Korku
[aka Kurku, Muwasi, Muasi]Classification: Austro-Asiatic
·at risk
Korku is a scheduled tribe (ST) community predominantly found in the East Nimar (Khandwa and Burhanpur), Betul and Chhindwara districts of Madhya Pradesh and adjoining areas in Melghat region of Maharastra in India speaking the Korku language, which is a member of the Austroasiatic language family. Korkus have derived their name from the combination of the word 'koru' meaning man and 'ku' which makes it plural meaning tribal man (Russell and Hiralal, 1916).The Korkus are a branch of the great Munda tribes and are placed here in the vicinity of the great tribe- the Gonds (Deogaonkar et al., 1990). Korkus are initially believed to be a hunting gathering community dwelling in the forests of Satpura ranges on either sides of the river Tapti. The Korku tribe lives in small groups of huts made of grass and wood. They socially consume liquor made from the flowers of the Mahua tree which is prepared in almost all the houses. Predominantly, a rural-based community with 98.74 per cent living in