POSSIBLE TOPICS FOR RESEARCH IN TRIBAL POLITICS.

 BY K P PASWAN

Some of the tribes have disappeared from the world while a large number of them have joined the mainstream and are holding important positions in politics and civil administration. Disappearance of tribal may be attributed to encroachment of their territories by modern man. But there are still some tribes in some parts of the world who  preferred to live away from educated and modern society. These tribes are often subject to atrocities and are unable to merge with mainstream.

Several research papers and books written by famous writers are available in open markets. From these books we learn various things like their origin life styles, means of communications. Research is still going on to find something more important, like reasons for their alienation from mainstream..

   No particular topic can be picked up for the study of various aspects of Tribal. It is so because Tribal living in Latin America have different culture, means of communication and food habits. Some of them still like nudity while other may use forest related items to cover their bodies. In India Tribal use Arrow and Bows for hunting, this practice is almost common among all the tribes. Following topics may be considered to read the mind of tribal.

BEHAVIOR. Whether the tribes are willing to listen to non-tribal or indulge in violent methods to keep themselves from main stream. Precaution is necessary on the part of research scholars not to be provoked by tribal, who are generally soft in their behavior. It is said that when Columbus reached America, local tribes welcomed them as some kind of deities but Columbus enslaved a large number of tribes and when they reached Spain more than half of Tribal died as they were unable to withstand new environment.

 Aboriginal in different countries may have different social behaviors, they are not supposed to know the intricacies of modern politics. In Latin America and US aborigines have entered into modern age and are working in different fields but they have not given up their ancient social behavior, traditional ways of life and rituals based upon Black Magic. A study of their traditions may reveal startling facts of their lives. We may come to know whether they were animal hunters and if so whether still crave for human blood. Merciless Killing of non-tribal is reported throughout human history.

 In Andaman and Nicobar island belonging to India there are certain pockets being inhabited by tribes who migrated from Africa nearly thousands of years ago. Almost all of them are of African origin. A few groups of tribes have been tamed with modern education but there are two distinct tribes namely Jarawa and Sentinel who don’t like mixing with outsiders. They live in deep forests They are being protected by government of India so they are still surviving otherwise they might have met the fate of Australian Aborigines who were reduced to minority by immigrants. Tribal in Australia have almost disappeared and those remain alive are engaged in criminal activity.

 Coming to Tribes in Andaman and Nicobar, all attempts to know their language and behavior have failed. They are hunters but not human eaters, they are regularly given food items and cloths, they accept these items. But they are still hostile and would not mind killing tourists with their bows even without slight provocation. How they survived the Tsunami is a great mystery. A few foreign missionaries tried to contact these Sentinel Tribes but they failed. It appears that they don’t have any religious belief and in absence of modern drugs their population is gradually delining.  However, population of Jarawa is increasing is so because that a few Jarawa have received modern education and they are encouraged to contact and encourage their fellow Jarawa to accept new ways of life,

In Asia we take the tribal of Waziristan in modern Pakistan which is throwing serious challenge to military rulers. These Tribal are violent and they don’t obey government’s order. Religion belief is very strong, they are fanatic Muslims and even a tribe of  80 years of age shall fight and die for religion. Bloody conflicts among themselves are not uncommon. A study of their behavior reveal that they are very fond of narcotics and are dead against empowering women.  They quarrel among themselves and would not mind to kill their relatives if they disobey the elder of the tribe or family. In the past they fought with British army inflicting heavy damage to them. Even in modern times Pakistan has badly failed to tame them.

 Black magic is common among all the tribes in the world, this may be another topic to understand behind strange ideology.

  In India Tribal mostly live in forest but with deforestation they are finding it difficult to live in plain areas with non-tribal. Their language is a different and it requires to understand their dialect. They are mostly poor and are being exploited by moneylenders.  Animal hunting is common but attitude towards women is not unfriendly they give proper respect to women folks. They observe certain traditional rituals with great fun. Women in colorful dress participate in dance and at the time of celebrating Tribal festivals, Effects of foreign missionaries is visible. Their exploitation has turned them to become dreaded Naxalites who are indulged in wanton killing. With passage of time they are being assimilated into mainstream.

 There is a tribal dominant state in India named Jharkhand. The land is rich in natural resources but tribal are poor Non tribal cannot grab or purchase their land, it is for these reasons that tribal of Jharkhand are safe. The Govt has taken several measures to improve their living conditions. Modern health centers are being established  These tribes are known for distinct type of dance and song

SURVIVAL INSTINCT. It is surprising that tribal survives despite of severe disease. In absence of modern drugs, it is common knowledge that they survived on herbal drugs and sometimes they practiced occultism. It will be a interesting topic as we may know the name of certain herbs which have proved effective medicines for severe disease. In the past they must have suffered from illness for which there was no cure despite of this it, is not a miracle that they survived. Herbal drugs must have driven them to obtain methods and ways of treatments. Herbal treatments are still being preferred by a large section of the non-tribal people.  When the British reached Leopoldville in Africa, a few British men survived. Malaria and tuberculosis were rampant and even the colonial troops used herbal drugs for ultimate cure.

LANGUAGE. Language spoken by Tribal differ and may be one of the important topics.  There are different groups of tribal who by intermixing with other tribal may have develop special kind of communication. In ancient times in absence of any language it must have been very hard to intermix. There are certain type of scripts including scripts found in Indus Valley Civilization which are yet to be deciphered. We still do not how they communicated with others before coming into contact with modern civilization.

 FINAL THOUGHT.

Every Aborigine has different type of problems. They need to be studied separately.