Toto tribe

The Toto are a primitive Indo-Bhutanese tribe residing in a small enclave called Totopara in the Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, India. Geographically the location is 89° 20'E 26° 50'N.

Totopara lies 22 km from Madarihat, the entrance of the famous Jaldapara National Park. So, we can safely assume that the Totos live near the northern edges of this forest.

Anthropologists agree that the Toto culture and language is totally unique to the tribe, and is clearly distinguished from the neighbouring Rajbongshis, Koch or the Bhutanese Sharchop tribes.

Totos were nearly becoming extinct in the 1950s, but recent measures to safeguard their areas from being swamped with outsiders have helped preserved their unique heritage and also helped the population grow. In the 2001 census, they numbered about 1184 - all living in Totopara.

Physical features

Totos have flat noses, broad and square cheeks, thick lips, small eyes and black irises. Their complexion is rather on the darker side, which reflects their nearness to the equator. They are generally endogamous and marry within their own tribe. They are generally divided into 13 castes or groups of families from which they choose to marry. They do not marry anyone related to them through their paternal uncles or maternal aunts.

ociety

Totos do not generally have more than one living wife. If a man's wife dies, he may marry the deceased wife's younger sister, but a woman cannot marry her deceased husband's brother. On the death of a spouse, the husband or wife must remain single for twelve months before he or she is free to remarry. There is no custom of divorce among the Totos.

Food habits

Though they made their main food from marua (a kind of millet), the staple food of the Totos now includes rice, chura (parched rice), milk and curd. They also eat meat, generally goat, pork, venison, poultry and fish of all kinds. Women eat the same food as men and there are no restrictions on the widows of any kind.

Totos also drink a fermented liquor called Eu, made from fermented marua, rice powder and malt, which is served warm in Poipa (wooden glasses). Eu is drunk on all occasions.

Houses

Totos live in elevated bamboo huts. These are raised on machas (raised platforms), and have straw thatches. There is a single log placed to get to the hut, and this log is meant to be drawn up at night.

Religion

They define themselves as Hindus, but the Totos have two main gods whom they worship:

# Ishpa - He is supposed to live in the Bhutan hills, and causes sickness when displeased. The Totos offer him animal sacrifices and Eu.
# Cheima - She keeps the village and its people safe from troubles and sicknesses. She is also offered rice, fowls and Eu.

The Totos have no priests and offer their worship and sacrifices on their own. Ishpa is worshipped in the open outside the house and Cheima inside the house.

Of late, there are a few Christian converts among the tribe, largely attributed to Christian missionary intervention. [ [http://www.crusadewatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=465&Itemid=36 "Destroyed cultures: The unfortunate story of Totos,"] Crusade Watch, August 29, 2006.]

Economic activities

The Totos are not active farmers and hence do not cultivate a particular crop to a great extent. Every home has a kitchen garden surrounded by bamboo fences; in these gardens they grow vegetables, potatoes and bananas, among others. Sometimes they trade with traders from the outside world.

Some Totos raise cows and pigs as an occupation, and others fish in the rivers.

See also

* Toto language
* Duars

References

# A. K. Mitra - District Census Handbook, Jalpaiguri 1951, Appendix VIII, Directorate of Census Operations, West Bengal
# Charu Chandra Sanyal - The Meches and the Totos - Two Sub-Himalayan Tribes of North Bengal. A North Bengal University publication.
# [https://www.vedamsbooks.com/no14231.htm The Totos : Cultural and Economic Transformation of a Small Tribe in the Sub-Himalayan Bengal/Bimalendu Majumdar]

External links

* [http://www.ethnologue.com/14/show_language.asp?code=TXO Ethnologue profile]
* [http://web.cmc.net.in/wbcensus/Presentations/Presentations2.htm#Start2 Totos of Totopara - A Primitive Tribal Group of West Bengal]
* [http://www.telegraphindia.com/1031220/asp/bengal/story_2700160.asp Relief in the quiet orchards]