Koya tribe rides the eco-friendly wave to help conserve the Indian Bison of Eastern Ghats

Koya tribe in Andhra Pradesh's Papikonda hill range move from traditional Indian Bison horns to palm leaves to craft their flute, Permakore, as a gesture of conservation. Koyas use Permakore to call villagers to hunt, celebrate catch, and mark the start of the agricultural season. The palm tree is deeply rooted in Koya culture, and the craft of making a musical instrument from palm leaves is not well known outside the tribe. Koyas hope for identity cards to settle conflict with wildlife authorities over possession of bison horns.

Living up to their reputation as the numero uno guardians of the forests, the indigenous Koya tribe inhabiting the Papikonda hill range along the rivers Godavari and Sabari in Andhra Pradesh have decided to do away with millennia-old traditions in an attempt to conserve the Indian Bison (Bos gaurus).

The Koyas have moved on from using traditional Indian Bison horns to palm leaves to craft their traditional flute, Permakore, as a gesture of conservation of the Indian Bison in the Papikonda hill range in the Eastern Ghats in Andhra Pradesh.

In the Koya language, ‘Permam’ stands for Indian Bison or Guar, and ‘Kore’ stands for ‘horn’, and thus, the flute made of Bison horn is called Permakore. On one corner of the horn is a bamboo pipe inserted from where the air is blown into the horn to produce sound.

Another name for the Papikondalu hill range is the’ Bison hill range,’ which is derived from the fact that it is home to the Indian Bison. In 1978, a portion of the hill range was declared a sanctuary, with Indian Bison as its megafauna species. The Papikonda National Park’s old records also called the Papikonda hill range the ‘Bison Division’ until the declaration of the sanctuary as a national park was made in 2008.

Since hunting cannot be separated from the Koyas’ social life, the Indian Bison became an integral part of their culture. The Koyas adopted Bison horns to discover their two cultural forms: the Kommu Koya dance, during which two Bison horns are adorned on the head as part of the attire, and the Permakore flute, which is made of a single horn.

Koya tribe elder Sodi Butchayya says, “Nowadays, Permakore is hardly seen in our Koya villages. We have stopped hunting the Indian Bison, which is hardly spotted in these forest patches nowadays when compared to a few decades ago. The bison population must have declined in our forests.”

However, the bison horn is key for their hunting operations. The Permakore is played at a designated time and place to give a call to the entire village to go hunting in the forest. The call is also used to summon everyone in the village to be present with their bows and arrows upon the instruction of the village elders. Even the dogs in the village react to the Permakore call as they are trained to accompany the Koyas in the hunt.