Communities with populations spread across state/linguistic borders are often known by different names by local authorities while “some of these communities figure in various classifications in the states” according to the National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes: “There are many anomalies in terms of identification of these communities, from state to state. Many people also do not know what is denotified tribe and which authority is looking after their grievances. […] In some states they are called ‘tribal settlers’. In some states they are called ‘hidden tribes’ etc.” – Bibek Debroy in “An unfortunate legacy” (Indian Express, 5 January 2017)
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/crime-criminal-act-racial-discrimination-non-bailable-offence-criminal-tribes-act-an-unfortunate-legacy-4459258/
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=12284
According to UNESCO, any language that is spoken by less than 10,000 people is potentially endangered. In India, after the 1971 census, the government decided that any language spoken by less than 10,000 people need not be included in the official list of languages. In India, therefore, all the languages that are spoken by less … Read more
What Is People’s Linguistic Survey of India? The People’s Linguistic Survey of India is a right based movement for carrying out a nation wide survey to identify, document and understand the state of Indian languages, especially languages of fragile nomadic, coastal, island and forest communities. The PLSI is carried out by scholars, writers and activists … Read more
Excerpts from a report by environmental educator Davidson Sargunam (Nagercoil) titled Land Alienation of the tribe: Rich forest lands, poor tribal people. The Kaani tribal community inhabits the forests of Kanyakumari in 48 Settlements in the Western Ghats in Agasthiar Biosphere Reserve. Once a nomadic tribe, they have settled in the deep forests and jungles. They … Read more
Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used by Paliyar tribals in Theni district of Tamil Nadu, India.[My paper] S Ignacimuthu, M Ayyanar, K SankarasivaramanEntomology Research Institute, Loyola College, Chennai-600 034, Tamil Nadu, India. An ethnobotanical survey was carried out among the Paliyar tribals in various tribal villages of Theni district, Tamil Nadu, India during December 2004 to January … Read more
[…] A unique idea that has taken root over the last two years among the tribespeople here—the Rathwas, Dungras, Chaudharis, Bhils and Nayaks, across 1,200 villages in the Narmada, Baroda, Surat and the Panchmahals districts—is that of creating what they call green economic zones (GEZs) as bulwarks against special economic zones (SEZs). Rather than lose … Read more