Folklore Medicinal Claims from Kani Tribes of Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu, South India

Abstract

The ethnic people have their own culture, customs, religion and medical lores gained from their ancestors. The Kani tribal community settled in the forests of Agasthiyamalai of Western Ghats in Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli districts of Tamil Nadu and some places of Kerala also have their own culture and medical lores. Residing inside the forest areas, they depend on natural resources for their food, wellness products and livelihood practices. Each tribal settlement has one or two experts called as Moopans who are well versed in the folk practice of medicine using herbs and animal products. Medico ethno botanical survey conducted by the authors of this paper recorded several claims of which 29 are scrutinized as important. A brief account of the folklore information on native medical lore recorded from the Kani tribes explained in this paper