Category Archives: Anthropology

“[I]ndigenous people in India also feel the claustrophobic confines of their identity which has been imposed on them by others, be it the colonial administrator, the colonial anthropologist.” – Santali poet, scholar and translator Ivy Imogene Hansdak in “Is tribal identity relevant in today’s world?”, Inaugural Speech, National Conference “Tribes In Transition-II: Reaffirming Indigenous Identity Through Narrative” (2017)
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=23032

“I would like to direct attention to the general approach when we encounter the ‘other’ – the question of our protocol, etiquette and attitude. In our eagerness to know we probably show a disregard to these civilities. We try to buy friendship for building up rapport; we try to intrude into others’ territory without being invited and carry presents that we perceive would be appreciated to assert our friendliness.” – R.K. Bhattacharya in “The Holistic Approach to Anthropology: B. S. Guha’s Vision of the Anthropological Survey of India” (Journal of the Anthropological Survey of India, 2012-2013, ANSI journal 2012-13.pdf), p. 368
https://indianculture.gov.in/reports-proceedings/journal-anthropological-survey-india
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=26863

“[F]olklorists, anthropologists and sociocultural experts have intensified efforts to trace the imprints of myths, legends, ballads, songs and folk narratives in the weaves of the North-East. Each pattern is a little capsule of information—containing tales of ancestors, social values, clan practices, and more. Sangma cites the example of the dakmanda, a modern Garo wrap.” – Ramona Sangma quoted by Avantika Bhuyan in Livemint (1 December 2017)
https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/FR23TDZqwz1hDYOlB5mRSN/Folklore-myths-and-handloom.html
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=23691

“From the early modern period till today, then, caste has been an intrinsic feature of Indian society. It has been common to refer to this as the ‘caste system’. But it is debatable whether the term ‘system’ is appropriate here, unless we simply take for granted that any society is a ‘social system’. First, and this is quite clear when we look at the history of distinct castes, the ‘system’ and the place various groups occupy within it have been constantly changing. Second, no hierarchical order of castes has ever been universally accepted […] but what is certain is that there is no consensus on a single hierarchical order.” – Harald Tambs-Lyche (Professor Emeritus, Université de Picardie, Amiens) in “Caste: History and the Present” (Academia Letters, Article 1311, 2021)
https://www.academia.edu/4996345
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=6771

“[E]ngaging with the writing of anthropologists writing about tribes is a call to tribal conscience to address these [writers] head-on, without fear, as a way of setting records straight and challenging the primitivism they’ve thrown at us as exotic uncultivated people. This is finally exercising our agency to assert our true identities; a way to liberate the image and reputation of our ancestors and ourselves that has been chained to dehumanization by these writings’ imposed impressions of us.” – Ruby Hembrom (founder-director of Adivaani—a publisher of Adivasi writing), quoted by 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=8415

“[I]t is very important for anthropologists and other social scientists in contemporary world to study understand and explain the status of tribal youth with respect to its participation and acceptance to the wave of development and modernization and further related changes.” – Subhendu Kumar Acharya & Gautam K Kshatriya in: “Social Transformation, Identity of Indian Tribes in Recent Time: An Anthropological perspective“ (Afro Asian Journal of Anthropology and Social Policy Volume-5, Issue-2 2014)
https://www.academia.edu/9963906
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=20371