“Bomman thatha told me that our gods live in stones, big rocks and trees. We won’t cut aal maram (Ficus religiosa) because gods will be in that tree. Even the water in the area around the tree should be used neatly and not destroyed. In our community our god Ajji (grandmother) lives in Ellamalai mountain. She is also called Thrithri Eributham. […] Before fishing or taking tubers, we will pray to god and only then we will take it.” – Wildlife conservationist Ramesh in “Bomman thatha and his forest”, a conversation with his grandfather on “bonding between adivasi people and the forest” (At the Edge of Existence, 29 October 2014)
https://cultureandconservation.wordpress.com/2014/10/29/bomman-thatha-and-his-forest/
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=8262
Source: “MASKED IDENTITY OF BOHADA”, Research paper by Priyanka Desai (2014)URL: https://www.academia.edu/34434759 Date Visited: 20 February 2023 Gauri Gill started out in her 20s, a Delhi-based photojournalist covering stories right across India. She’d drop in, drop back out, then later find herself wondering what had happened to all the people she had photographed. “In India, … Read more
Indigenous people across North America are working to return thousands of sacred objects and ancestral remains, belongings that were taken and put in museums, galleries, private collections, and universities. […] “Some of the struggles I think our people have is just the knowing that these things are elsewhere,” she said. “These things need to be made … Read more
A visit to the Toda hamlet known as Taranadmund near Ooty makes it clear that for the Toda community, cultural heritage is part of everyday life and worship. The local economy continues to involve buffalo rearing. The breathtaking Nilgiris are home to a number of indigenous tribes, one of which is Toda. Unfortunately, the once … Read more
“It is wrong and does not help the tribal cause either to reduce the image of the Indian tribal society to that of destitute remnants, on the verge of dying out.” – Georg Pfeffer in Voices from the Periphery: Subalternity and Empowerment in India (Routledge India 2012) A rare collection of essays and different from most … Read more
Saving the forests of Garhwal by sticking to trees. Fighting a big dam by living in submerged waters. These movements redefined the greening of India. STICKING TO A CAUSE Chipko Movement, 1973 “In the wake of reckless deforestation, a unique movement has bubbled,” observed India Today in March 1982. The 1980s saw the debate on … Read more