Gendered lives and livelihood histories of the Munda indigenous community in the Sundarbans Forest

This chapter analyses pre-Aila Munda narratives gathered through focus groups and livelihood story interviews. Analyses indicate that Mundas have their own histories about their arrival in Kalinchi, a long-established livelihood relationship with the Sundarbans Forest, and a continuous shift of earning livelihoods over time. Hence, this chapter considers the following temporal dimensions: the colonial period (1757–1947); the post-colonial period (1947–1971); after the independence of Bangladesh (1971–2002); and the periods between the formation of Sundarbans Adivasi Munda Sangastha (SAMS) (2002) and Cyclone Aila (2009). The underlying purpose is to study the trajectories of livelihoods and situations of gendered relations among the Mundas across these distinct periods.