Training and employment opportunities for India’s tribal youth: A round-up of recent initiatives and press reports – Kerala, Rajasthan & Telangana

At a time when most art forms of the Scheduled Tribes in the country have faded into oblivion, the Kerala Institute for Research, Training and Development Studies of Scheduled Castes and Tribes (KIRTADS) in Kozhikode is on a mission to revive and reacquaint them to the new generation of the respective tribes. ‘Kol attai, Thotti Attai, Sododimi…’ … Read more

India’s tribal cultural heritage – Odisha (Orissa)

Though Odia is the official language, there are 22 officially recognized tribal languages in Odisha. The overall literacy rate of Odisha has increased from 49 per cent in 1991 to 73 per cent in 2011. The literacy rate among tribal population has also demonstrated the increasing trend over the years, yet the gap between tribal … Read more

Storytelling enables tribal children to develop communication skill and leadership qualities – Tamil Nadu

Source: “Empowering indigenous voices through oral narrative” by P. S. Suresh Kumar, The Hindu, 10 August 2012Address : http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/article3749059.eceDate Visited: Fri Aug 10 2012 20:43:41 GMT+0200 (CEST)

India’s tribal, folk and devotional music: Secular and ceremonial songs – An overview

“The great diversity of music in India is a direct manifestation of the diversity and fragmentation of the population in terms of race, religion, language, and other aspects of culture. Yet the distinction between tribal music and folk music is not always clearly defined.” – N.A. Jairazbhoy To illustrate the above observation, namely “The distinction between … Read more

The status and spread of Santali in different regions of India: A flourishing language hardly in need of being “revived”

Santali is not a dead language in the first place so it does not need to be “revived”! I have grown up in Santal Parganas where people speak Santali in their homes, in the marketplace, attend church service in Santali (in the Lutheran churches) and sing hymns in Santali. […] Finally, the Santals of Santal … Read more