“We have a song for every situation. We feel money takes away from the enjoyment of life. But to earn a livelihood, people have to learn other languages.” – Santal teacher Pada Murmu interviewed by Nandini Nair (OPEN Magazine, 13 January 2017)
https://openthemagazine.com/features/dispatch/santali-talking-time/
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=21581
Excerpts from explanations in the illustrated calendar 2017 distributed by the Adivasi Munnetra Sangam (AMS) in Gudalur FRA Forest Rights Act Our forests are ours again. In 2006, the government finally accepted the historical injustice meted out to Adivasis and passed the Forest Rights Act thus recognizing our rights to forests. AMS is working hard to ensure that this … Read more
The Newsletter 77 Summer 2017 Learning to love the city in Northeast India The rapid urbanization of India’s Northeast frontier1 is one of the most crucial transformations the area has witnessed, yet it remains relatively understudied. In just a few decades a large number of the inhabitants have become urban dwellers in one of the frontier … Read more
Sumiran Atal, Indian Express, Pune, August 18, 2016 | To read the full article, click here >> The history of the group – the Kahlbeliyas [Kalbelias] – is nearly seven generations old. It was formed by musicians who migrated from Afghanistan to Rajasthan several decades back, and is being continued by each coming generation.Nine members of … Read more
G V Prasada Sarma, The Hindu, Visakhapatnam, April 26 | To read the full article, click here >> Modamamba festival is the most important tribal festival celebrated commemorating the centuries-old relations between rulers of plains (Vaddadi) and hills (Nandapuram, presently near Jeypore of Orissa) hills, and the marriage of Moda Kondamma’s son Sanjiva Raju, bringing people together. … Read more
G.N. Devy, The Indian Express, 6 March 2016 | To read the full article, click here >> The term tribal defies any universal definition. Between the Maoris of New Zealand, the Aborigines of Australia and the Indigenous People of North America, there is a shared historical fact. They were all there before the colonial powers pushed them … Read more