On the Future of Indigenous Traditions - Munin

more. These realities portray more or less a broader picture of their social, cultural
and political being, but there are weaknesses too.
On the other side of the Adivasis reality, particularly if we look at them from their
own side again, we find a good number of those issues that have become their
weakness and limitations: Among which are, (i) a difficult legal system of the state
which is either not understood or too complicated so simple Adivasis get trapped in it
for no fault of their own; (ii) modern or mainstream ways of life orientation, mostly
influenced by Hindi and Hinduised culture; a perspective in their education centred
around a rational way of thinking results in defiance of their own knowledge sources.
Yet on the other hand, conversion to Christianity also has played a big role in shaping
their way of thinking, including a divide caused between those converted and those
not; (iii) the economic factor which led to large scale immigration in the preindependent
era, i.e. to Assam and Bhutan to work for the tea gardens, to Punjab as
cheap laborers and to Andaman and Necobare Islands as timber fellers, which has not
healed the Adivasi community but further aggravated their situation. 132 (See map 3)
On the other hand, in post independent India, the qualified Adivasi individuals have
immigrated to cities and towns to avail reserved government jobs for the Scheduled
Tribes. Yet, among them the ‘unqualified’ migrate is in the metropolis as domestic
workers, and unskilled workers for the lowest paid jobs; While in their home region
the ‘tribal economy’ system has further deteriorated allowing outside patty businesses
to take roots, developing into a very intact network of a non-Adivasi business control
market with their monopoly; (iv) with the change of demography within the state, an
increasing dominance of non-Adivasis here, also introduced different names of the
places 133 which ones had Adivasi names changes the whole character of the
geographical areas here; (v) in the absence of their own Adivasi languages, Hindi,
Bengla, or Oriya languages have become the ‘link’ languages and have become more
dominant than the Adivasi languages, making it a stigma for them to speak their own
132 Kora Raji a documentary film made by Biju Toppo illustrate the Adivasis who were taken to Assam
and Bhutan, today are not regarded as Scheduled Tribes, but “Tea Tribes” which does not give them
any status for any constitutional benefit while tea export is a fading business for the tea industry here.
Nor is the situation of Adivasis taken to Andaman and Nicobar Islands as timber fellers, today as the
timber logging has been completely banned by the Supreme Court order, they have lost their jobs and
struggle for livelihood. (See map…) Biju Toppo, “Kora Raji: An Episode of Jharkhand Diaspora ”,
AKHRA, Jharkhand, n.p.
133 Nabin Mundu, “Munda Sabha Ranchi Chikate?” Senra Seteng III/2 (October, 2006): 7.
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