The multi-mechanistic taxonomy of the Irulas in Tamil Nadu, South India

Journal of Ethnobiology

Volumn 27, Issue 2, 2007, Pages 233-255

  Newmaster, Steven G ^a   Subramanyam, Ragupathy ^a   Balasubramaniyam, Nirmala C ^b   Ivanoff, Rebecca F ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH   (Canada)

^b SRM Arts and Science College Chennai   (India)

Author keywords

aboriginal classification; biodiversity; ethnobotany; folk taxonomy; traditional knowledge

Indexed keywords

EID: 77649097698     PISSN: 02780771     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2993/0278-0771(2007)27[233:TMTOTI]2.0.CO;2     Document Type: Article

References (89)

1. Atran, S. 1985. The nature of folk-botanical life-forms. American Anthropologist 87: 298-315.
2. 1999. Itzaj Maya folkbiological taxonomy. In Folkbiology, eds. D.L. Medin and S. Atran 119-204. The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
3. Atran, S., S. Medin, and N. Ross. 2004. Evolution and devolution of knowledge: A tale of two biologies. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 10: 395-420.
4. Balakrishnan, V., M.K.R. Narayanan, and N.A. Kumar. 2003. Ethnotaxonomy of Dioscorea among the Kattunaikka people of Wayanad District, Kerala, India. Plant Genetic Resources Newsletter 135:24-32.
5. Balasubramanian, P. 1992. Observations on the utilisation of forest plants by the tribals of Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary, Tamil Nadu. Bulletin of the Botanical Survey of India 34:100-111.
6. Balasubramanian, P. and P.V. Bole. 1993. Fruiting phenology and seasonality in tropical dry evergreen forest in Point Calimere wildlife sanctuary. Journal Bombay Natural History Society 90: 163-178.
7. -. 1992. Seed dispersal by mammals at Point Calimere Wildlife sanctuary, Tamil Nadu. Journal Bombay Natural History Society 90:33-44.
8. Balasubramaniam, V. and M. Murugesan. 2004. A note on the commercially exploited medicinal plants of the Velliangiri Hills, Coimbatore District, Tamilnadu. Ancient Science of Life 23: 9-12.
9. Berlin, B. 1973. The relation of folk systematics to biological classification and nomenclature. Annual Review of Ecological and Systematics 4:259-271.
10. -. 1992. Ethnobiological classification: Principles of categorization of plants and animals in traditional societies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.
11. Berlin, B., D.A. Breedlove, and P.H. Raven. 1973. General principles of classification and nomenclature in folk biology. American Anthropologist 75:214-242.
12. Bernard, H.R. 1994. Research methods in anthropology: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Sage, Newbury Park, CA.
13. Blasco, F. and P. Legris. 1972. Dry evergreen forest of Point Calimere and Marakanam. Journal of Bombay Natural History Society 70:279-294.
14. Bramwell, D. 2002. How many plant species are there? Plant Talk Magazine. Available at: http://www.plant-talk. org/stories/28bramw.html (verified 1 August 2007).
15. Breeks, J.W. 1873. An account of the primitive tribes and monuments of the Nilgiris. India Museum, London.
16. Brett, J.A. 1994. Medicinal plant selection criteria among the Tzeltal Maya of Highland Chiapas, Mexico. Ph.D. Dissertation (Medical Anthropology). University of California, San Francisco.
17. Brown, C.H. 1976. General principles of human anatomical partonomy and speculations on the growth of partonomic nomenclature. American Ethnologist 3:400-424.
18. 2000. Folk classification: An introduction. In Ethnobotany: A reader, ed. P.E. Minnis 65-68. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
19. Caruso, E. and V.B. Reddy. 2005. The clean development mechanism: Issues for Adivasi Peoples in India. Forest Peoples Programme, 2005, Moreton-in Marsh, UK Available at: http://www. sinkswatch.org/pubs/cdm-&-adivasi- peoples-india-apr05-eng.pdf (verified 1 August 2007).
20. Casagrande, D.G. 2001. Ecology, cognition, and cultural transmission of Tzeltal Maya medicinal plant knowledge. Ph.D. Dissertation (Anthropology). University of Georgia, Athens.
21. Clement, D. 1995. Why is taxonomy utilitarian? Journal of Ethnobiology 15:1-44.
22. Conklin, H.C. 1954. The relation of Hanuoo culture to the plant world. Ph.D Dissertation. Yale University, New Haven.
23. Costa-Neto, E.M. 1998. Folk taxonomy and cultural significance of "Abeia" (Insecta, Hymenoptera) to the Pankarare, North eastern Bahia State, Brazil. Journal of Ethnobiology 18:1-13.
24. Cox, P.A. 2000. Will tribal knowledge survive the millennium? Science 287: 44-45.
25. Davidson-Hunt, I.J., P. Jack, E. Mandamin, and B. Wapioke. 2005. Iskatewizaagegan (Shoal Lake) plant knowledge: An Anishinaabe (ojibway) ethnobotany of Northwestern Ontario. Journal of Ethnobiology 25:189-227.
26. Deepa, E., H. Vishwanathan, S. Roy, M.V. Usha Rani, and P.P. Majumder. 2002. Mitochondrial DNA diversity among five tribal populations of southern India. Current Science 83:158-162.
27. Devasahayam, N. 1990. The Tamil Nadu tribes. Publications of the Government Museum, Chennai, India.
28. Diamond, J. and K.D. Bishop. 1999. Ethnoornithology of the Ketengban people, Indonesian New Guinea. In Folkbiology, eds. D.L. Medin and S. Atran, pp. 17- 46. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
29. Ellen, R. 1993. The cultural relations of classification: An analysis of Nuaulu animal categories from central Seram. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, MA.
30. Etkin, N.L. 1993. Anthropological methods in ethnopharmacology. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 38:93-104.
31. 2002. Local knowledge of biotic diversity and its conservation in rural Hausaland, Northern Nigeria. Economic Botany 56, 73-88.
32. Fosberg, F.R. and M.H. Sachet. 1972. Thespesia populnea (L.) Solander ex Correa and Thespesia populneoides (Roxburgh) Kosteletsky (Malvaceae). Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 7:1-13.
33. Friedberg, C. 1979. Socially significant plant species and their taxonomic position among the Bunaq of Central Timor. In Classification in their social contexts, eds. R.F. Ellen and R.D. Rason, pp. 81-100. Academic Press, New York.
34. Fuchs, S. 1973. Aboriginal tribes of eastern India. Cosmo Publications, New Delhi.
35. Gamble, J. S, and Fischer, CES. 1915-1936. Flora of the Presidency of Madras, parts 1-11. Aldard & Son, London.
36. Gollin, L.X. 1997a. Having your medicine and eating it too: A preliminary look at medicine and meals in Kayan-Mentarang, Kalimantan, Indonesia. Borneo Research Bulletin 28:28-41.
37. -. 1997b. Taban Kenyah: A preliminary look at the healing plants and paradigms of the Kenyah Dayak people of Kayan-Mentarang. In People and plants of Kayan-Mentarang, eds. K.W. Sorenson and B. Morris, pp. 135-148. World Wide Fund for Nature, London.
38. -. 2004. Subtle and profound sensory attributes of medicinal plants among the Kenyah LeppòKe of East Kalimantan, Borneo. Journal of Ethnobiology 24:173-201.
39. Hayes. 1982. Utilitarian/ adaptionist explanations of folk biological classification: Some cautionary notes. Journal of Ethnobiology 2:89-94.
40. Heinrich, M. 1998. Indigenous concepts of medicinal plants in Oaxaca, Mexico: Low-land Mixe plant classification based on organoleptic characteristics. Journal of Applied Botany 72:75-81.
41. Henry, A.N., V. Chithra, and N.P. Balakrishnan. 1987. Flora of Tamil Nadu, India: Series II. Botanical Survey of India.
42. -. 1989. Flora of Tamil Nadu, India: Series II. Botanical Survey of India.
43. Hockings, P. 1989. Blue Mountains: The ethnography and biogeography of a south Indian region. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
44. Hooker, J.D. 1894. Flora of British India, vol.VI. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, UK.
45. Howes, D. 1988. On the odour of the soul: Spatial representation and olfactory classification in Eastern Indonesia and Western Melanesia. Bijdragen tot de Taal, Land en Volkenkunde 144:84-113.
46. Hunn, E. 1982. The utilitarian factor in folk biological classification. American Anthropologist 84(4):830-847.
47. Hunn, E. and D.H. French. 1999. Size as limiting the recognition of biodiversity in folkbiological classification: One of four factors governing the cultural recognition of biological taxa. In Folkbiology, eds. D.L. Medin and S. Atran, pp. 47-70. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
48. Jain, S.K. 1991. Dictionary of Indian folk medicine and ethnobotany. Deepak Publication, New Delhi.
49. Jebadhas, W.A. and W.A. Noble. 1989. The Irulas. In Blue Mountains: The ethnography and biogeography of a south Indian region, ed. P. Hockings, pp. 281-303. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
50. Jeyadev, C.J. and M. Ragupathy. 1962. Ancient culture and tribal culture (Tamil). Publications of the Government Museum, Chennai.
51. Kakudidi, E.K. 2004. Folk plant classification by communities around Kibale National Park, western Uganda. African Journal of Ecology 42:57-63.
52. Kanglin, W., X. Jianchu, P. Shengji, and C. Sanyang. 2000. Folk classification and conservation of bamboo in Xichuangbanna, Yunnan, Southwest China. Journal of Ethnobiology 20(1):113-127.
53. Kenny, M.B. and W.H. Parker. 2004. Ojibway plant taxonomy at Lac Seul First Nation, Ontario, Canada. Journal of Ethnobiology 24(1):75-91.
54. Kirchner,M. 2000. Gestalt therapy theory:An overview. Gestalt! Available at: http:// www.g-gej.org/4-3/theoryoverview. html (verified 1 August 2007).
55. Kruskal, J.B. 1964. Non-metric multidimensional scaling: A numerical method. Psychometrika 29:115-129.
56. Lawrence, S., K. Narayan, and R. Hebbar. 2004. Adivasis of India and development atrategies: A policy working paper in progress. HIVOS, Bangalore, India.
57. Leonti, M., O. Sticher, and M. Heinrich. 2002. Medicinal plants of the Popoluca, Mexico: Organoleptic properties as indigenous selection criteria. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 81:307-315.
58. Linnaeus, C. 1707-1708. Genera Plantarum, ed. 5. (Stockholm, 1754).
59. McCune, B. and M.J. Mefford. 1997. PCORD. Multivariate analysis of ecological data, version 3.0. MjM Sofware Design. Gleneden Beach, OR.
60. McKinney, M.L. and R.M. Schoch. 2003. Environmental science, system and solutions. Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Sudbury, MA.
61. Minchin, P. 1987. An evaluation of the relative robustness of techniques for ecological ordination. Vegetatio 69: 89-107.
62. Morris, B. 1984. The pragmatics of folk classification. Journal of Ethnobiology 4(1):45-60.
63. 2000. The pragmatics of folk classification. In Ethnobotany: A reader, ed. P.E. Minnis 69-87. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
64. Nair, N.C. and A.N. Henry. 1983. Flora of Tamil Nadu, India: Series I. Botanical Survey of India.
65. Newmaster, S.G., S. Ragupathy, F.I. Rebecca, and C.B. Nirmala. 2006a. Mechanisms of ethnobiological classification. Ethnobotany 27:31-44.
66. Newmaster, S.G., A.J. Fazekas, and S. Ragupathy. 2006b. DNA barcoding in the land plants: Evaluation of rbcL in a multigene tiered approach. Canadian Journal of Botany 84:335-341.
67. Ohmagari, K. and F. Berkes. 1997. Transmission of indigenous knowledge and bush skills among the Western James Bay Cree of subarctic Canada. Human Ecology 25(2):197-221.
68. Parthasarathy, N. and R. Karthikeyan. 1997. Plant biodiversity and conservation of two tropical dry evergreen forests on the Coromandel coast, south India. Biodiversity and Conservation 6:1063-1083.
69. Pelto, P.J. and G.H. Pelto. 1990. Field methods in medical anthropology. In Medical anthropology: A handbook of theory and method, eds. T.M. Johnson and C.F. Sargent, pp. 269-297. Greenwood Press, New York.
70. Pierre, L. 1879-1907. Flore Forestiere de al Cochinchine. Paris.
71. Posey, D.A. 1984. Hierarchy and utility in a folk biological taxonomic system: Patterns in classification of arthropods by the Kayapo Indians of Brazil. Journal of Ethnobiology 4:123-139.
72. Prain, D. and I.H. Burkill. 1936. An account of the genus Dioscorea in the East. Annals of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Calcutta 14:211-528.
73. Primer Software. 2002. Primer Multivariate Software Version 5.2.9. PRIMER-E Ltd. Hedingham Gardens, Roborough Plymouth, United Kingdom.
74. Ragupathy, S. 1992. Flora of Thanjavur District. Ph.D. Dissertation (Center for Advanced Study in Botany). University of Madras, India.
75. Ragupathy, S. and A. Mahadevan. 1991. Ethnobotany of Kodaikkarai reserve forest, Tamil Nadu, south India. Ethnobotany 3:79-82.
76. -. 1996. Traditional medicine and ethno-botany among Dravidian tribal communities. In Encyclopaedia of Dravidian tribes, ed. T.M. Menon, pp. 1-5. International School of Dravidian Linguistic, Thiruvananthapuram, India.
77. Rengalakshmi, R. 2005. Folk biological classification of minor millet species in Kolli Hills, India. Journal of Ethnobiology 25(1):59-70.
78. Roxburgh, W. 1832. Flora Indica, edition 2. Serampore.
79. Schultes, R.E. 1960. Topping our heritage of ethnobotanical lore. Economic Botany 14:257-262.
80. -. 1962. The role of the ethnobotanist in the search for new medicinal plants. Lloydia 25:257-266.
81. Sharma, A.V.N. 1996. Adivasis of Kodiakkarai. Publications of the Government Museum, Chennai.
82. Shepard, G.H., Jr. 2002. Naturès Madison Avenue: Sensory cues as mnemonic devices in the transmission of medicinal plant knowledge among the Matisgenka and Yora of Peru. In Ethnobiology and biocultural diversity, eds. J.R. Stepp, F.S. Wyndham and R.K. Zarger, pp. 326-335. University of Georgia Press, Athens.
83. ter Braak, C.J.F. 1998. Canoco 4. Centre for Biometry, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
84. Turner, N. 1987. General plant categories in Thompson and Lillooet, two Interior Salish languages of British Columbia. Journal of Ethnobiology 7:55-82.
85. -. 2000. General plant categories in Thompson (Nlaka'pamux) and Lillooet (Stl'atl'imx), two Interior Salish languages of British Columbia. In Ethnobotany: A reader, ed. P.E. Minnis, pp. 88-117. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
86. Velayudhan, K.C., V.K. Muralidharan, V.A. Amalraj, and K.I. Asha. 1998. Genetic resource of yams of Western Ghats. Indian Journal of Plant Genetic Resources of the Western Ghats 11(1):69-80.
87. Weller, S.C. and A.K. Romney. 1988. Systematic data collection. Sage, Newbury Park, CA.
88. Werner, O. and J. Fenton. 1973. Method and theory in ethnoscience or ethnoepistemology. In A handbook of method in cultural anthropology, eds. R. Naroll and R. Cohen, pp. 537-578. Columbia University Press, New York.
89. Wober, M. 1966. Sensotypes. Journal of Social Psychology 70:181-189.