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The South
Asian Life & Times - SALT |
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Contents Adventure
Art
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Dongria Kondh
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Tribal Triumphs 2013 ‘The Indian
government is beginning to realize that tribal peoples are the best
conservationists, by far. If only the rest of the world could catch on.
Evicting tribespeople from their ancestral land in the name of
‘conservation’ is not only illegal and destroys them, it also spells
disaster for the local environment and wildlife.’ - Stephen Corry, Director,
Survival For centuries, governments and corporations have
threatened the survival of the world’s tribal peoples, who have not only had
their lands taken away but also suffered violence and oppression. But things are
changing... law
is finally catching up and providing tribal people the tools to fight back.
The exploitation and mistreatment of tribal peoples now makes worldwide
headlines and consequently gathers global attention and support for their
rights. In
India, the Supreme Court ordered unprecedented community consultations with
the Dongria Kondh over an open-pit bauxite mine on their land. All villages
overwhelmingly rejected plans by the British mining giant Vedanta Resources
in their sacred Niyamgiri Hills. “The Dongria Kondh tribe’s sacred mountain
was saved from a British mining company after a worldwide outcry; their
story was compared to the fictional Na’vi in the Hollywood blockbuster
Avatar.” The foremost challenge the tribal people face in the
21st century is other people’s ideas of what ‘progress’ must be. However, the past year brought a few occasions to
celebrate minor tribal triumphs.
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