Understanding the forest the way city kids understand traffic lights and zebra crossings – ActionAid’s schools team

Guest blogger Mari Marcel Thekaekara is a human rights activist and writer based in Gudalur, Tamil Nadu.  She co-founded ACCORD (Action for Community Organisation, Rehabilitation and Development) in 1985 to work with Adivasi people of Chembakolli, Tamil Nadu, southern India. “I was with the ACCORD team in 1988 when the Adivasi people from Chembakolli decided they … Read more

“We plant the trees for our children in the memory of our elders who planted for us”: Trees are indispensable for India’s tribal communities

To enlarge, view other paintings and read the full article, click here >> My image shows the museum as a tree. It’s a strange tree. Things are a bit upside down and it’s a little frightening. Right on top, I’ve given it the shape of a drum that can be played. The branches are like paths leading to different … Read more

Tip | Information provided by Indian government agencies and other organizations – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

For additional information and success stories, please click here >> When It Comes to Dalit and Tribal Rights, the Judiciary in India Just Does Not Get It Instead of questioning why the abolition of untouchability has failed in India, the apex court has upheld and reiterated false stereotypes against Dalits and Adivasis. Though the Indian … Read more

eBook | The No-Nonsense Guide to Indigenous Peoples

This guide looks beyond the exotic images tracing the story of different indigenous people from their first contact with explorers and colonizers to the present day. Much of this story is told by the indigenous people themselves and they present the issues behind the challenge to give them their own space in their own lands … Read more

Tribal history covered in “India After Gandhi” by Ramachandra Guha

A tribute to Indian democracy capturing the pain and the struggle, the humiliations and the glories Review by KN Panikkar: “Democracy in practice”,  The Hindu, Tuesday, Jun 19, 2007 […] Guha is quite obviously an admirer of the achievements Indian democracy has attained in a largely hostile environment, vitiated by religious superstitions, caste prejudices and … Read more