Keywords
Material culture
Marriage rituals
Symbolic anthropology
How to Cite
Abstract
This paper examines the role of material culture in the marital practices of the Narikkuravar, a semi-nomadic Scheduled Tribe in Tamil Nadu. Drawing on four months of ethnographic fieldwork in Thimmampalayam Pudur, Coimbatore, including 14 interviews, 2 focus groups, and participant observation at four weddings, this study explores how objects such as the Thaali, bead necklaces, fox-tooth pendants, and the sacred Saami mootai function as material signifiers of marital status, lineage and clan continuity. Findings reveal a reversed dowry system, gendered sacred inheritance and culturally embedded body modification rituals such as teeth blackening. Changes like the adoption of gold beads and delayed marriage age indicate hybrid adaptation rather than cultural erosion. Material culture emerges not only as symbolic but as an active tool of social negotiation, boundary maintenance, and cultural resilience. This study contributes to understanding how marginalized communities deploy tangible cultural forms to navigate identity, exclusion, and continuity.
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