ABSTRACT
The world over, indigenous peoples have shared a symbiotic relationship with their environment and natural resources. They have developed cultural traditions, economy, social-control mechanism, religious institutions and production techniques to retain these relationships. Their cultural system ensured that there should be sustainable use of resources and it continued to be their livelihood for several generations. It is a fact that indigenous and tribal communities inhabited in different regions of the globe have been playing a vital role in preservation and management of natural resources within the frame of their indigenous knowledge. Their identity as a community is closely linked to these natural resources. Indigenous spiritual and cultural practices depend upon access to their traditional lands, including historically and spiritually significant sites. Recent years have seen indigenous territories being used on a larger scale by the state, for iron, uranium, coal, copper and other metals by mining; to build mega dams, urban cities, infrastructural developments and so forth which are essential to industrialisation but, these developments have adversely affected Adivasis. It collapsed their traditional economy as well as ecological base. Loss of natural resources also brought exceeding calamities in these regions such as climate change, global warming, pollution, floods, droughts and intense storms, epidemics, depletion of forests and loss of biodiversity. Today indigenous communities are finding difficult to maintain sustainable economic systems, to practice their traditional ceremonies, and to preserve their hunting, gathering and fishing cultures. Industrialisation, urbanisation and national development objectives have seriously affected tribal profoundly embedded spiritual and cultural relationship with the ecosystem. In this backdrop, the chapter draws upon the sociological perspectives for an understanding of environment, modes of subsistence and adivasi life, that is the inter-relations of human beings, flora and fauna as well as the elements of physical and natural environment. At the same time, these inter-relations are explored along with the dimensions of modes of subsistence, such as issues of livelihood, sustainability and survival, and conservation of biodiversity, significance of sacred landscape inherent in their culture. The chapter also focuses upon the interface between environment, the role of the state, globalisation initiatives and identity struggles among Adivasis. Further, it tries to trace the issues of rights and social justice related to policy framework, with special focus on the PESA Act and Tribal and Forest Dwellers Right Act 2006.
