Social Transformation, Identity of Indian Tribes in Recent Time: An Anthropological prospective

Social transformation and ethnicity are interwoven. While ethnic representation acts as a catalyst in social transformation process, social transformation on the other hand can restructure the very catalytic character of ethnicity. Again, in ethnicity politics the dominant culture is prone toward objectification of the Other, forcing it into identity traps that confirm the dominant culture's sense of superiority. Or the marginalized culture in reverse develops its pattern to justify an ‘indigenous own‘ which is actually a reflection and positioning of parallels to the dominant culture. Tribal people in most of the forums have always been identified and tagged as ‘savage‘ and ‘uncultured‘ among all ethnic groups in India, junglee ( staying in remote forests), always free from lifestyle diseases, heavy drinkers and so on. While politics of development about dalits largely revolves around Schedule Castes, Schedule Tribes have long been lacking in their representation. In recent time, modernity has triggered tribal consciousness empathetically. Increasingly available facilities are pushing the educated and informed tribal groups to seek (new) identity among majority in the Indian society.

This paper tries to explain the very aspects of the changing socio-cultural scenario in tribal society and the perception about such changes in these ethnic populations. Qualitative data was collected by participatory observation, individual narratives, personal interview and ethnography. This study also reflects our experience of working among Indian tribes during different periods in recent time in several geographic locations in India.

Our fieldwork experiences and understanding about the socio-cultural changes in these tribal communities largely varies from the traditional wisdom. Understanding the interplay of various forces, thematic of such changes brings curiosity among anthropologists to go further deep and follow those actors.