Uncaptioned landscape photograph of three Vedda men standing in front of trees. One is in shown in the act of drawing a bow and another holds an axe or adze. All three wear loincloths and are barefoot.

Vedda are an Indigenous group of Sri Lanka. They are thought to be some of the earliest inhabitants of Sri Lanka with a culture that is distinct from the country’s Sinhalese and Tamil group. Traditionally, they lived in forests and lived by foraging, hunting and fishing. Vedda still live in Sri Lanka today although they comprise less than 1% of the population.

Sri Lanka became a British colony during the nineteenth century, eventually achieving independence in 1948. During British rule, commercial photographers made images of Vedda to sell and this photograph was probably collected as a souvenir.