Seasons & festivals

“Our boys and girls get an opportunity to set their eyes upon each other during the dance of the Dandari. They also get to interact a little before they can mutually agree to take the matter to the next step. […] As per our customs and traditions the youngsters enjoy liberty in many aspects. It is rare that a selection made during the Dandari-Ghusadi [dance festival] phase gets cancelled.” – Patel of Bandeyer Atram Sone Rao (Telangana), quoted in “Adivasis dance their way to a girl’s heart” (The Hindu, 29 October 2016)
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/Adivasis-dance-their-way-to-a-girl’s-heart/article16085049.ece
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=22436

“We have much to learn from their culture”: Deriving hope and inspiration from the rich tradition of democratic living in Adivasi society

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Cultivating the elements of adivasi way of life in the society at large is the need of the hour, opined renowned development economist Jean Dreze on Wednesday BHUBANESWAR: Cultivating the elements of adivasi way of life in the society at large is the need of the hour, opined renowned development economist Jean Dreze on Wednesday. … Read more

Resources for the classroom: Learning from and about India’s tribal communities, their culture and knowledge systems

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“[I]t is some of the basic values and ideology imbibed in the traditional tribal socio-cultural milieus that should have been emulated and promoted amongst the non-tribal mainstream, not, as has been going on, the other way round.” – Arup Maharatna (Professor, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune), in Who Is Civilised?’: In Praise of Tribal … Read more

Interview with Richard K. Wolf on his study titled “The Black Cow’s Footprint: Time, Space, and Music in the Lives of the Kotas of South India”

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Excerpt from an interview with Richard K. Wolf, author of an award-winning study of Kota culture: The Black Cow’s Footprint: Time, Space, and Music in the Lives of the Kotas of South India (Permanent Black, Delhi 2005 ISBN 81-7824-126-9) and University of Illinois Press, 2006. It was a promising start. While at the University of Illinois, Wolf met … Read more

Indigenous people “responsible for the survival of the forest ecosystem in the world”: Minister’s inaugurational speech during Mysore’s celebration of tribal culture – Karnataka

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R. Krishna Kumar, The Hindu, MYSURU, February 11, 2016 A one-day tribal festival celebrating their culture and traditions was held in the city on Wednesday. Organised by the Department of Kannada and Culture, the festival was inaugurated by District in-charge Minister V. Srinivas Prasad. He described the tribals and adivasis as the indigenous people of … Read more