Adivasis and Stereotyping

In India, we usually ‘ showcase' Adivasi communities in particular ways. Adivasis are invariably portrayed in very stereotypical ways- in colorful costumes, headgear, and through their dancing. Besides this, we seem to know very little about the realities of their lives.

This often wrongly leads to people believing that they are exotic, primitive, and backward. Often Adivasis are blamed for their lack of advancement as they are believed to be resistant to change or new ideas.

Adivasis and Development

1. Forests were absolutely crucial to the development of all empires and settled civilisations in India. Metal ores like iron and copper, and gold and silver, coal and diamonds, invaluable timber, most medicinal herbs and animal products (wax, lac, honey) and animals themselves (elephants, the mainstay of imperial armies), all came from the forests. In addition, the continuation of life depended heavily on forests, that help recharge many of India's rivers and, as is becoming clearer now, crucial to the availability and quality of our air and water. Till the nineteenth century Adivasis had a deep knowledge of, access to, as well as control over most of these vast tracts at least till the middle of the nineteenth century. This meant that they were not ruled by large states and empires. Instead, often empires heavily depended on Adivasis for the crucial access to forest resources.
2. In the precoionial world Adivasis traditionally ranged hunter-gatherers and nomads and lived by shifting agriculture and also cultivating in one place. For the past 200 years Adivasis have been increasingly forced-through economic changes, forest policies and political force applied by the State and private industry to migrate to lives as workers in plantations, at construction sites, in industries and as domestic workers. For the first time in history, they do not control or have much direct access to the forest territories.Factors which have affected the livings of Adivasis -Adivasis areas are taken over for mining and other large industrial projects. Powerful forces have often colluded to take over tribal land . Much of the time, the land is taken away forcefully and procedures are not followed. According to official figures, more than 50 per cent of persons displaced due to mines and mining projects are tribals. Huge tracts of their lands have also gone under the waters of hundreds of dams that have been built in independent India. In the North east, their lands remain highly militarised and war-torn. India has 54 national parks and 372 wildlife sanctuaries covering 1,09,652 sq. km. These are areas where tribals originally lived but were evicted from. When they continue to stay in these forests, they are termed encroachers.

Impacts on Adivasis

Losing their lands and access to the forest means that tribals lose their main sources of livelihood and food. Having gradually lost access to their traditional homelands, many Adivasis have migrated to cities in search of work where they are employed for very lowwages in local industries or at building or construction sites.

They, thus, get caught in a cycle of poverty and deprivation. 45 percent tribal groups in rural areas and 35 per cent in urban areas live below the poverty line. This leads to deprivation in other areas. Many tribal children are malnourished. Literacy rates among tribals are also very low.

When Adivasis are displaced from their lands, They lose their traditions and customs - a way of living and being. There exists an interconnectedness between the economic and social dimensions of tribal life. Destruction in one sphere naturally impacts the other. Often this process of dispossession and displacement can be painful and violent.