The Chenchus are referred to as one of the Primitive Tribal Groups that are still dependent on forests and do not cultivate land but hunt for a living.

Non-tribe people living among them rent land from the Chenchus and pay a portion of the harvest.

Other people also settled among them with the help of the Chenchus and learned agriculture from them, and the nomadic Banjara herders who graze their cattle in the forest also have been allotted land there.

Settling in South India after leaving the Indus Valley Civilisation around 1800 BCE, Chenchu legend speaks of Induskang, a tribal chief that existed around the time of the migration, known for his exceptional hunting and combat abilities.

The figure remains vital in their folk literature, best preserved in a poem Chenchu mothers traditionally recite to their children at night, depicting the triumph of Induskang over the rakshasa Kurisprayata.