Tribal voices worth listening to: On culture, land rights, employment, education and indigenous languages – Andaman, Kerala & Odisha

“Unless we affirm our culture and right and language, we won’t live. Our colour is good, our language is good, our art is good, our way of living is good. If we can respect your religion and your practices, why can’t you respect ours?” – G. Thenadikulam, Wayanad District “We say, ‘you don’t have to … Read more

Tip | Enjoy a virtual journey across India: Interactive map

Traverse over 5000 km of India with the help of the present map

Land allocation and alienation: The Kaani tribal community inhabiting the forests of Kanyakumari – Tamil Nadu

Excerpts from a report by environmental educator Davidson Sargunam (Nagercoil) titled Land Alienation of the tribe: Rich forest lands, poor tribal people. The Kaani tribal community inhabits the forests of Kanyakumari in 48 Settlements in the Western Ghats in Agasthiar Biosphere Reserve. Once a nomadic tribe, they have settled in the deep forests and jungles. They … Read more

Revival of interest in traditional folk medicine: Medicinal plants reported with the help of the Paliyar community (Theni district) – Tamil Nadu

Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used by Paliyar tribals in Theni district of Tamil Nadu, India.[My paper] S Ignacimuthu, M Ayyanar, K SankarasivaramanEntomology Research Institute, Loyola College, Chennai-600 034, Tamil Nadu, India. An ethnobotanical survey was carried out among the Paliyar tribals in various tribal villages of Theni district, Tamil Nadu, India during December 2004 to January … Read more

The Adivasi way of life: Utopian or worth emulating by ‘mainstream’ society? – An ongoing debate

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