Today, the Hill Maria live in the rugged interior of central India, mainly in the Abujhmar Mountains and Kutrumar Hills. This region, which is covered in thick jungle, is geographically inaccessible, allowing little communication with outsiders. Although only a few miles of mountains and forests separate them from their neighbors and former rulers, the Telugu, the Hill Maria remain the most primitive and least influenced of the original Gond tribes. They speak a Dravidian language called Abujmaria.

What are their lives like?
The Hill Maria are semi-nomadic farmers who use the "slash and burn" method of agriculture. After farming an area for two or three years, they abandon their houses, move to a different location, and make new land clearings. They survive by farming, hunting, and eating the fruits of the forests. They hunt with spears, and bows and arrows, and eat the game that is killed. Wild buffalo, boar, deer, and tigers live in the dense forests of the region. The people vow to protect the tiger, which is highly honored, feared, and respected.

Hill Maria villages are intended to be communal, territorial units, with each village led by a committee of elders. The actual enforcement of this state system is difficult, however, since the villages are so widespread throughout the jungles and forests.

Most of the Hill Maria are undoubtedly poor. They live in thatch-roofed, bamboo and mud houses that line a common street. Although the Hill Maria are less civilized than other Gond, they far surpass the others in strength and ability. A strong sense of community exists between them. Liberty, equality, and brotherhood are highly valued principles. Overall, they are said to be shy, friendly, and attractive.

The Hill Maria are required to pay taxes in grain. However, these shy tribesmen have no communication with those who come to collect it. Rather, they leave the grain on the banks of the Indravati River to be taken away.

The ghotul, or temporary dormitory for unmarried youth, is a significant building within the Hill Maria villages. It contains no domestic furnishings and is basically a social club and sleeping place for the young and unmarried. The ghotul is considered a religious institution, a "holy place," and there is no such thing as sin within its walls. Without exception, there is complete sexual liberty until marriage. Teenage boys are divided into two groups, the first of which allows and encourages sexual relations with the unmarried girls. The other group is connected with war, hunting, and magic.

The dress of the Hill Maria depends upon their distance from civilization. A few have purchased clothes from the outside, but they usually wear outfits of a scanty description, such as aprons made of leaves.

What are their beliefs?
Sixty percent of the Hill Maria are Hindus, worshipping millions of gods and goddesses. The remaining 40% practice ethnic religions, particularly animism (based on the belief that non-human objects have spirits). They believe that the forest is the dwelling place of the gods and ancestral spirits, and they regularly pray to the ancestral spirits for protection and blessings. They also believe that the spirits warn them of future events through the actions of wild animals.

What are their needs?
The Hill Maria live in poverty, both physically and spiritually. They do not have any Christian resources available in their own language, and there are only a handful of known believers among them. Sustained intercession, evangelistic tools, and continued missions efforts are essential for seeing them reached with the Gospel.

Prayer Points

• Ask the Lord to send additional missionaries and humanitarian aid workers to minister to the physical and spiritual needs of the Hill Maria.
• Ask the Holy Spirit to give the missions agencies creative strategies for reaching the Hill Maria.
• Pray that the Jesus film and Christian broadcasts will soon be made available to the Hill Maria.
• Pray that the Lord Jesus will reveal Himself to these precious people through dreams and visions.
• Ask the Lord to save key leaders among the Hill Maria who will boldly declare the Gospel.
• Take authority over the spiritual principalities and powers that are keeping the Hill Maria bound.
• Ask God to raise up prayer teams who will begin breaking up the spiritual soil of India through worship and intercession.
• Pray that strong local churches will be planted among the Hill Maria by the year 2000.

THE PEOPLE

• People name: Hill Maria
• Country: India
• Their language: Abujmaria
• Population: (1990) 19,700
  (1995) 21,700
  (2000) 23,700
• Largest religion: Hindu 60%
  Ethnic religionist 39.9%
• Christian: <1%
• Church members: 11
• Scriptures in their own language: None
• Jesus Film in their own language: None
• Christian broadcasts in their own language: None
• Mission agencies working among this people: 1
• Persons who have heard the Gospel: 6,300 (29%) Those evangelized by local Christians: 900 (5%)
  Those evangelized from the outside: 5,400 (24%)
• Persons who have never heard the Gospel: 15,400 (71%)

• Country: India
• Population: (1990) 850,638,100
  (1995) 935,744,300
  (2000) 1,022,021,300
• Major peoples in size order: Hindi (High Hindi) 9.5%
  Telegu 7.8%
  Maratha 7.4%
  Bengali 6.4%
  Hindi (Bazaar, Popular) 5.5%
• Major religions: Hindus 78.2%
  Muslims 12%
  Christians 4.3%
• Number of denominations: 163