“[I]t is unimaginable to think of tribes as landless, as land and forest have been traditionally their life support system.” – Virginius Xaxa, excerpt from Being Adivasi (Gurugram: Penguin Books India, 2021)
https://scroll.in/article/1014436/being-adivasi-autonomous-existence-or-integration-nehru-had-proposed-a-third-way
https://worldcat.org/en/title/1290015863
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=27829
[…] In India, as elsewhere, colonialism is “first, foremost and always” about land. As in North America and Africa, the policing of reserve forests has often resulted in what amounts to ethnic cleansing, with Indigenous peoples being evicted from their homelands for the benefit of the tourism industry and its urban, middle-class clients. Displaced Adivasis … Read more
Forest Rights: Jung Jungle aur Jungle ke logo ka. Voices of Bhil tribal from semi-arid forest, Rajasthan, India. A short video documentary (14mins) film ‘Forest Rights’ is produced and directed by Purabi Bose based on research field work data collection. Camera assistance by Savyasachi. The film brings the voices of marginalised scheduled tribes, in particular, … Read more
Dr. Boro Baski; translated from Bengali to English by Asha BaskiOriginally published in Anandabazar Patrika (India’s most widely read Bengali daily) I was born in a Santal village in Birbhun District. In my childhood I saw how my mother cleaned the courtyard every morning with cow-dung mixed with black charcoal and water, and how she … Read more
Forests mean different things to different people, for biologists and conservationists, an ecosystem has to adhere to certain scientific norms to qualify it as a forest. For strategic planners, forests are “an administrative category implying a desired land use” whether or not trees are included, but it is useful in making claims to “extend the … Read more
Indians are truly rooted in an ethos of living in harmony with their land. There was a time when the Indian subcontinent was carpeted in green… watered by glacial rivers, blessed by rolling hills and productive grasslands, lush rainforests and wave-kissed mangroves. All creatures, great and small, found niches here and thrived. Varied cultures were … Read more