Ancient Wisdom, Modern Battle: The Inspiring Stories of India's Indigenous Climate Warriors
“I am Kattunayakan,” says Bomman, one of the two beloved Whisperers featured in the Oscar-winning documentary The Elephant Whisperers.
“Kattunayakan means ‘kings of the forest.’ This is my home, where I belong, where the wild animals roam free. This is also the land where my ancestors lived for generations.”
Kattunyakars are among 533 living tribes in India that make up 9% of the Indian population. Many are forest dwellers whose lives are almost intertwined with nature. Known as adivasis or “original inhabitants,” they tap into an ancient, collective wisdom that gives them an almost instinctual understanding of nature’s ways. This translates into a way of life that’s inherently sustainable, conservative, and just what the earth needs during this panic-inducing time.
The Kadars of Tamil Nadu pluck fruits and vegetables only from the mature stems of the plant, which are then cut and replanted for future harvest. They practice forms of cultivation that make maximum use of the land without exploiting it, which are proving to be lifesaving during bad weather and erratic rainfall.
Many tribes, historically being nature-worshipers, believe God created the world with the “...help of tortoise, crab and earthworms” and protect ethnomedicinal plants with a religious fervor. Many of these plants fall under IUCN’s protected list.
As Gladson Dungdung writes in Adivasis and their Forest, “Far from being prisoners of the forest, instead they are her lovers, protectors, and conservators. They perceive the forest as a garden of co-existence…”
As climate change bears down upon us, rural and indigenous communities remain the most vulnerable to its worst outcomes. For the past few centuries, these tender stewards of nature have been among the fiercest voices in the fight to get our earth back.
Here are stories from three indigenous-led grassroots movements in India that influenced the climate movement today.
3 Indigenous-led Grassroots Movements
1. The Niyamgiri Movement
Source: theecologist.org
The Dongaria Kondhas of Orissa believe their home, the biodiversity-rich Niyamgiri Mountains, to be the seat of their Lord Niyam Raja, the deity who protects the forest and their livelihoods.
Attracted to the bauxite-rich Niyamgiri mountains, London-based mining firm Vedanta Mining Corporation acquired the land, hills, and rivers in the area, violating the Dongaria Kondhas’ rights over their sacred habitat. The Dongaria Kondhas, with the support of environmental activists, waged a decade-long battle that eventually moved the Supreme Court to order twelve village-level referendums, the result of which was that the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forest banned the mining project in 2014. This empowering process by which local stakeholders could decide the development they would allow on their lands, was termed India’s first “green referendum.”
2. Bishnoi movement
Source: Wikimedia Commons
No article on history-making grassroots movements would be complete without mention of the Bishnoi movement in September 1730. The Bishnois were the original tree-huggers and inspired the famous Chipko and Appiko movements in Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka in the last century.
The ruler of Jodhpur, Maharaj Abhay Singh, had ordered the cutting of khejari trees in Khejadali, a Bishnoi village. In protest, a villager Amrita Devi hugged the trees. The men killed her. Immediately, her daughters and hundreds of other villagers followed suit, hugging their precious trees. Accounts estimate that over 69 women and 294 men lost their lives. Upon hearing about it, the Maharaja ordered the felling to stop immediately.
Bishnois are religious environmentalists who do not kill animals, use only dead wood, and protect all life forms with an almost militant zeal. Actor Salman Khan, accused of killing a blackbuck on Bishnoi territory, recently received death threats from a Bishnoi gang before the release of his latest film.
3. Jungle Bachao Andolan/ Jungle Andolan
This campaign sparked a significant movement that continues to this day. When the government proposed to slash the natural sal forest of Singhbhum district in Bihar (now Jharkhand) for commercial teak plantations; the local forest-dwelling tribals erupted in dissent, starting the Jungle Andolan (Forest Movement). They destroyed the teak plantation and were met with police brutality, arrests, and destruction of property over several years.
Adivasis continued to clear land for their settlements in asserting their rights over the land and forest. Despite their best efforts, the state failed to crush the movement, and from 1988 onwards, the central government attempted to enact policies that ensured“...environmental stability and maintenance of ecological balance including atmospheric equilibrium, which is vital for sustenance of all life forms. The derivation of direct economic benefit must be subordinated to this principal aim.”
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Noam Chomsky says that indigenous people are humanity’s only hope for survival now, and he has a point.
Over a million species might go extinct within the next few decades, but research shows that this decline is happening at a far slower rate on lands occupied by indigenous peoples.
Usually very poor, they are among the communities most vulnerable to climate change. Many struggle for land and forest rights and suffer for them through displacement and police brutality. In India, most news mentions of Adivasis are not without controversy. They are labeled as Maoists and enemies of the state, often falsely.
This article covered three successful movements that impacted India’s environmental efforts. But there are many more that don’t end well. While we celebrate urban citizen-led action and dialogue, let’s remember these unsung heroes who continue to fight every day.
Article By: Pratika Mallampalli
