Ethnobotany & ethnomedicine

“Tribal languages are a treasure trove of knowledge about a region’s flora, fauna and medicinal plants. Usually, this information is passed from generation to generation. However, when a language declines, that knowledge system is completely gone.” – Ayesha Kidwai (Centre for Linguistics, School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi) quoted by Abhijit Mohanty in “Seven decades after independence, many tribal languages in India face extinction threat” (Down to Earth, 26 August 2020)
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/governance/seven-decades-after-independence-many-tribal-languages-in-india-face-extinction-threat-73071
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=6879

The “participatory guarantee system” (PGS Organic Council): A renewed effort to sustain the lives and cultures of indigenous communities – Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve

by

Rich Forests: Making a living under the canopy […] PGS has been received enthusiastically in India and elsewhere. The PGS Organic Council was registered in Goa, India, in April 2011. Since then, the Government of India – under the national project on organic farming – has officially launched the participatory guarantee system (PGS India) for organic produce. In India … Read more

Resources for the classroom: Learning from and about India’s tribal communities, their culture and knowledge systems

by

“[I]t is some of the basic values and ideology imbibed in the traditional tribal socio-cultural milieus that should have been emulated and promoted amongst the non-tribal mainstream, not, as has been going on, the other way round.” – Arup Maharatna (Professor, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune), in Who Is Civilised?’: In Praise of Tribal … Read more

Tribal communities of Uttara Kannada district (Karwar, Ankola, Kumta, Gokarna & Honnava) – Karnataka

by

The Uttara Kannada district is home to many indigenous tribal communities among others, including the Sidhis, Goulis, Kunabis, Gondas and the Halakki. The Halakki people are scattered across several Taluks of Uttara Kannada district namely Karwar, Ankola, Kumta, Gokarna and Honnavar. | Learn more >> Tulasi Gowda, a 72-year-old tribal woman from Karnataka, was conferred … Read more

Tip | Learn more about bees and honey: “What if bees did not exist?”

by

The role of bees in any economy is well understood, and the disappearance of indigenous bee populations is alarming to scientists all over the world: Bees are some of nature’s most fascinating creatures, they are also incredibly important. Their intimate dependency relationship with plants makes bees a crucial component of successful ecosystems the world over. … Read more

Examples of innate intelligence, even “innovation at its best”: Meetings with a Warli village blacksmith, the tailor, the cattle-rearer, the hunter-gatherer, the farmer, the fisherman, and an expert who treats poison bites – Maharashtra

by

Read the full article and view a series of photographs here >> Did my car slow down on its own near a house made of karvi sticks? Or did the muscle memory of my legs press on the brake ever so lightly? Whatever be the case, I had halted at the house of Anusuyabai, my host in … Read more