Tribal literature: challenges and possibilities

Dr.N.MARYANNA HARRIS
Head, Department of English
Christ college of Arts and Science,Kilachery,Tamilnadu

Abstract
The last decade of the 20th century witnessed the rise of a host of new movements in India.
Women, farmers, Dalits, Tribals and various ethnic groups came together like never before and
raised demands and issues that could neither be understood nor settled through the established
theoretical and political idiom. They asserted that their exploitation was due to their specific
identities and to fight that exploitation and discrimination, they forged alliances with other
groups/communities with similar identities and launched a joint movement for their
emancipation. Since identities formed the basis of their exploitation as well as their struggle
against it, this process was began to be called “identitism”. Besides sociopolitical movements,
literary movements also oined this battle against exploitation of the deprived. Feminist literature
and Dalit literature were the by-products of this process. Now, Tribal literature, imbued with
Tribal consciousness, is also trying to carve out a place for itself in the world of literature and
criticism. he paper highlights the People’s movement against development-induced
displacement, issues related to mining and loss of livelihoods of the indigenous people. The
paper also outlines the development challenges that arise due to the mismatch of government
policies and its poor implementation, political instability and unplanned exploitation of the
minerals resources.

Keywords: indigenous people, Tribal communities, Tribal literature, identitism, Land Alienation

I Introduction

The development of literature and of different art forms in Tribal communities predated the
emergence of literature and arts in the so-called mainstream society. But the Tribal literary
tradition was mainly oral. Even after being pushed into the jungles, the Tribal communities
continued their creative literary exploits. However, as this literature was in unsophisticated folk
languages and because the Tribals were far from the centres of power, their literature, like they
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themselves, was largely ignored. Even today, Tribal literature is being produced in hundreds of
indigenous languages but we know little about it.

Historical and material factors led to the emergence of the contemporary Tribal literary
movement. About two decades ago, the central government adopted the policy of economic
liberalization, thus throwing open the doors to market economy. In the name of free trade and
free market, a no-holds-barred race for earning more and more profits commenced. And this
translated into wanton loot of water, forests and land – the prime resources of the Tribals – even
to the point of putting their lives at risk. Figures speak for themselves: Over the last one decade
at least 10 lakh Tribals have been displaced from the Jharkhand state alone. Most of them are
working as domestic servants or daily-wage labourers in metros like Delhi. Ironically, the
government then argues that as there is no Tribal community native to the National Capital
Region (NCR) of Delhi, there is no provision for reservations for the Tribals in educational
institutions and government jobs in the region. Where should these people, displaced from the
land of their ancestors in the name of development, go? It is said that when the United Nations
decided to observe the year 1993 as the “International Year of Indigenous Peoples”, the
Government of India’s official reaction was that “The Indian Tribals or STs are not indigenous
peoples as defined by the UN” and that “all Indians are indigenous people”. It also asserted that
the “Tribals or STs in India are not being subjected to any political, social or economic
discrimination”.

The entire issue boils down to giving Tribals the right to self-determination. Tribal literature is
also voicing this demand. On what basis can the Tribals, deprived of their water resources,
forests and land and leading a miserable existence in the metros, call this country their own? The
government-market nexus has posed a challenge to the existence of the Tribals. Those who are
still living in their homes have been caught between the devil of the government and the deep sea
of extreme Left. Those who have settled elsewhere have become like trees without roots. With
rivers, hills and forests no longer their neighbours, their distinct identity, based on their language
and culture, is getting lost. Never did the Tribals face such a deep crisis of identity and existence.
It is but natural for any community to resist threats to its existence. This resistance manifested
itself at the social and political levels, and also in art and literature. Thus contemporary Tribal
literature was born.
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II Historical Background

The formation of the state of Jharkhand is the culmination of a 200-year old struggle by the
people of the region. Statehood, however, may not ensure the development of the region’s
original inhabitants, the tribals (Louis 2000:1487). In Jharkhand, the East India Company
became the revenue-collecting agent of the Mughal Emperor from the year 1765 (Areeparambil
1997). Though invasion by aliens of indigenous people was going on in the past, it is from this
period a systematic and sinister plan was devised in the name of ‘tribal well-being and tribal
development’ to loot, rob, rape and steal and subjugate the peace-loving and freedom- loving
tribal population. As a separate state of the Indian union, Jharkhand was formed by bifurcating
the state of Bihar in 2000, with the objective of emancipating tribal peoples from Hindu upper-
caste oppression. Throughout much of the twentieth century, local politics within the Jharkhand
region of India was strongly influenced by a movement demanding the creation of a separate
Jharkhand State. At first, this movement was dominated by tribal people (adivasis) and called for
a separate State for the region’s tribal population. From the 1960s onwards, the movement had to
broaden its scope as adivasis declined as a proportion of the region’s population. Thereafter,
support hinged around the grievances created by economic transformation, which united
otherwise disparate groups in opposition to exploitative and locally insensitive ‘dikus’
(outsiders). State sponsored natural resource exploitation and economic development more
generally, thus created the ‘social pressures that led to the creation of a politically meaningful
Jharkhand region and repeated demands for a separate Jharkhand state’ (Stuligross, 2001: 133).
But the issues before the tribals of Jharkhand are in ensuring the restoration of their basic and
long-standing alternative that is tribal self-rule. This alone in the long run will prevent
interference by outside forces. Running after mainline political parties for support can be only a
short-term objective.

III Tribal literature and folklores

Tribal literature is nothing but the folklores and oral stories and poems of the tribal community.
Every country has rich tribal literature and in India, it is known as ‘Adivasi’ literature. The
availability of the same is in two forms; oral literature and the modern written literature. They
call themselves the ‘Orature’ –the literature of the oral tradition.

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Every year in India more than 100 books are published in English and other major Indian
languages of tribal literature. But the writing of tribal literature did not just start for expanding
their stories and poems, but it is a search for identity, exposing the past and the present from the
exploitation of outsiders and threats to the tribal identity and crisis. It is their form of resistance.

One may wonder about how literature is a form of all of these, tribes are indigenous groups’
cohabiting in forests with creating less to no harm. But when the Indian economy adapted
liberalization, the open markets brought in manufactures which led to an abundant need for
water, forest, and land, the primary source of the tribes. To state a simple example, over the last
decade more than 10 lakh tribes have been displaced from Jharkhand alone. Sotribal literature is
not just to bring forward their songs and poems but an attempt to protect the tribal identity and
existence in the face of intensified exploitation.

While tribal literature is lost among the piles of un-understandable languages, the literature is
being translated to major languages giving it a national form. Amidst the diversity of India with
more than 800 spoken languages, tribal literature tries to find its way in-between the official 22
languages, to be seen, to be heard, and to be identified!

IV Tribal literature identity

Tribal literature is the literature of a search for identity, of exposing the past and present forms of
exploitation by outsiders, and of threats to tribal identity and existence, and resistance. This is a
pro-change, constructive intervention, which is dead opposed to any sort of discrimination
against the descendants of the original inhabitants of India. It supports their right to protect their
water resources, forests and land and their right to self-determination. Although the
contemporary Tribal writings and the discourse on it are in their early stages, it is heartening to
find that useless debates like “empathy versus sympathy” are on its margins. Anyway, there is no
reason the authenticity of sympathy and empathy should be given so much importance. The
authenticity of expression definitely is, and should be, more important than the authenticity of
feelings. It is true that authentic expression is not possible without long experience, close contact
and sensitivity, especially with reference to Tribals. But empathy still cannot be made the sole
criterion for judging authenticity.

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As Tribal literary discourse is still in the making, its issues are also just taking shape. Beginning
with “Who are Tribals?”, the discourse has broached issues related to Tribal society, history,
culture, language and so on over the last decade. Magazines play a key role in the launch and
development of every literary movement. The following magazines have played important roles
in raising Tribal issues in the world of literature and in promoting creative literature related to
them: Yuddhrat Aam Admi (Hazaribagh, Delhi; editor: Ramnika Gupta), Aravali Udgosh
(Udaipur; editor: B.P. Verma ‘Pathik’), Jharkhandi Bhasha Sahitya, Sanskriti Akhda (Ranchi;
editor: Vandana Tete) and Adivasi Satta (Durg, Chhattisgarh; editor: K.R. Shah). Besides,
Pushpa Tete through Tarang Bharati, Sunil Minj through Deshaj Swar and Shishir Tudu through
the evening newspaper Jharkhand News Line are also promoting Tribal discourse. Many
mainstream magazines have also brought out special Tribal issues, thus contributing to the
development of Tribal discourse. These include Samkaleen Janmat (2003), Kathakram (2012)
and Ispatika (2012). Initially, the leading Hindi magazines showed scant interest in Tribal issues
but with the growing acceptance of the discourse, Tribal life is increasingly finding place in the
columns of such magazines. Tribal writers are getting adequate space in small magazines.

V Analysis of Tribal writings

Tribal authors have benefitted from the rich oral literary tradition of the community. There is no
central genre of Tribal literature like autobiographical writings in the case of women’s literature
and Dalit literature. Tribal and non-Tribal writers have portrayed Tribal life and society through
poetry, stories, novels and plays. The Tribal writers have made poetry the main weapon in their
struggle for Tribal identity and existence. Autobiographical writings are few and far between in
Tribal literature and that is because the Tribal society believes more in the group than in the self.
Concepts like “private” and “privacy” remained alien to most of the tribal communities for a
long time. Their tradition, culture, history, exploitation and its resistance – all are collective. And
collective feelings are much better expressed through folk poetry than through autobiographical
works. The sharp Tribal pen is expanding its reach at a fast pace.

In colonial India, the problems of the Tribals were mainly related to ban on collecting forest
produce, land revenues of various kinds, moneylenders’ exploitation and atrocities of police
administration. After Independence, the flawed model of development adopted by the
government deprived the Tribals of their water, forests and land and displaced them from their
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homes. Today, displacement is the main problem confronting the Tribals. This, on one hand, is
depriving them of their cultural identity and on the other, threatening their existence. If they try
to preserve their identity, their existence is threatened and if they try to secure their existence,
their identity is lost. That is why, today, Tribal discourse is the discourse of existence and
identity.

VI Issues and challenges

Land Alienation: Tribal population mainly depend on natural resources for their livelihood.
However, during the colonial rule after the discovery of minerals and other resources in the tribal
regions, they were forcefully displaced. After independence, these regions came under state
control, which negatively impacted the tribal way of life. They lost their forest rights, which
resulted in tribal people trapped in the hands of money lenders and landlords. Indebtedness
increased, and their livelihood lost.

Identity Crisis: Displacement of these tribes from the mining areas and for development of
industries in these regions has forced them to live either on the periphery of these industrial
pockets or to move to urban centres in search of livelihood. Disconnect from their homeland and
unawareness and unpreparedness to the urban lifestyle have led to an identity crisis for these
people. This gave birth to various psychological issues like depression, low self-esteem, low
condence, a feeling of un-belongingness, etc.

Illiteracy: According to the Population Census of India, 2011 the literacy rate for ST is 58.96 per
cent (literacy rate for the male is 68.53 per cent and for female is 49.35 per cent) which is lower
than the national average of 74.04 per cent (for male 82.14 per cent and female 65.46 per cent).
Their traditions and customs, prevailing poverty, the tendency of isolation, nomadic lifestyle, and
lack of necessary infrastructure and teachers suitable for their needs.

Gender Issues: Despite better sex ratio of 990 females per 1000 males of the Scheduled tribes in
India (While the national average is 943 females per 1000 males) women of the community also
have to face various challenges. Due to their sudden exposure to the urban lifestyle and their
inability to adapt to the changes that occurred as a result of their forced displacement post-
independence, women of society became more vulnerable. Consumerism and commoditization
of women have weakened their position in society.
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Conclusion

As Tribal literature draws its energy from the tradition of tribal uprisings, the language and
geography of those uprisings also assume significance. The original writings of the Tribal
authors are in their languages. The Tribal literature in Hindi is greatly influenced by the rich
literary tradition of indigenous languages. A part of this literature has been translated into other
languages. The literature being written in different Tribal languages is being translated into
major languages like Hindi, Bangla and Tamil, thus acquiring a national form. Tribal literature is
marching ahead, imbued with the rebellious sentiment of the Birsa, Sidho-Kano and other
revolutionary Tribal leaders and their movement.

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