Video | “Rasi Nato” (Big Village): Song 5 from Santali video album “Ale Ato” (Our Village) – West Bengal

5 Rasi Nato (Big Village) [Starting from 16:25, continues/ends in Part 2] ThemeA group of women recall their bygone days:In our big village we girls and boys were together in pairs. But the pairs of our friendships are no more. Some of us have shut ourselves up indoors. Some of us have chained ourselves and … Read more

Use of the body to communicate, sing and tell stories: Challenges to the imposition of an allegedly modern culture on formerly or currently colonised regions

In many formerly or currently colonised regions like South Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, the American South and Native America, there has always existed a rich, vibrant tradition of oral storytelling, one that was marginalised, often violently, through an imposition of an allegedly modern, white Western language and culture. […] Having grown up within the largely … Read more

Video | “Dark night”: The story behind the Santali song Nut ninda kadam kadam

By Boro Baski Sorhae parab is also the time to remember the bygone days and to feel nostalgic. When the women of the village return to their parents’ home from their husband’s village with their children they not only renew their love and relationship with their kins at home but also with their childhood friends. … Read more

Video | Santal flute played by Gokul Hansda: Reviving traditional culture in Santal villages around Santiniketan – West Bengal

Gokula Hansda – Santal bamboo flute (Har tiriyo) Gokula Hansda is a Santal educator and co-founder of Kulhidhuri, an organization devoted to preserving and reviving traditional Santal culture. Its members collect and sing traditional Santal songs at festivals throughout West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar. They wish to re-establish these songs as part of the informal education of … Read more

eJournal | Special issue dedicated to the study of tribal culture in India (open access) – Asian Ethnology

Kondagaon Dance Competition 2004 from Asian Ethnology on Vimeo. Editors’ Note Frank J. Korom (Boston University) & Benjamin Dorman (Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture), 28 September 2014, Nagoya, Japan This year we bring you a special double issue dedicated to the study of tribal culture in India. Some of our readers might wonder why we … Read more