, adding “My wife and I live here.” 

When we reached Hima's place, he had just come from the forest carrying some freshly plucked roots in his hand, which he was cleaning along with his son. "These roots are useful in reducing swelling and pain of the throat and muscles," he said.

When asked, which diseases do they (tribal healers) treat? Hima said, “Generally, we treat diseases like snake bites, skin diseases, leprosy, chicken pox (hadphuti in Oriya), bintha (pain), arthritis, TB, and even cancer.” Cancer seemed like an exaggeration, but he stuck to his point.

Hima showed us his garden with many small and big plants. Pointing at a leaf, he said, “That it is the chabli which cures sapkatti (snake bite). In the same way, Aricha cures the pain of the forehead immediately. If you do not believe it, then try it.”

Hima had grown a plant, Kalajkandh, in a box, which he claimed helped in relieving stomach pain in small children. Earlier, he used to get it from the forest, but now it was difficult to find it. Therefore, he had grown it at home. 

Hima’s wife Parvati said they do the treatment only with herbs (medicine). “Prayer to God is a ritual. A lot of people just practice ‘black magic’. That's why people don't believe us anymore. They also say that earlier we used to make tattoos (Godana),” she said.

The couple claimed it is also possible to cure diseases, such as goiter, migraine, but now no one makes those medicines as the process is quite complicated. It needs breast milk, which is very difficult to get now, they said.

Hima takes us to a room full of medicines, a very clean, tiled room with several boxes in which medicines are stored. 

We are asked not to take photographs. After a while, the lid of a jar kept in the room opens. Two black snakes crawl on Hima's hand. The snakes are poured into a skillet filled with oil. “They swim in the cauldron for two hours, then they will be removed and locked in the box. This oil will help to relieve joint pain,” said Hima, admitting that it was “illegal” to keep snakes.

We met another tribal healer from Koraput, Shiv Bhumia, the first healer in his generation. He said he learnt healing from his Guruji. Since childhood, he used to go to the hilly forests of Deomali with his Guruji, and used to collect medicinal plants from there. But now going to the forest is full of challenges, so they started cultivating the necessary medicines around their house.

Like Hima, Shiva initially denies doing any “witchcraft”. But as we talk, they tell us that some disease cannot be cured “without worship and animal sacrifice”. "The number of patients has increased in the past few days. People go to government hospitals, but we also have herbalists. These days, some non-tribals also come to us for treatment. Most of them are patients suffering from arthritis”, said Shiva.

Tribal healer Hima treating the patient. Image credit: Shubham Kumar

Is Tribal Healing Only About Superstition? 

It is not that tribal healing is dependent only on mantras, witchcraft, or divine power. It is an ancient tradition. Wild plants are the backbone of this treatment method. While it is also true that the element of superstition is very much part of the system, but that is only one aspect.

Govardhan Kandhak, head of the Tribal Healers Group, says, "Earlier, Bhisari (healers) used to treat people with herbs. Then the government opened a hospital. Many of them gave up healing and began to smoke. From then on, everything went wrong.” 

We talked to some patients who had come for their treatment at Hima and Shiv's place. Jamuna Nayak was injured in the leg. Hima applied some ground paste on the wound. Jamuna said that he had not visited any doctor till date. “Whenever there is any disease, Hima treats me,” the elderly person said.

Padma has terrible shoulder pain after a fall from a tree while cutting wood. Hima presses his hand and gives him the medicine in two polythene bags. The bark of a tree is tied with a cloth on the pain site. After some time, Padma is asked if there is some relief. The answer is, yes. 

Modern Medicine Vs. Traditional Treatment

A large part of our society considers tribal healing as a superstition and even life threatening. The healers themselves accepted that among today's generation, no one wants to become a healer or get traditional treatment.

When asked, a doctor working in the Community Health Center (CHS) initially refused to comment on tribal healing. But on the condition of anonymity, the doctor said, "This system is based on superstition. Poor tribal people are exploited by these healers. During healing, many incidents of people losing lives have been reported. Burning the newborn baby and rubbing cow dung on burns and cuts worsens the cases of many patients. Many times they even die. The biggest thing is that death is declared as “divine wrath”." 

The doctor said, “However, such incidents have reduced a lot. Awareness has increased among the new generation. There are many reasons for the increase in awareness, such as the establishment of CHCs at the panchayat and block level, migration of people to big cities for employment and the arrival of mobile phones in the tribal society.”

Gayatri is an ASHA (accredited social health activist). Dressed in a blue sari and carrying a medicine bag on her bicycle handlebar, she travels an average of three times a day from the village to the block CHC. She has been working as ASHA for the past three years. Her main job is to bring pregnant women to the block hospital (government ambulances are also an important partner for Gayatri) and provide health care to newborn babies.

When asked about tribal healing, Gayatri says, “This is their own work, earlier when there was no facility to come from the village to the city, there was no proper road to come down from the mountain, then people used to go to Bhisari. Now what is the need to go there? Now an ambulance (pointing toward the ambulance standing nearby) goes to every village and a doctor has also started sitting once a week.”

She admitted that today the poor and the elderly, who still believe in old traditions, avoid getting treatment from doctors. She said she had to face many challenges while working as an ASHA worker. Her salary has now increased from Rs 4,500 to 7,000/month. She delivers essential medicines related to women and newborns to every house.

Is Tribal Healing on Verge of Extinction? 

When asked, both Hima and Shiva look sad. "It's a very old profession and will not end so soon. But it is definitely on its slope now,” he said.

Hima said, "The new generation does not want to get into this profession. Medicines from the market have entered our homes. My daughter-in-law (son's wife) drinks bubbly sherbet (Eno) whenever she has a stomach ache. My son also does not have any special knowledge of tribal medicines. He drives an auto in the nearby city.” 

Govardhan Kandakhi, head of the treatment group, says, "Things are not the same anymore. The truth is that diseases are no longer cured by herbs. The biggest reason for this is that we now use a lot of fertilisers and pesticides in our farms. Instead, some “magic priests” have started making money by turning God's prayer into a farce. That dented our confidence.” 

Herbs being dried to make medicines. Image credit: Shubham Kumar

Pointing at another challenge, Shiva said, "Earlier, going to the forest was very easy. But now we are not allowed to go very much in the interiors. We grow some medicines on our farm. But its quality is not the same as that of wild plants. Tree barks are also difficult to find these days.”

A worker of an NGO that trains tribal healers in the region and provides certificates to the healers, said, "Before giving the certificate, we check if the healer is doing any superstitious work," The activist, on condition of anonymity, said, “We issue the certificates to those who treat with herbal healing. They get a certificate like a degree along with training.”

But after USAID announced the closure of the fund to the NGO, “our work is coming to an end.  No concrete action is taken by the government in this regard.  The challenges for this traditional profession have now increased,” the activist added.

The writer studied at Banaras Hindu University, Uttar Pradesh. He is currently working as a fellow in Koraput, Odisha. The views are personal.