Introduction
With 260 million people, Asia is the home of two-thirds of the world's indigenous populations. Many of the indigenous people in Asia are socio-economically marginalized; consequently, they have limited access to structural resources and discursive spaces, which essentially delegitimizes their voices and cultural expressions. These populations speak in thousands of indigenous languages, follow numerous local religious practices, and celebrate their festivals in unique ways. Owing to colonial and neoliberal processes, many of their cultural artifacts and traditional practices are constantly eroding, and some are on the brink of extinction. This module will specifically focus on the cultural expressions of the adivasis (indigenous people) of the Central Indigenous Belt of India.
To create a critical awareness about the cultural practices of rural indigenous/adivasi people in global academia and among student communities, this module will focus on various indigenous cultural expressions, knowledge production and exchange processes, and issues of power and social inequity.
Note: The Central Indigenous Belt stretches from Gujarat in the west up to West Bengal in the east and comprises the states of Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, and Jharkhand. It is one of the poorest regions of the country. Nearly 80 percent of the indigenous population of India (i.e., approximately 82.5 million people) live in this region. Nearly 90 percent of the tribal people of the Belt live in rural areas.
