“The Indian subcontinent boasts of a rich and diverse history involving multi-ethnic origins, and this has been established by in-depth scholarship on linguistics, mythology, folklore and anthropology, archaeology, geology, big-history and genetics.” – Manuraj Shunmugasundaram in “The Dravidian movement and Aryan illusions” (The Hindu, 23 July 2022)
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-dravidian-movement-and-aryan-illusions/article65672119.ece
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=26937
“The idea of creation of Zonal Councils was mooted by the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru in 1956 […] ‘to develop the habit of cooperative working’ among these States.” – Government of India in “Zonal Councils” (accessed 3 April 2021)
https://www.mha.gov.in/sites/default/files/ZCS-CitiCharter-130710_0.pdf
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?page_id=20801
Rites of Passage | Read the full article with illustrations here >> In general, women have a strong connection with the idea of a “vital cycle” not only as life givers, care-takers of children and the home; and their own monthly menstrual cycles. Some women, especially those from the tattoo community within the Gond tribe have a strong … Read more
“It is almost impossible to characterize all of India’s tribals in a single ethnographic or historic framework. […] After Independence, these communities were ‘denotified’ and placed quite randomly in the schedules of tribes, castes and other ‘backward communities’. Yet anyone with any experience of tribal culture will find these listings mind-boggingly oversimplified. The most useful … Read more
“The world sells humans. What kind of world is this? Buying and selling is done every morning and evening. What kind of world is this?” – Hindi song lyrics in this movie (see below) “Kamla” (1984): Hindi movie (duration: 2h), written by Vijay Tendulkar and directed by Dr. Jagmohan Mundhra with English subtitles – to view the … Read more
Source: “The role of indigenous women in the preservation and transmission of traditional knowledge”, United Nations 2022URL: https://www.un.org/en/observances/indigenous-dayDate Visited: 8 August 2022 Indigenous peoples and UNESCO Indigenous peoples live in all regions of the world and own, occupy or use some 22% of global land area. Numbering at least 370-500 million, indigenous peoples represent the … Read more
Anyone who has had some meaningful interaction with India’s indigenous or adivasi people, cannot fail to be touched by the encounter. There is a directness in them, an absence of artifice or guile, an almost childlike innocence, born of simplicity combined with a lack of greed and avarice. The more interior and untouched a village, … Read more