Category Archives: Commentary

“Unless we affirm our culture and right and language, we won’t live. Our colour is good, our language is good, our art is good, our way of living is good. If we can respect your religion and your practices, why can’t you respect ours?” – G. Thenadikulam from Wayanad District (Survival International, accessed 21 September 2022)
http://notprimitive.in/not-primitive-info
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=22274

“I cling to the belief that for any culture as old and ancient as ours to have survived over time and in time, there could only be one basic common and acceptable core thought: humaneness. To accept each other’s right to be human with dignity. This then is my fight. My dream. In my life and in my literature.” – Mahasweta Devi during her inaugural speech for the Frankfurt Book Fair (Tehelka, 21 October 2006)
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=7298

“Our moment calls for a bolder reimagination, based not on the constrained, degraded conditions around us but on a more expansive view of history and reality, considering as possible baselines both realities of the past and audacious visions of the future.” – Alexandra Kleeman in “Bolder Reimagining” (55 Voices for Democracy: “Bolder Reimagining” by Alexandra Kleeman, 31 December 2021)
https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/55-voices/55-voices-democracy-bolder-reimagining-alexandra-kleeman/
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=23900

“The best public universities have been gutted; all that is left is a shambolic display of awards of “excellence”, a word as shorn of content as any. In one instance the award has been to an institute of higher education that does not even exist. Yet all this is far from what Gandhi had in mind when he pondered over the ruins of education and I wonder how he would have struggled to even comprehend the “hardheartedness” of the educated in India today.” – “The Undeveloped Heart: Gandhi on Education” by Vinay Lal (Professor of History & Asian American Studies, University of California, Los Angeles UCLA), 15 October 2019
https://vinaylal.wordpress.com/2019/10/15/the-undeveloped-heart-gandhi-on-education/
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=29790

“We met adivasis who had been persecuted by the Naxalites, and other adivasis who had been tormented by the Salwa Judum vigilantes [i.e. “a strange, not to say bizarre, example of bipartisan co-operation“]. The situation of the community was poignantly captured by one tribal, who said […] “placed between the Maoists and the vigilantes, we adivasis are being squeezed from both sides”. – Historian Ramachandra Guha in “The continuing tragedy of the adivasis”, The Hindu (28 May 2013)
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-continuing-tragedy-of-the-adivasis/article4756954.ece
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=11336

“When discussing the materialistic well-being of tribes, many anthropologists and other thinkers have also sometimes perpetuated a ‘saviour complex,’ portraying tribes as bereft of the agency to express their own aspirations, and seeing it necessary to salvage tribal people from the clutches of their insubstantial living conditions without a deep consideration of how their ways of life have thrived in the past.” – Richard Kamei in “Uncivilising the Mind: How anthropology shaped the discourse on tribes in India” (Caravan Magazine, 1 March 2021)
https://caravanmagazine.in/books/anthropologists-tribes-india
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=26231

Audio | The Muskoka Summit on the Environment – Canada

Posted on 23/09/2022 by website administrator

Restoring our relationship with nature from lake beds to treetops Indigenous peoples have all around the world have principles and values that we can learn from, that will help us to understand what our responsibility is here. (9:33) What’s emerging … Continue reading →

Posted in Adverse inclusion, Biodiversity, Colonial policies, Commentary, Community facilities, Customs, Democracy, Ecology and environment, Education and literacy, Globalization, Health and nutrition, Misconceptions, Nature and wildlife, Networking, Quotes, Revival of traditions, Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Success story, Tips, Trees, Tribal culture worldwide, Tribal identity, Women | Comments Off on Audio | The Muskoka Summit on the Environment – Canada

Tribal voices worth listening to: On culture, land rights, employment, education and indigenous languages – Andaman, Kerala & Odisha

Posted on 21/09/2022 by website administrator

“Unless we affirm our culture and right and language, we won’t live. Our colour is good, our language is good, our art is good, our way of living is good. If we can respect your religion and your practices, why … Continue reading →

Posted in Assimilation, Childhood, Commentary, Community facilities, Crafts and visual arts, Cultural heritage, De- and re-tribalisation, Democracy, Dress and ornaments, Ecology and environment, Economy and development, Education and literacy, History, Languages and linguistic heritage, Misconceptions, Modernity, Names and communities, Nature and wildlife, Networking, Organizations, Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG), Photos and slideshows, Quotes, Regions of India – Tribal heritage & indigenous knowledge, Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Southern region – Southern Zonal Council, Storytelling, Success story, Tribal identity, Wayanad, Western Ghats – Tribal heritage and ecology, Worship and rituals | Tagged , | Comments Off on Tribal voices worth listening to: On culture, land rights, employment, education and indigenous languages – Andaman, Kerala & Odisha

Video | Synopsis: “Have you seen the arana?” Documentary by Sunanda Bhat – Kerala

Posted on 16/09/2022 by website administrator

Director: Sunanda Bhat | Producer: Songline FilmsGenre: Documentary | Produced In: 2012 | Story Teller’s Country: India Synopsis: The film interweaves contemporary narratives with an ancient tribal creation myth to explore the effects of a rapidly changing landscape on lives and … Continue reading →

Posted in Adivasi / Adibasi, Childhood, Commentary, Cultural heritage, Customs, Ecology and environment, Economy and development, Film, Health and nutrition, History, Homes and utensils, Media portrayal, Modernity, Names and communities, Nature and wildlife, Quotes, Southern region – Southern Zonal Council, Storytelling, Tourism, Tribal elders, Video resources - external, Western Ghats – Tribal heritage and ecology, Women | Comments Off on Video | Synopsis: “Have you seen the arana?” Documentary by Sunanda Bhat – Kerala

Factors for a better life: An analysis of rural poverty and improvements for tribal communities – Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Maharashtra & Mizoram

Posted on 05/09/2022 by website administrator

The abominable plight of migrant workers in recent weeks has invaded television screens and stirred the nation’s conscience. Alas, this is just the tip of the wave of hardships that is sweeping through the country. The situation looks increasingly alarming … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, Bastar, Central region – Central Zonal Council, Commentary, Community facilities, Economy and development, Education and literacy, Ethnobotany and ethnomedicine, Figures, census and other statistics, Forest Rights Act (FRA), Gadchiroli, Health and nutrition, Homes and utensils, Misconceptions, Modernity, Networking, Organizations, Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG), Quotes, Resources, Rural poverty, Seven Sister States & Sikkim – North Eastern Council, Southern region – Southern Zonal Council, Success story, Video resources - external, Western region –  Western Zonal Council | Comments Off on Factors for a better life: An analysis of rural poverty and improvements for tribal communities – Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Maharashtra & Mizoram

eBook | “That pride must never allow us to forget our many weakness and failings or blunt our longing to be rid of them” (Jawaharlal Nehru): Museums in the service of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace: International Museum Day (18 May)

Posted on 29/08/2022 by website administrator

https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.98835 In his book, The Discovery of India, Nehru wrote, long before 1947, about the difficulties regarding uniting people with diverse languages, religions and cultural values. At the same time, as a historian, he could sketch the unifying forces which … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, Colonial policies, Commentary, Community facilities, Cultural heritage, Customs, Democracy, eBook eJournal ePaper, Education and literacy, Government of India, History, Literature and bibliographies, Modernity, Museum collections - general, Museum collections - India, Musicology, Networking, Organizations, Press snippets, Quotes, Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Seasons and festivals, Success story, Tips, Tribal culture worldwide, Tribal identity, Worship and rituals | Comments Off on eBook | “That pride must never allow us to forget our many weakness and failings or blunt our longing to be rid of them” (Jawaharlal Nehru): Museums in the service of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace: International Museum Day (18 May)