Editing Vedda (section)

==Current status==
{{Historical populations
|type = 
|footnote = Source:[[Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka|Department of Census<br />& Statistics]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Population by ethnic group, census years|url=http://www.statistics.gov.lk/abstract2010/chapters/Chap2/AB2-10.pdf|publisher=Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka|access-date=23 October 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111113175023/http://www.statistics.gov.lk/abstract2010/chapters/Chap2/AB2-10.pdf|archive-date=13 November 2011}}</ref><br />Data is based on <br />[[Sri Lankan Government]] Census.
|1881 | 2200
|1891 | 1200
|1901 | 4000
|1911 | 5300
|1921 | 4500
|1931 | 5200
|1946 | 2400
|1953 | 800
|1963 | 400
|1971 | 
|1981 | 
|1989 (est.) | 
|2001 | 
|2011 | 
}}

Some observers have said Veddas are disappearing and have lamented the decline of their distinct culture.<ref name=Nira/><ref name=UN>[https://vedda.org/wanniyalaeto-un.htm Address of Warige Wanniya to the UN], vedda.org Retrieved 4-12-2015</ref><ref>Spittel, R. L. (1950). ''Vanished Trails: The Last of the Veddas''. Oxford University Press.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vimeo.com/45950118|title=Stuck Between Two Worlds|accessdate=26 May 2023|via=vimeo.com}}</ref> Land acquisition for mass irrigation projects, government forest reserve restrictions, and the civil war have disrupted traditional Vedda ways of life.<ref name=Nira/><ref name=UN/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbO0id6g0NQ|title=Season of the Spirit Bear - Part 5|accessdate=26 May 2023|via=www.youtube.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ae4JoWqWkU|title=Sri Lanka Debrief News - 21. 07. 2010|accessdate=26 May 2023|via=www.youtube.com}}</ref> Between 1977 and 1983 under the Accelerated [[Mahaweli Development programme|Mahaweli Development Project]] and colonization schemes, approximately 51468 hectares were turned into a gigantic hydroelectric dam irrigation project.<ref name=UN/><ref name=passports>[https://vedda.org/wanniyalaeto.htm Sri Lanka's Indigenous Wanniya-laeto: A Case History], vedda.org Retrieved 4-12-2015</ref> Subsequently, the creation of the [[Maduru Oya National Park]] deprived the Veddhas their last hunting grounds.<ref name=passports/> In 1985, the Veddha Chief Thissahamy and his delegation were obstructed from attending the United Nations [[Working Group on Indigenous Populations]].<ref name=passports/> Dr. Wiveca Stegeborn, an [[anthropologist]], has been studying the Vedda since 1977 and alleges that their young women are being tricked into accepting contracts to the [[Middle East]] as [[domestic worker]]s when in fact they will be [[human trafficking|trafficked]] into [[prostitution]] or sold as [[sex slaves]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://gender-policy.tripod.com/backissues/March01.html#Article%20Two |title=Endangered Wanniyala-Aetto Women sent as Sex Slaves to the Middle East |access-date=2006-11-17 |archive-date=2012-02-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220031338/http://gender-policy.tripod.com/backissues/March01.html#Article%20Two |url-status=dead }}</ref>

However, [[cultural assimilation]] of Veddas with other local populations has been going on for a long time. "Vedda" has been used in Sri Lanka to mean not only hunter-gatherers but also to refer to any people who adopt an unsettled and rural way of life and thus can be a [[derogatory]] term not based on ethnic group. Thus, over time, it is possible for non-Vedda groups to become Veddas, in this broad cultural sense.{{sfn|Brow|1978|p=34}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.artsrilanka.org/essays/vaddaprimitivism/index.html |title=Obeyesekere, Gananath. Colonial Histories and Vadda Primitivism |access-date=June 11, 2006 |archive-date=February 17, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130217140154/http://www.artsrilanka.org/essays/vaddaprimitivism/index.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Vedda populations of this kind are increasing in some districts.{{sfn|Brow|1978|p=3}}