Adivasi / Adibasi

“Adivasi [Adibasi] – which is derived from Sanskrit – is applied to the dark-skinned or Austro-Asiatic indigenous groups of India (usually those from Eastern India). It is a commonly-used term in Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha. It is also used by the local Mongoloid tribes of North Eastern India for the migrant workers who were brought in as indentured labourers to work in tea plantations during the colonial period. ‘Tribal’ is a very broad term in the English language, as we all know, and includes all the different indigenous groups of India.” – Santali poet, scholar and translator Ivy Imogene Hansdak (email dated 27 March 2020)
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=23032

The Baha Parab “flower festival” of the Santals: A large mural created by village artists to express their cultural identity – West Bengal

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  Baha The Baha Parab is the Flower Festival of the Santals, celebrated in the beginning of spring. The ritual observed revolves around man’s communion with nature and the celebration of beauty. The Naike (Santal priest) and other villagers offer a Sal flower to every family of the village. A Santal woman receives flowers in … Read more

Bringing order into the passing stream of image and experience: Adivasi art as “collective heritage”

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BY J. SWAMINATHAN  (excerpts from pp. 119-126, India International Centre Quarterly, Vol. 19, No. 1/2) To presume that Adivasi artists lack the sense of perspective because of mental deficiency or the technical incapacity of ‘proper’ representation is to insult both intelligence and art. Moreover to think that the primitive is not aware of the sense … Read more

Video | Glimpses of Warli and Konkana oral folklore, myths and legends: An introduction by Tamarind Tree – Maharashtra

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Uploaded on Nov 15, 2009 This video is an introduction to the Oral History Project by Tamarind Tree, Dahanu. It provides a glimpse of the oral folklore, myths and legends of the Warlis and Konkanas – tribal communities residing in western India. Source: ▶ Oral History – YouTube Address : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w_2vncBMNM&list=PL6F8FF0BA53B5F2D9 Date Visited: Mon Feb … Read more

Living in harmony with nature: Reflections on Warli and Madhubani traditions by artist Sandhya Arvind – Maharashtra, Gujarat and Bihar

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HARSHINI VAKKALANKA, The Hindu, November 4, 2013 | Read the full article here >> It is as though a piece of their world has been brought onto the walls, mounted onto wooden boards to be taken away to the homes of people whose lives are so vastly different from those in the Warli and Madhubani regions of … Read more