Storytelling

“Having grown up within the largely oral Khasi community in Meghalaya, whose creative expressions mainly comprised song and “iathoh khana” (storytelling), it puzzled me that, in none of the canonical creative writing textbooks, had I come across a discussion on the influences of oral storytelling on craft.” – Janice Pariat in “Decolonising creative writing: It’s about not conforming to techniques of the western canon” (Scroll.in, 4 July 2021)
https://scroll.in/article/999215/decolonising-creative-writing-its-about-not-conforming-to-techniques-of-the-western-canon
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=3382

The Paniyas, Kattunayakans, Mullukurumbas and Bettakurumbas of the Gudalur valley – Tamil Nadu

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The Gudalur valley in the Nilgiris is home to four distinct indigenous communities – Paniyas, Kattunayakans, Mullukurumbas and Bettakurumbas. | Read more >> Source: Cultural Diversity | At the Edge of ExistenceAddress : https://cultureandconservation.wordpress.com/test/Date Visited: 15 February 2022 […] In the old days each hill had one Karnavar (traditional elder). If there was no fire for … Read more

Vibrant contemporary writing from the north-eastern region: Overcoming marginalisation of culture and literature

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The poets from the north-eastern region have to meet the double challenge of truth and liberty, of identity and unity, of cultural loss and recovery, of ethnic specificity and aesthetic universality. ONLY in the last one decade or so has the vibrant contemporary writing from the north-eastern region written in many languages, including English—Assamese perhaps … Read more

Poet and novelist Mamang Dai: A member of a tribe of “ten thousand messengers / carrying the whispers of the world” – Arunachal Pradesh

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Mamang Dai (India, 1957) is a poet and novelist. She lives in Itanagar in the North-east Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. She has one collection of poetry, River Poems, to her credit. Her next collection, Midsummer-Survival Lyrics, is due for publication in 2011. She writes in English. […] Dai’s poetic world is one of river, forest and … Read more

“The North East Indian region has never been an isolated backwater” – Food production and animal domestication since the Neolithic Revolution

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“Who lived here?”, “when did they live here?”, “what culture did they have?” and “how did their culture change?” are just some of the questions posed by Prehistory and Archaeology of Northeast India, a book that probes the origins of human settlement, culture and ecology in North East India. Written by archaeologist Manjil Hazarika, it … Read more

“We are so much more than that”: Book by S. Swarnalatha documenting the lives her own community, the Irula, who are known for their knowledge of nature and medicinal herbs – Tamil Nadu & Kerala

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“My grandmother told me if someone ever pointed out our dance movements are peculiar, we should tell them these are the feline steps of a hunter” | To read the full story, click here >> Swarnalatha belongs to the tribal Irula community, known for their snake-catching skills. “We are so much more than that. We … Read more