Aim of the DONGAR meet

Organised  By:

Organised every year on 10th, 11th & 12th January. 12th January is the “National Youth Day”.

Introduction :
     Indigenous peoples (to whom we call as tribals) have the right to be Indigenous. They cannot exist as images and reflections of a non-Indigenous society (Coolangatta Statement, 1999).

  The world's population of indigenous people now numbers some 350 million individuals representing nearly 6000 languages and cultures. Although cultures themselves are dynamic, 

Intangible cultural heritage of minority peoples :

Those involved in cultural preservation have been especially concerned that tangible forms of cultural expressions be restored and maintained. Vast monuments like the temple and other works of art such as paintings and sculptures are expressions of human creativity and also impressive technical achievements. There has thus been a widespread emphasis on preserving those works of art that contribute to humanity’s visible heritage (Condominas , 2003,p. 20). The less visible aspects of the world’s cultural heritage have, until recently, received less attention. 

  UNESCO has responded to the warnings of researchers and anthropologists that intangible cultural expressions such as oral traditions and literature, visual arts, music and performing arts,especially of tribals are fragile and easily lost. Among the actions taken by UNESCO was the recently formulated Convention for the safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. As stated during the convention, language is the main vehicle by which intangible cultural heritage, such as oral traditions and literature, is maintained. Thus, the safeguarding and preserving of languages is an important factor in the process of safeguarding cultures, especially among the tribals whose cultural heritage is at greatest risk. Due to their smaller populations and their lack of political influence, tribals often face difficulties in achieving their goals, especially with respect to maintaining their own languages and cultures. One result of the large gap between indigenous and national cultures is that the majority population often perceives the other tribals among them as technically and economically backward. This has lead to a certain blindness concerning the importance of safeguarding the less powerful languages and cultures (Condominas, 2003, p. 21).  Even so, efforts to safeguard the traditional cultures of ethnic minorities have been initiated in several countries.

Cultural Preseravation :

A culture can never be reduced to its artifacts while it is being lived (Williams, 1960, p.11).

Before beginning a discussion on preserving cultural diversity, it is helpful to find a working definition of “culture”. UNESCO operates with a broad definition of culture as 

…the whole complex of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features that characterize a society or social group. It includes not only the arts and letters, but also modes of life, the fundamental rights of the human being, value systems, traditions and beliefs (UNESCO,1982). 

  Integrated in this broad framework are all aspects of people's lives-their ideas and values, their knowledge about and ways of interacting with the surrounding world and their verbal and visual creations and expressions. 

Traditional and alternative approaches to culture preservation :

Historically, “cultural preservation” was one of the tasks of colonizers and others from the West who collected cultural artifacts and brought them back to be studied and exhibited in European museums. Scientific studies by Westerners of non-Western cultures systematically displaced cultures from their original frameworks and led to interpretations of non-western cultures based on Western values (Kreps, 2003, p. 46). Although conventional museum practices did help to physically preserve some tangible aspects of different cultures, scientific and unilateral interpretations overlooked expressions of intangible culture within the indigenous communities(Ibid. p. 1).

On a popular level, western interpretations of other cultures supported the notion of cultural superiority and were used to justify colonial control of non-western societies and indigenous peoples. On a deeper level, continuous imbalance of power in controlling cultural representation contributed to general views that a western-oriented education system was the best means to promote economic development. 

In recent decades alternative approaches led to a re-thinking of the priorities and processes of culture preservation. A new discourse emerged, emphasizing the need to include multiple voices and perspectives, especially those of the indigenous people themselves, and giving greater attention to indigenous knowledge. Indigenous knowledge is unique to a given culture and society, reflecting and constructing people's ways of understanding and communicating with their world. Indigenous knowledge systems use tools of transmission different from western knowledge. 

Whereas the western approach tends to be field specific, written and generated through universities, research institutes and professional bodies, Indigenous knowledge systems tend to be holistic and deeply rooted in oral traditions. Because of these differences, Western models and practices may be inappropriate for studying and preserving non-western cultures. Integrating Indigenous knowledge and indigenous concepts in the cultural preservation process is an important step towards a dynamic and people-centered approach to cultural preservation.

As noted above, cultural heritage preservation has traditionally been dominated by the preservation of tangible forms of culture (often in Western museums) that represent communities'histories. The new alternative approaches, including Indigenous knowledge, acknowledge the importance, not only of preserving a community’s past, but also of preserving vital elements of its living culture and its continuing development. In this sense cultural heritage is more than material culture; it includes the collective memory, language, oral traditions or everyday experiences (Kreps, 2003, p. 10).

Indigenous knowledge is rooted in and transmitted through oral tradition—the "passing of knowledge from one generation to the next orally" (Hart, 1995). When recording oral traditions, the cultural knowledge contained within stories and songs is also recorded. In societies where the loss of Indigenous knowledge isimminent, recordings can help to maintain knowledge that has been collected through generations. 

However, collecting and recording data and material is but one part of the preservation task, the other being the storing and usage of the collected material. New approaches focus on the storage and usage of ethnographic material within the indigenous community, rather than extracting the material from its original context. In this new approach, museums become community and/or cultural centers having several functions, ranging from exhibiting collections of valued art objects to hosting educational programmes and training courses and serving as platforms for cultural representation. The creation of cultural centers should be based on local people’s needs and traditions, placing the centers within the local community’s decision-making process. Professional museologists and ethnologists can play a role in the development of the centers, forexample, by assisting with technical training. Applying this “new museum concept” to the preservation of intangible heritage means that the collected material such as records of oral tradition will stay within the context in which they were created. By using these materials in the learning process of indigenous children, the materials will also be tools of transmission, passing on knowledge from one generation to the next. Language and - Heding Oral Tradition :

Battiste (2002:5) notes that Indigenous knowledge has been  understood (by Western scholars) as the binary opposite to so- called "Western", "Scientific", "Modern" or "Eurocentric" knowledge. A. Agrawal (1995) states that although there are differences between indigenous and Western knowledge systems in terms of substantive,methodological, epistemological and contextual grounds, a distinction in terms of indigenous and Westerncan cause problems, especially when defining the content of these categories.  According to J. Studley (1998) one consequence of the differences between indigenous knowledge generation and the western tradition concerning methods of data collection, storage, analysis and interpretation is that Western scholars trained in the "scientific" tradition have difficulty appreciating data generated by unfamiliar methods. Studley (1998) further states that only "few Western scholars are able to accept indigenous knowledge as valid in and of itself."  In her book Liberating Culture (2003) Christina Kreps discusses cross-cultural perspectives on museum,curation, and cultural heritage preservation, in order to further “liberate” culture from the hegemony of the management regimes of Eurocentric museology.

Our languages contain a significant part of the world's knowledge and wisdom. When alanguage is lost, much of the knowledge that language represents is also gone. Our words,our ways of saying things are different ways of being, thinking, seeing, and acting (Reyhner, 1996, internet). 

Danger of extinction :

The new, alternative approaches to cultural heritage preservation recognize the importance of preserving vital and living elements of cultures. Because cultural expressions, such as oral traditions, have an intangible character, the danger of losing them is sometimes underestimated.There are several factors that contribute to the extinction of indigenous people’s intangible heritage and indigenous knowledge. Dr. Marie Battiste identifies several factors that have contributed to the loss of Indigenous knowledge among Canada’s indigenous peoples: 

…the persistent and aggressive plan of assimilation on the part of the Canadiangovernment and churches throughout the past century, the marginalization of  Indigenous knowledge in educational institutions committed to Eurocentric knowledge, and the losses of Aboriginal languages and heritages through modernization and urbanization ofAboriginal people (Battiste, 2002, p 5). 

It is important to note that local communities themselves often do not see the importance of preserving their oral traditions, their Indigenous knowledge and their languages. They consider their own cultural heritage as backward and as a hindrance to their ability to access “modern society” and economic wealth. It is essential, therefore, not only to create a political environment that values and respects minority cultures but also to encourage communities to become aware of their own cultural treasures and to help them find ways to preserve those treasures (Condominas, 2001, p. 23).

Activities to promote survival :

Language is the most significant vehicle for communicating and preserving intangible heritage and Indigenous Knowledge. Languages not only carry the historical experience of a people group, they also codify,preserve and express distinctive bodies of knowledge (Kingsada, 2003, p. 43). Rehyner arguesthat 

Many of the keys to the psychological, social, and physical survival of human kind may well beheld by the smaller speech communities of the world. These keys will be lost as languages andcultures die. Our languages are joint creative productions that each generation adds to.Languages contain generations of wisdom, going back into antiquity (Reyhner, 1996). 

The necessity for revitalizing and preserving indigenous languages through recording oral traditions thus becomes evident. Because each language has certain terms and expressions describing things or ideas that reflect the knowledge gathered by one people over generations (Hart, 1995),the documentation of language and language use within different situations (e.g.,story telling, songs, rituals, everyday life) can be a first step towards developing and preserving indigenous languages. It is important, however, that as language is an irreplaceable source of cultural knowledge and serves to transmit cultural values, the process of language revitalizationand preservation must take place within the local and linguistic context in which it makes sense.

It has already been mentioned that recording oral tradition can help to maintain cultural knowledge contained in traditional stories and songs. The recording (audio and video) of rituals and dances is a valuable means for preserving records of cultural activities and expressions and offers an alternative means for passing them on to future generations.

Conclusion :

Condominas (2001, p. 22) notes that, "a traditional popular culture should be considered from the standpoint of the group which created it and which keeps it alive.” New approaches to preserving cultural heritage emphasize that indigenous people themselves should record and collect the variety of language use and cultural activities in their communities although researchers fromoutside the communities can provide assistance in planning the methods for observing, collectingand recording data. When tribals take the lead in data collection, they are able to choose and select the information, expressions and rituals that they perceive as important, wish to preserve and pass on. They are also encouraged to recognise their own cultural heritage as being worthy of preserving and passing on to future generations. 

                                   Compiled by :

                                   TCRC: 

                                   Tribal Culture Research Center 

                                   Gyan Mandir,Sabara Srikhetra,

                                   Koraput-764020 

References :

1. Agrawal Arun. (1995) Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge: Some Critical Comments.Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor 3 (3). Online at www.nuffic.nl/cira/ikdm/3-3/articles/agrawal.html

2. ICOM/UNESCO. (1997) Museums and Cultural Diversity: Policy Statement, presented at the89th session of the Executive Council of ICOM on December 1997, Online at:http://icom.museum/diversity.html

3. Coolangatta Statement, on Indigenous People’s Rights in Education. World Indigenous Peoples’Conference on Education, Hilo, Hawaii, August 6, 1999.

4. Grenier, Louise. (1998) Working with Indigenous Knowledge. A guide for researchers. IDRC,Online at: www.unesco.org/most/bpikpub.htm

5. Preserving intangible cultural heritage in Indonesia : Karin Czermak, Philippe Delanghe, Wei Weng UNESO Jakarta, Indonesia.

 TRIBES OF PRESENT DAY KORAPUT

K.C. Panigrahy

The concept of ‘Tribe’ induced to Koraput  in the year 1917 by the Government of Madras Presidency under the ‘Agency Tracts Interest and Land transfer Act, 1917.  The Act came to force precisely on August 14, 1917 and  the whole population of Koraput were termed as the ‘Hill Tribes’ (the list at Appendix -A).  The defination of the ‘Hill Tribe’ was :

     “Anybody or class of persons residing in the agency tracts; (ie.whole undivided Koraput district & agency tracts of present Gajapati, Kandhamal and Ganjam districts of Orissa) not being a Land Holder (ie. Maharaja of Jeypore Zamindari) that may be notified for the purpose of the Act by the Government.”

In independent India the ‘Hill Tribes’ of Koraput were devided into three categories i.e. Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes under the constitution order of 1950.  It seems the experts and the theoreticians have devided the whole population of Koraput artificially without designing the scientific parameter.  It also seems that the State designed the so-called developmental Projects / Schemes to make the whole populace of the Hill Tribes as the second rate carbon copy of ourselves which Pandit Nehru feared years back.

The layman's image of tribe (after he got exposure to Koraput region for some time) is that of a small group of people living in seclusion, accustomed to carefree and hand to mouth existence without any idea of  saving for the rainy day and traditionally unmindful of the intricacies of modern life unless and until their traditional customs and taboos, mates and ethos and way of life are tampered with.  This concept of tribal life and culture is a figment of the imagination of the age-old relations existing between tribals and their non-tribal neighbours; a myth as an empirical truth.

Tribals of present day very rarely live in perfect isolation anywhere in the world.  They are caught between conventional and current cultural changes that is sweeping throughout the world.  The degree of percolation of socio-economic process is mainly conditioned by the nature of communication and transport facilities available in Koraput region.  With the rapid strides made by Community and Tribal Development Projects and Programmes ultimately led to creation of new economic opportunities and a shift in the age old cultural standards and value-attitude systems of the people of this region.

Early Europeans knew this region as 'Jeypore country'. When the Madras Government, first took over the direct administration of the Jeypore estate in 1863, road communication was in a primitive condition.  They opened  the area in taking up road constructions.  A bare valley between two ranges of hills was selected and the British administrative headquarters was shifted from 'Jeypore' to 'Koraput' in the year 1870.  Roads, as is understood at present, were  non-existent prior to 1863.  Lieutenant Smith, the first Asstant Agent posted at Jeypore travelled to Jeypore by horse and bullock cart.  In the year 1885, Mr. H.G. Turner, the then Agent took up the task, of completing the road from Jeypore to Vizagpattam via Padwa, Anantagiri Ghats (now called Aruku valley) which was commenced in the year 1863 and was known as Turner's Ghat.  The present Salur-Jeypore road was first begun in 1866 and it was only in 1874, for the first time, carts from Salur could cross the Ghat (with difficulty) and were able to reach Jeypore.  Railway extension from Paralakhemundy (Narrow gauge) to Gunupur was opened in 1931.  The Raipur - Vizianagarm Railway line (Broad guage) was opened in 1932.  Dandakaranya Project started in 1958 in this region.  The present Koraput Railway line; earlier known as the  DBK (Dandakaranya Bailadida Kiribur) Railway line (broad gauge) is passing through 'Koraput' town and 'Jagdalpur' then from Visakhapatnam (AP) and it was undertaken in 1962 and completed in the year 1967  connecting Bailadilla mines in Chhatisgarh  to Visakhapatnam of Andhra pradesh.  Koraput town was  connected to Rayagada by rail in the year 1991 to carry alumina from NALCO.  It seems, all these roads and Railway lines were taken up only to facilitate the Government through their agents to transport Forest Product, Minerals, generated electric energy and to rehabilitate the Bengali displaced persons under the cloak of Korpaut area development.

Prior to Dandakaranya Project, i.e., till 1958 there were a handful of official functionaries and traders who were the only agents of plains culture, used to tickle down the precarious ghat roads and bridle paths.  The introduction of community development programme and the Railway lines opened a new chapter in the lives of the tribals of this region.  For the first time, the tribals tasted the fruits of directed change in the form of inter village fair-weather roads, improved agricultural  implements, seeds, wells for drinking water etc.  The laying of pucca maxphalted roads and Railway lines facilitated for more extensive cultural contacts.  Tribals are no more encompassed in the idyllic surroundings of a shangrila having harmonious and undisturbed relation with the nature.  Slowly the tribes began to incorporate certain material traits of plain people into their life styles.

The indifferent developmental projects/ schemes in tribal areas, designed by babus started upsetting the apple-cart of existing social system resulting in violation of tribal endogamy and family disorganisation.  Gambling, prostitution, cheating, pick pocketing etc have also made their  appearance amongst the tribes.  Previously such violations of traditional norms used to be severely dealt with by the tribal council by  ex-communicating the offenders and heaping all sorts of insults on them in order to make life unbearable for the culprit and his family in this society through ostracisation.  Now-a-days such cases just end up with mild contemptuous remarks.  Coffee and tea slowly replaced the traditional nutritious ragi gruel.  Drinking illicit toxic liquor is also on the increase whereas they depended on healthy home brewing substances.  Increased  monetary transactions due to payment of wages in cash and the immoral activities of  non-tribal workers served as catalirers in accelerating the process of social degeneration. The developmental schemes and programmes engineered for develop-ment of this region made them conscious of new opportunities and ways of life and at the same time subjected them to sacrifice their traditional institutions with great stress and strain.  The balance sheet of Socio-Cultural and Economic gains or losses can the summarised as follows :

1. The Positive aspects are :

(a) Tribes who acquired skills during the execution of developmental schemes and programmes got employment in urban areas as skilled or unskilled labourers and yet up rooted them from their family or home anchors.

(b) Some persons among the tribes have been motivated to strive for modern ways of life based on improved technology and have been able to stabilise their position, at the cost of neglecting their traditional vlaue systems.

2. On the Negative side are :

(a) The programmes and the schemes have been like a capricious lover of the tribals, giving bountiful gifts for sometime and then deserting them with complete unconcern when the purpose is sewed.

(b) The tribes who worked as casual labourers during the continuation of the programmes or schemes were left high and dry.  The traditonal sources of livelihood no longer satisfies the need and at the same time the new hope which sustained them for sometime has disappeared like a mirage.

(c) The most hard hit of all in the process has been the younger generation.  A good number of them could successfully challenge the traditional authority structure of the society, because of the economic opportunities provided by the schemes.

(d) The final result was - the younger generation unthinkingly discarded the traditions of the old.  After a certain period the trauma of a guilty complex on the one hand and a superiority or inferiority complex of merely - 'being used' on the altar on the other hand goaded by these two complexes, compelled them seek escape in alcoholism, gambling etc. and other social vices.

(e) In this milieu, when the economic motive is added, the slippery slope of degeneration easily takes them to the practice of cheating, pick-pocketing and other delinquent behaviour without any compunctions.

(f) The same set of factors has also played an important role in creating a fertile ground for converting them into political iconoclasts of a sort to flourish in the area.

(g) Over and above these, the traditional social restrictions in sex life were subjected to great strain due to the monetary and other allurements available during the  execution of the Project periods.

Taking an overall view, one cannot help feeling that the balance is heavily loaded on the negative side.  But here a question arises, whether this negative balance is just another confirmation of the classical view of the harmful effects of contact between people of different levels of culture and technology or whether it is the result of inadequate planning and incomplete approach to the problem of (by the forcible induction of) development.

Further, establishment of industries for betterment of the people of this region seems to have been dealt with more as a territorial nexus than as an additional resource base.  Its main purpose was to extract and exploit natural resource at one end and export for marketing at the other, but the human situation seems to have been considered more in terms of instrumental value than end value. 

  Now the tribal consciousness in relation to its own tradition and history and in relation to outsiders is taking shape as an important part of the subaltern consciousness of the region.  The tribals of Koraput region during the last four and a half decades have gone through the trauma of various domineering forces in the name of progress and development.

First, they were the targets of the 'missionary solution' which detribalised their rituals, customs and morals; it was followed by a vigorous reaction of the forces promoting Hindu institutions, disturbing their indigenous ethos.  Second, the British rulers followed the policy of  segregation under the garb of 'protection' and 'Excluded' and 'Partially  Excluded' areas; tribals were linked with primitiveness, and the task of defining their direction of change was delegated to colonial administrators, guided by the theory of 'isolation'.  Third, the Indian Government after the Independence, charged with the sentiments of 'national integration', enshrined guarantees in the Constitution for the economic, socio-cultural and educational upliftment of Scheduled Tribes.

When the norms and values of one culture dominate the other (through subjugation, colonisation, acculturation and assimilation or in the name of development) these can generate dissonance between the two or result in the indistinguishable assimilation of one culture, weaker in demographic or economic terms, with the other.  Feelings of resentment against outsiders and virtual rejection of the outsiders among a section of tribals indicate their uncertainity and a sense of helplessness, about their future.

Expressing ideals of the pluralistic heritage of India, a statesman of 1950's was pronounced as follows :

"Every flower has the right to grow according to its own laws of growth; ..... to spread its own fragrance, to make up the cumulative beauty and splendour of the garden.  I would not like to change my roses into lities nor my lilies into roses.  Nor do I want to sacrifice my lovely orchids of rhododendrons of the hills':"

In the words of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru : "there is no point in trying to make them a second rate carbon copy of ourselves."

  Until quite recently, the exception has been that in the march of progress the tribal form would gradually weaken and give way to more advanced modern form of social cohesion.  The sheer persistence and  resilience of tribal identities in India raises certain issues of immense significance: 

(a) Should the conceptual ground upon which the prevalent categorisation and  understanding of the nature of the tribal identity is predicated be re-examined ? (It would indeed be an exceedingly difficult proposition for anyone to state that all the varied communities listed as tribes in the schedules fully conform to the notion of a tribal community in its classical sense)

(b) What constitutes the distinctive substance in the historical texture of relationships and sensibilities, in relation to tribal identity in India?

(c) What is the nature of reassertion of tribal identity in the modern context ?  - And -

(d) What kind of possibilities does this reassertion make available for a serious reconsideration of the problem of ecology and human  survival, as also the nature and role of the modern state and modern development ?

Meaningful consideration of these questions requires reappraisal of the awful grim details that touch upon the part and present of the struggle for livelihood and survival of tribal cohesions.

Such reappraisal would perhaps help, classify the cultural and institutional possibilities that could in some measure modulate the suicidal edge inherent in the modern predicament (Sharma : 1994).

In this scenario we may like to note that the political leadership in tribal areas has been a victim of the party system.  When the tribal representatives get elected, they are quickly submerged in the main concern of the political party to which they belong; and in these, there is at best a nominal place for the tribal issues or else they become back-numbers in the modern world.

TCRC:Tribal Culture Research Centre

Gyan Mandir, Sabara Srikhetra, Koraput

References :

1. The DBK Railway Project : Dr. Pratap : 1970

2. Tribal Identity : Lachman M. Khubchandani : 1972

3. Tribal Identity & Modern World : Suresh Sharma : 1994.