. The abhuj maria are living in the unknown hills (abhuj= ‘unknown’ and marh= ‘hill’) of Bastar region. These people are one of the sub-tribe of Gond. The tribal people of this region are classified based on their generic name Gond and they represent certain primitive stages and levels of development of our human society. They are mostly found in Orcha block of Narayanpur tahasil in Bastar district and in some part of Dantewada district.
Settlement Pattern
The Hill maria lives apart in a cluster of huts near the entrance to the village. These huts are also called ghotuls, the same name that the muria uses for their youth dormitories. The difference is that these ghotuls are not meant for young girls at all. This is the residence house. In the villages, the houses are constructed in two parallel rows with a broad space. In some villages, one can find that they use their own houses as dormitories. Each village has 15 to 20 houses.
Family Structure
Family is the smallest unit of the hill maria society. The family occupies a single domicile. The nature of the family is conjugal for it consists of husband, wife and their children; the eldest male in a household occupies final authority in all spheres of socioeconomic life. Their clans (kata) are an unlinear descent group. All the members of the clan believe that they descended from a common ancestor. In each hill maria village, there is a dominant clan such as called usendi.
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