09/08/2026
On the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, let’s look at Odisha and the way we imagine its Adivasi communities.
Nearly 25% of Odisha’s population belongs to Scheduled Tribes, comprising 62 tribal communities, including Kondh, Santal, Saora, Munda, Oraon, Bonda, Juang, Koya, Gadaba, Bhuiyan and Ho, among others.
Yet, Adivasi communities are often imagined as a separate cultural category, rather than as an integral part of Odisha’s social fabric.
Their languages, knowledge systems, food practices, ecological knowledge, art, music, histories, livelihoods and everyday lives are often made visible only through “tribal” festivals, museums, tourism or designated cultural spaces.
This is how otherisation works. A significant part of the population can be visible, yet still remain outside the idea of what is considered “mainstream”.
Mainstreaming does not mean appropriating or homogenising Adivasi cultures. It means recognising their contemporary lives, voices, knowledge and agency as part of Odisha’s everyday imagination.
In our cinema.
In our classrooms.
In our festivals and public spaces.
In our conversations around food and culture.
In our media and popular imagination.
Not as an “other” to be included occasionally.
