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
Abstract In recent years, elites in many small ethnic communities in northeast India have made attempts to revive, reform and institutionalize their traditional religious practices in order to stem the tide of conversion to world religions and also to use their new religion as a marker for their ethnic identity. In this paper, I focus … Read more
DIALECT AREA(S) OF TONDAI MANDALAM Gnanasundaram, V. The Iravallan tribe who live in the Anaimalai mountainous region, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu and adjacent Palakad district, Kerala speak generally 1) an indigenous tribal mother tongue viz Iravalla among themselves, which shares the phonological, grammatical and lexical features of both old Tamil and present day Malayalam, 2) the Tamil … Read more
Santal worriesBy Boro Baski, D+C 13/05/2013, Print Edition no. 6 2013 The young generation of India’s tribal communities is struggling with different problems than the college-educated urban youth that is presented in the media. Our author is from a Santal village and knows the challenges. In recent years India has seen an enormous amount of … Read more
The sprawling Shilparamam Jatara at Madhurawada, which is slowly drawing tourists and visitors, has an added attraction from Friday — a diorama on the life of legendary freedom fighter and leader of tribal uprising in Rampa Alluri Sitarama Raju. The narrative of the legendary freedom fighter’s life, right from as a boy, when he was … Read more
The Mundari Dance is a very common and popular dance of the Mundaris. All members of the community can participate in this dance. This dance is generally performed to celebrate the newly weds. Munda songs are often mixed with songs in other tribal languages in such a way, that one can rarely identify the pure … Read more