Training and employment opportunities for India’s tribal youth: A round-up of recent initiatives and press reports – Kerala, Rajasthan & Telangana

At a time when most art forms of the Scheduled Tribes in the country have faded into oblivion, the Kerala Institute for Research, Training and Development Studies of Scheduled Castes and Tribes (KIRTADS) in Kozhikode is on a mission to revive and reacquaint them to the new generation of the respective tribes. ‘Kol attai, Thotti Attai, Sododimi…’ … Read more

Video | Living with the cycles of nature and understanding that it is bountiful: National award winning documentary “I Cannot Give You My Forest” – Odisha

I cannot give you my forest is a documentary directed and produced by filmmakers- Nandan Saxena and Kavita Bahl. It has received the National Film Award for Best Environment Film in 2014. Filmed in the forests of Odisha, ‘I cannot give you my forest’ is a window into the lives of the Kondh ‘adivasis’. The … Read more

“We have to write our own stories, about our issues, from our own perspectives”: Remembering Abhay Xaxa, a Fiercely Unapologetic Adivasi Scholar-Activist – Chhattisgarh & Jharkhand

A champion for Adivasi rights, Xaxa played an active part in anti-displacement movements in central India. […] Xaxa passed away because of a heart attack. A native of the Jashpur district of northern Chhattisgarh, Xaxa had completed his PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) after receiving his masters in social anthropology from the University of … Read more

Video | Vayali Folklore Group performance – Kerala

The performance video covers Vayali Folklore Group’s journey for a folk art dance performance. The colour, energy and skill of the young people is on full display. About Vayali Motto: “Culture nourishes itself from nature.Without nature, culture cannot exist;without culture, a society cannot.” Vayali, a group of young people from the cultural capital of Kerala, … Read more

“Indigenous people are at the forefront of the struggle to save the planet”: Defending the guardians of nature

On a very small scale compared to the widely promoted homogenising mega-schools, [alternative schools] respect diversity and are sensitive to the socio-cultural and political context of the children. […] The National Education Policy of 2020 is silent on the crucial question of integrating Adivasi knowledge. It appears to encourage multilingual education but calls for ‘philanthropic’ … Read more