Tip | Voices from the Periphery: A multidisciplinary book “reversing the gaze”: Questioning the fringes of India’s mainstream society

“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

eBook | Demographic Status of Scheduled Tribe Population of India (Census figures 2011): Government of India

Read or download the complete backup document (PDF, 1,7 MB)For information on the “Population of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PTGs) in India from 1961 to 2001”, please refer to p. 16 Tribes with more than 5 Lakh [o,5 million] of Population as per census 2001 Source: “Demographic Status of Scheduled Tribe Population of India”, Government … Read more

Audio | “Each language is an incredible creation of the human mind” – Success stories from the Endangered Languages Documentation Programme

A language is a window onto a culture, history and way of life. So what do we lose when a community stops speaking the language of its ancestors? John Gallagher is joined by Gwenno, who writes and sings in Cornish, and researchers working to reclaim endangered languages around the world. With Mandana Seyfeddinipur of the … Read more

Video | Creation Myths of six tribal groups: Sahitya Akademi’s Annual Festival of Letters (February 2017) – New Delhi

The Sahitya Akademi (India’s National Academy of Letters) had its Annual Festival of Letters in February 2017, during which the Creation Myth of six tribal groups were narrated and presented in the original languages (Kurukh/ Oraon, Munda, Santali, Kharia, Ho and Biryia/ Asur). Here are two videos that were shown with live-streaming and are available … Read more

Adivasi societies – a heterogeneous set of ethnic and tribal groups in South Asia

Adivasi (a Hindi word that literally means the original inhabitants) is a term for a heterogeneous set of ethnic and tribal groups believed to be the aboriginal population of India. Adivasi societies are present in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and other South Asian nations. Adivasi is officially recognized by the Indian government as “Scheduled Tribes” … Read more