“Tribal population was spread all over India and most of them occupied wild tracts, hilly and forested areas, away from more civilized centers. In 1880 their population was estimated at about seventy million. They had existed for centuries with their own social traditions and beliefs and subsisted on natural resources. They had preserved their near isolation and way of life until the British administration and policies made inroads into their territories.” – Subha Johari in “Tribal Dissatisfaction Under Colonial Economy of 19th Century”
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1040271311
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=11961
Archeology that reconnects the past, present and future of Indigenous history Archaeology has always studied Indigenous history without us. It was something that was done to, instead of with Indigenous peoples. But a growing number of Indigenous archaeologists are pushing back against the colonial boundaries of the field. Cree/Metis archeologist, Paulette Steeves makes the case … Read more
Slavery officially ended in the United States around 150 years ago, but the legacy of slavery continues into our own time […] “We have to be really creative, and we have to find joy in each other, and so, as much as it might be easy to think all we do is talk about revolution, … Read more
Government documents apply various labels besides “Scheduled Tribes” and “tribals”: Hill Tribes, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes, Forest Dwellers, Indigenous Communities, Aborigines, Backward Tribes, Backward Classes, Tribal Settlers, Original Settlers, Primitive Tribes, and Denotified Tribes. Many ‘Denotified Tribes’ continued to suffer displacement/dispossession/enslavement of Nomadic, Semi-Nomadic and Denotified Tribes after Independence. The exploitation and encroachment on tribal/forest … Read more
“It is wrong and does not help the tribal cause either to reduce the image of the Indian tribal society to that of destitute remnants, on the verge of dying out.” – Georg Pfeffer in Voices from the Periphery: Subalternity and Empowerment in India (Routledge India 2012) A rare collection of essays and different from most … Read more
Tagore’s alienation and the zamindari system [Rabindranath Tagore] conspicuously distanced himself from the middle class, or the bhadralok, although they constituted the head and front of his audience as an author. Tagore’s alienation from such people can be contrasted with his perception that among the rural peasantry there was a “touch of humanity”. Undeniably, Tagore was … Read more