According to the United Nations, there are approximately 370 million indigenous people in the world. To “raise awareness of the needs of these population groups”, August 9 is marked as the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. The theme of the day for 2019 is Indigenous People’s Languages.
Many indigenous people believe that being born into tribal communities means “being the resistance” (video above). Indigenous groups hold land in great reverence, often equating their identity with it.
India is home to 705 Scheduled Tribes, according to the 2011 Census. Madhya Pradesh has the highest percentage of Scheduled Tribe population in the country– 14.7%.
On February 13, the Supreme Court of India had ordered the eviction of tribals and forest-dwellers from forest lands that was met with a backlash across the country. The ruling was stayed on February 28, and the court had ordered state governments to find out how claims over traditional forest lands were processed.
Read
‘While deciding forest rights claims, due process was not followed,’ eight states tell Supreme Court
A Bengaluru couple wants to save India’s tribal music – with a little help from urban artists
Why Manipur’s dominant Meitei community wants Scheduled Tribe status
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