The Vedda or Wanniyala-Aetto are people Indigène Sri Lanka,
ethniquement and linguistically connected to the Singhalais. The
culture of these hunters-gatherers is in the process of
disappearance because of their Cultural assimilation and the
destruction of their natural environment. Their population is
estimated of a few hundreds at a few thousands of individuals.
They practice a religion mixing the Animisme and the Bouddhisme.
Until recently, Wanniyala-Aetto lived in their forest, where
they drove out the stag, wild boar and other animals as well as
birds, and where they collected honey, fruits and nuts. They
practiced also a form of Agriculture on denshering, clearing in
the forest of small small holdings called “chenas” to plant
there cereals, vegetables and tubers. The families moved from
one piece to another each year, turning over to the same place
all the seven or eight years. Today, Wanniyala-Aetto live in
villages outside the forest. They cannot practice the “chena any
more” and do not have any more