The
Coast Veddas or
Vedar, by self-designation, form a social group within the minority
Sri Lankan Tamil ethnic group of the
Eastern province of
Sri Lanka. They are primarily found in small coastal villages from the eastern township of
Trincomalee to
Batticalao. Nevertheless they also inhabit a few villages south of Batticalao as well. They make a living by
fishing,
slash and burn agriculture,
paddy cultivation of rice,
basket weaving for market and occasional wage labor. Anthropologists consider them to be partly descended from the
indigenous Vedda people, as well as local Tamils. Residents of the Eastern province consider their Vedar (Tamil for "hunter") neighbors to have been part of the local social structure from earliest times, whereas some Vedar elders believe that their ancestors may have migrated from the interior at some time in the past.