“In contemporary practice, the tribal memory is greatly undermined. There is general insistence that tribal children attend schools where non-tribal children attend schools, that they use medicines manufactured for others and that they adopt common agricultural practices. All because the world has very little time to listen patiently to the tribals, with their immense knowledge and creativity.” – Ganesh [G.N.] Devy in Painted Words: An Anthology of Tribal Literature, quoted by Santali poet, scholar and translator Ivy Imogene Hansdak in “Is tribal identity relevant in today’s world?”, Inaugural Speech, National Conference “Tribes In Transition-II: Reaffirming Indigenous Identity Through Narrative” (2017)
https://www.indiantribalheritage.org/?p=23032
In January 2012, a Maori leader, Te Ururoa Flavell visited Ainumosir (Hokkaido) and Tokyo and witnessed the work Ainu people are doing in their communities to revitalize their culture, language, and rights. He immediately suggested that Ainu youth come to Aoteroa (New Zealand) to see how Maori community members have been working to ensure cultural … Read more
MODERNISATION ROOTED IN SANTAL HERITAGEA workshop for the youth of Ghosaldanga Bishnubati Adivasi Trust A two-day workshop for the youth from various villages around Ghosaldanga and Bishnubati was held on 19th and 20th of December 2012 at the Vocational Training Centre of Bishnubati. About 40 youth attended the sessions. The major sessions were conducted by … Read more
Oprom do cet’ tin…? What is my identity…? Joidhon Soren lies, limp and listless, on a railway hospital bed. It is one of the big hospitals of the industrial town of Mahuapara, so his condition is clearly serious. He is delirious and mutters incoherently. His eyes are fixed on the ceiling with an unblinking stare … Read more
By Mari Marcel Thekaekara, The New Internationalist, September 14, 2012 Culture is a tricky thing. How do we define it? Who decides when customs and traditions, even ancient, cherished ones, can be dispensed with? These and many other similar questions have been debated by the Adivasi groups we (ACCORD, an NGO in the Nilgiri hills of … Read more
Meena Menon, The Hindu, August 1, 2012 New Jalda is an example of how, in the name of the tiger, clearing core forest areas of people who have always lived there does not work well for them For a tribe that was forbidden from ploughing the earth by religious tenets and had a special ceremony … Read more