More than a question of terminology: ‘Adivasi’, ‘Indigenous Peoples of India’, ‘Vanvasi’, ‘Vanyajati’, and the administration of constitutional privileges for ‘Scheduled Tribes’ (ST)

A Contentious Term to denote Tribes as Indigenous Peoples of India | Full article >> In India the term ‘Adivasi’ has gained immense popularity in the last few decades to identify the …

Survey of the living languages of India in present time (PLSI) – carried out by persons who belong to the respective speech communities or have worked closely with them

The People’s Linguistic Survey of India (PLSI) is a comprehensive survey of the living languages of India in present time. The first such survey since George Grierson’s Linguistic Survey of India carried out …

Tribal Politics – adivasi culture, language, and religion in Encyclopedia of India

Tribal Politics The “tribal” peoples or adivasis of India, according to the 2001 census, constitute roughly 8.1 percent of the country’s population, some 83,6 million people, classified under 461 different …

Adivasi poetry that “expresses unwillingness and disagreement”: Probing into the culture of the ex-tea garden labourers – Assam

On second day of TLF, session on “Young Tribal Writers; Their Themes, Issues and Challenges was organized.” The session was chaired by Prof. Sivashish Biswas, Assam University, Assam. During the session, …

From Adivasi and Scheduled Tribes to Indigenous Peoples: “Tribes In Transition-II: Reaffirming Indigenous Identity Through Narrative” (National Conference)

Parallel Session 3: The ‘Tribe’ defined in Social SciencesChaired by: Prof. Bipin Jojo, TISS, MumbaiPaper Presenters: Shreya Jessica Dhan (JNU, New Delhi), Anu Krishnan (TISS, Mumbai), Pradyumna Bag (JMI, New …

North-Eastern Areas – Scheduled Districts Act of 1874, political and constitutional changes

Over six years after its signing, the Bodoland Accord is yet to usher in substantive changes on the ground [i.e. at the date of pulication in 2002]. […] The Sixth …

Vibrant contemporary writing from the north-eastern region: Overcoming marginalisation of culture and literature

The poets from the north-eastern region have to meet the double challenge of truth and liberty, of identity and unity, of cultural loss and recovery, of ethnic specificity and aesthetic …

“The North East Indian region has never been an isolated backwater” – Food production and animal domestication since the Neolithic Revolution

“Who lived here?”, “when did they live here?”, “what culture did they have?” and “how did their culture change?” are just some of the questions posed by Prehistory and Archaeology …