Modernity

“Our vital traditions are being lost. They are bing ‘modernized’.” – A tribal mother’s concerns (interviewed for Survival International) in “Factory Schools: Destroying Indigenous People in the Name of Education” (accessed 28 March 2021)
https://www.survivalinternational.org/about/factoryschools
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=34514

Improving Bhil children’s reading skills and comprehension: Report on the use of colourful storybooks in a range of Indian languages besides English – Madhya Pradesh

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Tulika’s  storybooks were very well received by the students at Kakrana’s Rani Kajal Jeevan Shala (village school). They enjoyed reading them and even understood the stories. They made a considerable impact on both teachers and students and opened the window to the school for pedagogic exercise. Testing reading competence and the level of understanding The … Read more

Video | “Nations don’t make us human – languages make us human”: Ganesh Devy – People’s Linguistic Survey of India

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The census of India says the country is losing languages at an alarming rate. But the People’s Linguistic Survey of India seems to say there’s more to it than meets the eye. Wherever the colonial power was played the local languages were destroyed completely: in Australia, in United States, in Canada. In this country so … Read more

Learning from the Kattunayakan community: How to live with elephants? – Tamil Nadu

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Elephant conservation: Can elephants and humans live together?   Berserk beasts, trashed crops, vengeful villagers: tales of ‘conflict’ come thick and fast as humans and elephants are forced into closer contact. But does it have to be war? Across Asia and Africa, there are hints of how we might live in peace | To view more photos … Read more

eJournal | Launching a New Scholarly Journal on “Music and Minorities” – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna

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Music and Minorities Research Center, mdw –University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Austria | Correspondence: hemetek@mdw.ac.at The study of music in relation to minority communities has grown into a substantial field of research in ethnomusicology and adjacent disciplines in the social sciences and humanities over the past decades. Indeed, the roots of music and … Read more

“Who is Indian, and what makes a person an Indian?”: Questions debated among members of 565 recognized American Indian tribes

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My answer? There are many definitions of who is an Indian. As a starting point, “Indian” is a misguided label that spread through Europe after 1492. Native people have always associated themselves with their tribe(s) and referenced their tribal names in their tribal languages. Explorers and colonists from Spain, France, England, the Netherlands, and Russia, … Read more