“We plant the trees for our children in the memory of our elders who planted for us.” – Fundia Bai Parte of Korku village in Betul (Madhya Pradesh), interviewed in “Protectors dubbed criminals” by Aparna Pallavi (Down To Earth, 7 June 2015)
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/coverage/protectors-dubbed-criminals-38993
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=20447
Watch a series of short videos portraits researched and filmed by Gayatri Indira Vijaysimha and Dev Narayan Chaudhuri (Tata Institute of Social Sciences Mumbai): young and senior members of the Khasi community who enjoy music making for a variety of reasons. What unites them is a commitment, namely to provide future generations with access to … Read more
Kong Batthimai, a vegetable vendor and singer celebrates music as a source of joy; for her and her community, it is also a means of attaining knowledge and enlightenment …
Renowned writer and social activist Mahasweta Devi termed Adivasis as “the most civilised people” to whom Indian forests, rivers and mountains owe their survival. She praised their egalitarian social structure where nobody is greater than anybody, and where social evils such as dowry do not exist. Addressing students at the University of Hyderabad here on … Read more
The performance video covers Vayali Folklore Group’s journey for a folk art dance performance. The colour, energy and skill of the young people is on full display. About Vayali Motto: “Culture nourishes itself from nature.Without nature, culture cannot exist;without culture, a society cannot.” Vayali, a group of young people from the cultural capital of Kerala, … Read more
Though India is hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, our small cluster of two Adivasi villages in West Bengal has not suffered infections yet. We do feel the economic impacts of course. […] Farm work has continued quietly. To many Santals, one lesson of the pandemic has been that agriculture provides the safest livelihoods. It … Read more