Encouraging centuries-old life-skills of Irulas: Eking out a living outside forests – Tamil Nadu

Janaki Lenin’s book [My Husband and Other Animals], a compilation of her popular column in The Hindu MetroPlus, offers insights into her husband Rom Whitaker’s fascination for animals, particularly snakes When he came to Madras, Rom was introduced to the Irulas, who quickly became his buddies, sharing, as they did, a common love for snakes. … Read more

Giving Irula healing practices a place in modern medicine: A new source of livelihood for “one among the six oldest Adivasi tribes” – Puducherry & Tamil Nadu

The term Irula means being capable of finding one’s path in dark forests, according to an Irula myth | Read the full report in the Times of India here >> Born in nature’s lap, Irulas share a symbiotic relationship with Mother Earth. They reside in the hills of northern Tamil Nadu and are one among the six oldest … Read more

Figures carefully drawn with attention to detail, proportion and symmetry – rock art discovery in Tamil Nadu

A big rock art site has been discovered at Kovanur, Perianaickenpalayam taluk, 30 km northwest of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. The site has about 60 paintings, both group compositions and individual images. The paintings portray the hunting of an elephant and a herd of deer, and images of a tiger, herds of bisons, a monitor … Read more

“Tribal development so far is mechanical, ineffectual, and vague”: An Anthropological Dialogue on Tribal Development Strategies in India

The concept of development has different connotations in different contexts. In a narrow sense, ‘it means, change, and progress, either whole or, partial’. There are people with difference of opinion regarding development. […] In 1951, the government of Indiahad started making efforts to raise the general standard of living of the weaker sections as well … Read more

“A group of citizens who are the special responsibility of the President of India”: The meaning of Adivasi, Tribe and Aborigines for administrators and anthropologists – Government of India

Definition of Tribe The word ‘tribe’ conveys a neutral sense, a primary aggregate of people claiming descent from a common ancestor. The word ‘tribe’ has been a technical administrative term to denote aborigines. Tribes are regarded as the indigenous or autochthonous population of Indian subcontinent. Modern usage of this term suggests that it is a … Read more