“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
Whatever our own cultural background, there are amazing discoveries to be made, for India’s youth just as for scholars and visitors from all over the world! Learn more about – and from – some of India’s tribal communities by Gondi-Harappan link (2500 B.C.–1750 BC) Hampi – KarnatakaPossibly “a revolutionary find” that links the adivasi Gond tribe to the … Read more
“Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home — so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. […] Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look … Read more
“There was no train when I came to the village as a young bride of 11 and no thieves either! No telephones, no watches none of these modern things that I now put into my work,” she laughs. “I was so lonely in my husband’s house, I started making clay figurines. Birds, beasts and animals, … Read more
MAHASWETA DEVI’S novel The Book of the Hunter (first published in Bengali as Byadhkhanda in 1994), is the latest in Seagull’s excellent ongoing enterprise to bring the powerful oeuvre of the literary activist to a readership well beyond Bengal. One of Devi’s foremost passions has been to document the oral histories of the tribal communities … Read more
Watch two brief excerpts from the archive of Bhasha’s video documentation team This documentation was undertaken at the campus of the Adivasi Academy to document the cultural practices as well as to understand them. These are available with the Academy’ museum for interested visitors, researchers, students and practioners of music and community members. The documentation … Read more