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• 1 media/I.jpg 2018-05-31T21:34:56-07:00 Adivasi/Tribal People of Rural India 26 plain 2019-06-18T00:29:11-07:00 Adivasi (Adivasi is a Sanskrit word; ‘Adi’= from the beginning, ‘Vasi’= inhabitants/residents) and Scheduled Tribes are the collective names used for indigenous people in India. According to the 2011 census, the total population of the 705 scheduled tribes in India was 104 million; they comprised 8.6 percent of the total population of the country. The Government’s Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-12) document showed that 91.7% of the indigenous people live in rural spaces, where they have limited or no access to technologies and basic infrastructures.
  
  Contemporary research documents and reports reflect that the situation of adivasi people is a matter of concern. State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, a United Nations publication (2009) noted that “…the indigenous communities (of India) as a group … ranked in the bottom 25. … Scheduled Tribes (adivasi people)… score lower in education, health and other social and economic aspects measured by the HDI” (p. 29) (HDI: Human Development Index).
  
  Erosion of indigenous cultural artifacts is another key issue; according to a report by Minority Rights Group International (2008), “While the larger indigenous groups and languages will survive as a result of numbers, the destruction of their economic base and environment poses grave threats to those who are still able to follow their traditional way of life and may result in the cultural extinction of many of the smaller Adivasi peoples” (n.p.).
  
  Adivasi cultural expressions evolved as dynamic, organic, and transforming processes by adopting elements of nature, creativity and innovation. Portrayal of everyday (and mundane) life is an important aspect of indigenous people’s expression, especially when they create their own art/crafts; they want to foreground their internal and local affairs and thereby seek to retain their distinct political, legal, economic, social, and cultural institutions.
  
  Realities of contemporary adivasi people and their struggle/negotiation with dominant oppressions and socio-economic disparities are depicted in articles and visual narratives throughout this module.
  
  
  Watch:
  • Mine- Story of a Sacred Mountain: Ongoing struggle of Dongria-Kondh adivasis in Niyamgiri Hills to protect indigenous land and natural resources.
  • Ballad of Resistance: A video portrait of an indigenous tribal journalist and activist, Dayamani Barla, and her perseverance and tireless fight against dominant oppression and agendas.
  • Devrai- The Sacred Groves of Maharashtra: A documentary on indigenous people’s traditional practice to protect and conserve environmental resources, such as sacred groves.
  Additional Readings:
  The Adivasis of India - A History of Discrimination, Conflict, and Resistance, by C.R. Bijoy
   
  Adivasi Women in an Industrial Milieu, by Esha Ghosh
  
  Adivasi and Peasant: Reflections on Indian Social History, by Shashank Kela