Browsing by Subject "Tribal"

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Open Access
Breastfeeding Practices in Tribal and Caste Population of West Bengal: A Comparative Study
(University of North Bengal, 2016) Mitra, Shreyosi; Ray, Subha
Breastfeeding has typically been studied as a discrete behaviour predicted by biological and social-cultural factors. The objectives of this study were to investigate into the pattern of and understand the knowledge and attitude of breastfeeding practices among the lactating mothers belonging to Bengali Hindu caste (BHC) and tribal groups. A total number of 167 lactating mothers were selected from Bengali Hindu caste population residing in the rural (100) and urban(40) areas of South and North 24 Parganas districts and from the tribal groups residing in rural areas (27) of Purulia district West Bengal. The selection of the study areas and of the participants was done on the basis of operational convenience. Data types include the time of initiation and duration of breastfeeding, the practice of exclusive breastfeeding, feeding colostrums and the knowledge and attitude of the mothers towards breastfeeding. Data on socio-economic information of the participants were taken as additional variable. Data were collected using semi-structured questionnaire. Trend in the results indicate that the practice of exclusive breastfeeding was lower in the Bengali Hindu caste population compared to the tribal population; feeding of colostrums is very common to the tribal mothers but not for their Bengali Hindu caste counterparts. Although the participants from both tribal and Bengali Hindu caste population were aware about the beneficial effect of breastfeeding, yet their attitude towards this behaviour varied widely.
Open Access
Contested Resources, History and Epistemologies: The Lived Experiences of the Indigenous Forest Villagers in North Bengal
(University of North Bengal, 31-03-2023) Paul, Mrinalini
This paper argues that Adivasi and tribal studies in India have been overshadowed by methodologies and ideologies bearing heavy colonial underpinnings. In order to develop this discipline further with sound epistemological base, it is necessary to engage with methodologies of a more organic and post-colonial nature. This paper uses the Adaptation-Negotiation-Freedom (ANF) framework (Bodhi and Jojo 2019) to understand the historical and contemporary critical events in the lives of the indigenous and Adivasi communities of the forest villages of North Bengal. The ANF framework has been developed contesting the predominant Isolation-Assimilation- Integration (IAI) framework that arises from a caste society understanding and defines the “tribal” as a residual category. The larger significance of adopting such a framework, beyond academics, is that these researches and data contribute to the policy framework of the country. One of the reasons for the continuous socio-economic deprivation and cultural dispossession of the tribal communities in the country, in spite of various legal safeguards, protective legislations and constitutional provisions, can definitely be attributed to the epistemological injustice taking place. This paper is based on a qualitative ethnography which places the researcher’s descriptions, observations and the forest villagers’ experiences (mostly Rabhas and Oraons) in both the ANF and IAI framework, and finds that the former offers a relatively authentic story of the micro socio-cultural politics and narratives arising from the landscape.
Open Access
Spaces of Protection, Regimes of Exception: Anthropologists, Administrators and the Framing of the Late Colonial Discourse on Tribal Regions (1920-1950)
(University of North Bengal, 2019-03) Tewari, Saagar
In the decades leading to Indian independence, a number of anthropological works by figures like J.H. Hutton, J.P. Mills, Verrier Elwin, William Archer, Christopher von Furer-Haimendorf and, Wilfrid Vernon Grigson etc. were published at regular intervals from 1920s onwards. Taken together, there is a remarkable unity in the ideas of this ‘knot of men’2 whose writings played a crucial role in articulation of ideas and strategies designed for the protection of tribal communities in future India. These individuals were definitely not the founding fathers of this ‘tradition’ and their arguments built upon a much earlier lineage of similar anthropologically minded administrators. However, given that this period was also the twilight of the British Indian empire, their contributions were extremely significant. Without analyzing them, it is almost impossible to theorize the ‘bridge’ which connects the late colonial to the post-colonial period as far as the discourse on the Indian tribal population is concerned....