Category Archives: Literature and bibliographies

“The whole body of writings on the tribes has been marked by i) Orientalist stereotyping ii) nationalism, because of which they were largely misrepresentations.” – Joseph Bara, on the need to critique the existing narratives and knowledge systems about the tribals in India, Report on the National Conference “Tribes In Transition-II: Reaffirming Indigenous Identity Through Narrative” (2017)
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=23050

“[M]ost studies of adivasi society tend to focus on their culture (the more exotic the better) and very little is available on the economy and politics of this much maligned and marginalised nine per cent of India [whereas] Kela challenges the emerging but current opinion of revisionist anthropologists.” – Stan Thekaekara (Co-founder, Just Change India) reviewing A Rogue and Peasant Slave by Shashank Kela (Indian Express, 5 January 2013)
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=10961

“By the 1940s in India, when considering how to incorporate tribal populations into the nation state, there was a division between two camps—one promoted ‘isolation’ and ‘protection’ against assimilation, while the other was for ‘intervention’ and ‘assimilation.’ Verrier Elwin and Ghurye broadly represent these opposite poles. Elwin, at least initially, supported protectionist policies and recommended the ‘partial isolation’ of tribes from non-tribal society.” – 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=6911

“If a man cannot enjoy the return of spring, why should he be happy in a labour-saving Utopia?” – George Orwell in his posthumous volume of essays Shooting an Elephant, quoted by E.M Foster in Two Cheers for Democracy (London: Penguin Books 1976), p. 76
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/805143625
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=34514

“Western epistemology has considered oral societies as being devoid of histories, while they do appropriate these histories in different ways. The binaries on which these studies are premised are unfair – such as those of oral/written, civilized/uncivilized, subjective/ objective. They consider documentation as authentic and deride the authenticity of oral cultures. They are unmindful of the fact that the documentation is also not free from subjective ideological interventions. […] Therefore, it is necessary for tribal studies to counter the epistemologies from outside and develop an epistemology with a perspective from within.” – Bipin Jojo in “Report for the ICSSR-sponsored Two-Day National Conference Tribes In Transition-II: Reaffirming Indigenous Identity Through Narrative”
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=23050

“In West Bengal, most Santal children attend state schools where Bengali is the language of instruction. In the neighbouring states, other languages are prevalent. At the same time, Latin letters are still in use as well, not least because some of the books prepared early on by the missionaries are still in print. They are indeed very useful.” – Boro Baski in “The pros and cons of Ol-chiki” (D+C Development and Cooperation, e-Paper April 2021)
https://www.dandc.eu/sites/default/files/pdf_files/dc_2021-04.pdf
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=21581

“In the highlands of the former Hyderabad State (now Andhra Pradesh) concentrations of Gonds persisted in their traditional lifestyle until the middle of the twentieth century: feudal chiefs continued to function as tribal heads and hereditary bards preserved a wealth of myths and epic tales.[…] In 1979 the Gonds were once again being subjected to the pressure of outside forces and Professor von Fürer-Haimendorf lays special emphasis on the analysis of the process of social change forced upon the Gonds by settlers from outside.” – Publisher’s description of The Gonds of Andhra Pradesh Tradition and Change in an Indian Tribe” by Christoph and Elisabeth von Fürer-Haimendorf (Routledge, December 2021)
https://www.routledge.com/The-Gonds-of-Andhra-Pradesh-Tradition-and-Change-in-an-Indian-Tribe/Furer-Haimendorf-Furer-Haimendorf/p/book/9781032156484
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=11872