Why in news
In Godavari valley, the Koya tribe faces a cultural crisis as raids by the Special Enforcement Bureau threaten their cherished tradition of Mahua liquor consumption.
Scores of Koya women are increasingly abandoning their ancestral practice of collecting and brewing Mahua flowers, fearing the repercussions of enforcement actions
Koya tribe
Koya are one of the few multi-racial and multi-lingual tribal communities in India.
They live in the forests, plains, and valleys on both sides of the Godavari River, which lies in Andhra Pradesh & Telangana.
Many also live in the states of Chhattisgarh and Orissa.
Most Koya speak either Gondi or Telugu, in addition to Koyi.
Koyi is closely related to Gondi and has been strongly influenced by Telugu.
They erect menhirs in memory of the dead.
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
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