Benefits of community screenings: Award-winning documentary “Have you seen the Arana” – Kerala

Report on community screenings (2013-14) A trial series of community screenings coordinated by FERNS took place in collaboration with initiatives that meet the following criteria: Results and benefits The community screenings have made local people aware of the need for educational activities on ecology. Each tribal facilitator in the community screening project approached the project … Read more

“Rethinking tribals”: Articles on Adivasi culture in Folio Special issue

Ever since the Portuguese travel writers and missionaries decided to describe the vast variety of ethnic and occupational groups and sects of the Indian subcontinent in terms of “caste” and “tribe”, the terms have stuck to society as long-worn masks that start becoming one’s real personality. The result is that today no Indian describes society … Read more

South India’s largest collection of forestry artefacts: The Gass Forest Museum in Coimbatore – Tamil Nadu

Esther Elias, The Hindu, Coimbatore, July 9, 2012 | To read the full story and view more images, click here >> The Gass Forest Museum located within the 100-year-old TNFA has many stories to tell. It hosts South India’s largest collection of forestry artefacts including timber and non-timber forest produce, geological samples, tribal armaments and … Read more

Scheduled Tribes – Kerala

What we are telling to the outer world is that no conservation would be possible without cooperation of the local community, especially the aborigines [Adivasis]. Integrating their traditional wisdom with modern-day scientific approach would definitely yield results. Source: KH Amitha Bachan (researcher and consultant to Kerala Forest Department and the World Wildlife Fund-India Ecological Monitoring … Read more

“Dedicated to preserving and interpreting the rich and unique culture of the indigenous people”: The Ethnological Museum of the Kerala Institute for Research, Training and Development Studies of Scheduled Castes and Tribes (KIRTADS) – Kerala

The Ethnological Museum is one of the most informative and interesting storehouse for people who want to know about the Tribes of Kerala. The Museum is a part of the Kerala Institute for Research, Training and Development Studies of Scheduled Castes and Tribes (KIRTADS), and houses a large collection of artefacts, costumes, jewellery, household utensils, … Read more