On the Future of Indigenous Traditions - Munin

they are the indigenous peoples including the definition given by Martinaz Cobo,
which is the most accepted definition 7 at the United Nations level.
Considering that the Adivasis or the tribal peoples in India are the indigenous peoples
despite the statement made by the government of India, for the convenience of the
discussion the term Adivasi is used in this thesis. The term Adivasi is commonly used
and also among the Adivasis themselves or either by their group’s name. In the non-
Hindi speaking areas they prefer to call themselves tribe or tribal people instead of
Adivasis. However, the Adivasis or tribals are categorized and listed as ‘Scheduled
Tribes’ or ‘Anusuchit Jan-Jati’ as per the Constitution of India. In addition to the
Adivasis being classified as Scheduled Tribes and their areas as Scheduled Areas and
Tribal Areas, both these areas have special constitutional provisions for their
protection, managing their social affairs through their customary practices.
1.1.2. The Status of the Adivasi in present day India
Most, if not all, the Adivasi groups and their sub-groups in India are the first
inhabitants in the regions they live in today. The ‘traditional’ social organizations
based on their customary systems / laws are mostly patrilineal, with a few exceptions
of matrilineal systems.
Adivasis are categorized in the constitution as “Scheduled Tribe” in English and its
translation in Hindi, even in spite of strong protest by Jaipal Singh 8 to the President in
the Constituent Assembly Debate, 9 to use the term Adivasi instead of “Ban Jati” (–
meaning: the race that lives in the forest) then, but later still translated as “Anusuchit
Jana Jati” in Hindi. This is a category of people who can be identified as such, is
done by the President of India in consultation with the Governor of the respective
state or union territory (where they reside). 10 It is done through public notification,
7
Benedict Kingsbury, “‘Indigenous Peoples’ in International Law: A Constructivist Approach to the
Asian Controversy,” in American Journal of International Law (n. p., 1998), 419.
8
Jaipal Singh was the first Adivasi, highly qualified, educated in the Oxford University, and the
founder of Jharkhand Party.
9
“Jaipal Singh’s speech in the Constituent Assembly Debate” Official Report, Vol. 9 (5 September
1949), 994-995.
10
As given in the provision of Article 342 of the Constitution of India
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