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    Plan détaillé Texte intégral IntroductionSustainable utilisationThe tribal workersCommercial exploitation of natureConclusion Bibliographie Notes de bas de page Auteur

    Travailler en Inde

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    Table des matières

    Ecological transitions and the changing context of women’s Work in tribal India

    Transitions écologiques et nouveau contexte du travail féminin en Inde

    Geeta Menon

    p. 291-314

    Résumés

    Work is, in this article, given a broad definition, to include all activities directly or indirectly related to human struggle with the material world. However, the focus in this context, is on work among the tribal population of India (particularly the Eastern State of Orissa) who have directly depended on nature for their survival. Work among them has been traditionally manifested in a series of activities relating to food procurement, protection of territories and life, and child-bearing/rearing. While nature, especially the forests in which the tribals resided, played a major role in the first two, its role has been more indirect in the last, reflected in the organisation of time to ensure the fulfilment of child-rearing, carrying of small children to the work place, prevention and cure of diseases through the use of herbal medicines, etc. The article attempts to show the close relationship between the tribal population and the forest, which goes far beyond the question of mere economy, to encompass their cultural and religious identities, social customs and even entertainment.
    Women had a very major role to play in the traditional tribal economy and hence, the discussion of work revolves mainly around them in this article. They are, in other words, projected as the main ‘actors’ in the work sphere.
    The traditional tribal socio-cultural and economic structures have undergone a major change due to the destruction of forests which are primarily a consequence of the industrialisation process that has given a great commercial value to the resource. This process has, in view of the close people and forest relationship, not merely destroyed the source of tribal survival, but also struck at the roots of their socio-cultural systems. Needless to say, this has changed the entire structure of tribal work organisation. With no viable alternatives, they are still forced to cling to some of the aspect of their economic tradition. These are primarily the women’s activities. The strains that are placed on women in this process of change are the main focus of discussion in the paper.

    Le travail est ici envisagé dans un sens large qui englobe toutes les activités humaines liées de près ou de loin à la lutte avec le monde naturel. L’objet de cet article est le travail chez les tribaux de l’Inde (en particulier de l’État d’Orissa) qui dépendent directement de la nature pour leur survie. Le travail se traduit pour eux par un éventail d’activités qui va de la collecte de nourriture à la défense de leur territoire et de leur vie, en passant par le maternage et l’« élevage » des enfants. Si la forêt, leur habitat, joue un rôle primordial dans les deux premières activités, son rôle est plus indirect pour la dernière : il s’agit du portage des enfants en bas âge jusqu’au lieu de travail, et d’assurer les soins à donner pour prévenir ou guérir les maladies grâce aux herbes médicinales. Cet article cherche à montrer la relation étroite qui existe entre les tribaux et la forêt et qui, au-delà de la question de la seule économie, englobe leur identité religieuse et culturelle, leurs coutumes sociales et même festives.
    Les femmes jouaient dans l’économie tribale traditionnelle un rôle majeur. Dans le monde du travail, elles sont les acteurs principaux.
    La destruction des forêts, entraînée par le processus d’industrialisation qui a commercialisé cette ressource, a bouleversé les structures tribales traditionnelles, sur les plans socio-culturel et économique. Compte tenu des liens étroits entre la forêt et ses habitants, ce processus a non seulement détruit les sources de la survie tribale, mais aussi frappé à la racine tout un système socio-culturel. L’organisation du travail tribal en a été entièrement modifiée. Néanmoins, faute de solution de rechange, certains traits subsistent de l’économie traditionnelle, surtout dans les activités féminines. Les contraintes qui pèsent sur les femmes dans ce processus de transformation font l’objet de cet article.

    Texte intégral Bibliographie References Notes de bas de page Auteur

    Texte intégral

    Introduction

    1In its broadest definition, the active, labour-based interaction of human beings with the material world can be called ‘Work’. This interaction has historically been intricately linked to the natural environs in which human populations survived, since nature, i.e. natural objects and processes formed an intrinsic part of, if not solely represented, the material world. Hence, the history of human work participation is the history of interaction of human beings with nature. ‘Work’, in this context is not limited to food procurement and the protection of human lives, but extends beyond these to encompass all activities related to the survival of the population concerned, from food processing and distribution to devising and practising efficient health care systems. These activities may be considered merely as extensions of the basic activities that concern human survival, i.e. the provision of food and physical protection measures.

    2Economic development consequent upon industrial revolution and its associated transformation processes, has added a new dimension to the definition of work by focussing its attention on the extension activities mentioned above, so much so that nature has been removed from the direct purview of human labour participation and relegated to a position of secondary importance in the human mind. A vast majority of human populations today depends directly on the structures created around the extension activities for their immediate survival. These populations have thus been alienated in the work sphere, from that which to this day remains their actual and ultimate source of survival. It is forgotten in the myopic process of increasing alienation that even the industries from which their survival seems to flow are actually dependent almost entirely on natural resources – forests, minerals, undersea resources, petroleum, etc. – for their own, survival.

    3Our concern here is with the former system where work is limited to the direct interaction of human beings with nature. The latter comes in only in so far as it impinges on the former. While the largely agrarian populations in developing countries are equal claimants in such a focus, our concern here is limited to the tribal populations whose interaction with nature has extended beyond the work sphere to represent their entire life process, from food procurement to entertainment and cultural identity. The transformation that this interaction has gone through over the decades receives primary concentration here. In view of the ‘women focus’ in the traditional tribal activities, the gender dimension forms an intrinsic part of the paper.

    4The traditional tribal populations were forest dwellers and forests provided them with all their basic necessities. Among the hunting-gathering tribes, the sources of food were the wild animals, rodents, reptiles, birds and other creatures of the forest and the abundant varieties of fruits, nuts, wild flowers and leaves, roots and tubers, mushrooms, etc. Medical and preventive cure systems drew from the same source in the form of herbs, medicinal extracts from animals, birds, rodents, and reptiles, etc. Clothing and shelter requirements similarly were met from the forests by utilising leaves, vines and cotton for clothing and timber, thatch material, mud, leaves, etc., for housing. The only source of cooking and heating energy was wood. Extending beyond these basic requirements, forests played a major role in the system of beliefs and practices, entertainment, social functions, etc. The religious deities of these forest dwellers were themselves forest dwellers who resided in trees, mountains or forest tracts, in rivers, stones, animals and even twigs and leaves. A variety of forest produce and creatures played major roles in religious ceremonies, social functions, etc., which were themselves held in sacred spots in the forests that had special significance. The sārnā (Sacred Grove), the sāsan (funeral ground) and the ākarā (dancing ground) are examples of this (Gupta, Banerjee & Guleria 1981: 9). As suggested by the last, the forests played a major role in entertainment too.

    5In the hunting-gathering-slash-and-burn cultivation communities, to the above was added food production which too was dependent on good forest growth. Under the slash-and-burn system of food cultivation, a path of vegetation was burnt and the residues spread to function as manure on which varieties of seeds of foodgrains and vegetables were sown or spread.

    Sustainable utilisation

    6The interaction of tribal people with nature in all these spheres can be best described as sustainable utilisation of the bounties of nature in a manner most beneficial for meeting the various requirements of the population and ensuring their future survival. The survival of nature’s bounties formed an intrinsic part of this logic since the survival of the people depended directly on that of nature. This culture of conservation is visible not merely in every act of utilisation of nature’s resources, but is also interwined with the entire matrix of beliefs, values and behaviour. Hence a discussion on ‘work’ among these communities cannot begin without an analysis of this interesting work ethic. We quote here a few examples from tribes in India:

    1. Among the Angami Nagas of Nagaland, the users have to plant and grow the number of trees that they cut (Roy Burman 1989).

    2. The Kondhs of Kalahandi in Orissa do not cut the Salap tree because it is believed that the tree gave its sap to two children who had survived when the world was submerged in water, thus enabling them to live and start the tribal race.

    3. In the Chotanagpur area of Bihar, the tribals conserve their sacred grove (sarnā), from which no item can be cut or disturbed.

    4. In Dhenkanal in Orissa, all surrounding villages are by custom required to participate in putting out major fires. Lack of participation in such cases is considered a religious blasphemy.

    5. The Saoras of Koraput and Ganjam in Orissa (as well as most other tribes in Orissa) do not cut down standing trees on the slash-and-burn land, except for those which are explicitly permitted. Among the trees with a taboo attached to any harm caused to them, are jack fruit, mahua (Madhuca indica), pipal (Ficus bangalensis) and tamarind and those that are otherwise protected are siari (Bauhina vahili), cotton, banyan, plantain, sal (Shorea robusta) (Elwin 1955).

    7To explain the logic in the above courses of action and thought we resort to the use in a modified form, of the concept of ‘cultural ecology’ common primarily among scholars of geography. As suggested by the term itself, it refers to a relationship between ‘ecology’ defined as human interaction with nature, and ‘culture’ which is a product of the human mind and governs human action, thoughts and behaviour. According to the concept of cultural ecology, a situation of equilibrium is obtained when there is a congruence between ecology and culture, i.e. when each supports and enhances the survival of the other. Any change in either sphere causes a disequilibrium, major or minor according to the type and extent of change introduced, which has to be in turn rectified by counter-measures if human survival is to be ensured from the long term point of view. Ecological changes could be brought about by either decline in natural resource availability or through other factors such as population growth beyond the carrying capacity of the resource. Changes in culture are expressed through erosion of cultural norms. In the present context of cultural-ecological imbalance, cultural erosion may refer to either direct erosion of norms that ensured conservation of nature, i.e. change in belief and values that reflect the respect accorded to nature, or increase in aspirations regarding accumulation of natural wealth above the permitted standards.

    8Cultural change was rarely an imminent possibility in the traditional natural resource-based economics since rules regarding consumption were stringent (as mentioned earlier), and because the lack of major structural differentiation between approachable areas of human habitation prevented any change in aspirations significant enough to substantially affect natured resource utilisation. On the other hand, changes in ecology seem to have been a constant factor causing imbalance in cultural ecology in the history of these communities. Population increases have played the main role in this context. Since population size had to be determined by the potential of a particular habitat to meet the basic requirements of that population, any increase in its size relative to the said potential caused a deficit that affected their sustenance. This caused a cultural-ecological imbalance. Since cultural norms prevented what was considered over-exploitation of natural resources, the main alternative under such a circumstance was population re-distribution. Traditional migration and the founding of new villages are expressions of this set of circumstances. Among the tribals of Orissa, this has been found to be the main underlying factor behind foundation of villages (Menon 1989).1 However, population redistribution is not the only possible alternative. Logically, the alternatives available under such circumstances are to either adjust population to resources or resources to population. The former is obtained through population control measures adopted, if any. Adjusting resources to meet population demands can be achieved, unless blatant contravention of customary rules is resorted to, through change in dietary habits (consuming new varieties of animals or vegetation) or by technological innovation in crop production (Boserup 1981: 33-34). Among the latter, the second marks an important stage in human history. However, the causes of this are a subject of controversy. Food production, i.e. agriculture, may have either come about due to acute population-resource imbalance as the Malthusian school claims, or it may have been a result of logical progression from observation that plants grow from seeds to its implementation in the form of experimentation, as many feminists claim (Boserup 1981: 35). Whatever the motivating force, this alternative has a major significance with reference to work, as later discussions will highlight.

    9The adoption of the more ‘disruptive’ measures like population re-distribution which necessarily entails division of a close-knit family unit, or technological innovation in food production, is not based on ideals regarding preservation of nature or similar laudable intentions, but is centred around a simple logic of nature which may be expressed as follows:

    ‘When we talk of pastures and forests, we are basically concerned with the growth of plants controlled by soil, water sunlight and the pressure of harvest by animals and man. This is a renewable resource which can be made to yield indefinitely so long as it is not destroyed through overuse or poisoning. The yield from such a resource bears an interesting relationship to land utilisation by animals and men. At low levels of pressures of utilisation, the yield in fact increases as the utilisation is stepped up. It then reaches a maximum at some intermediate level of utilisation intensity. This level of utilisation is termed “optimal utilisation effort” and the yield obtained termed “maximum sustainable yield”. If actually drops.’ (Gadgil 1983: 113.)

    10Given this logic, which is also what governs the protection philosophy highlighted earlier, the direct motivation in adopting disruptive measures like migration rather than utilising resources according to the population demands, is the maintenance of the ‘optimal utilisation effort’ so that overexploitation does not threaten the future survival of the community. It is in this assurance that culture played the important role of the watchdog, maintaining the cultural-ecological balance. Since this balance pervaded all aspects of tribal life, tribal work participation and its changing character has to be situated within this context.

    The tribal workers

    11In keeping with our definition, ‘work’ among the traditional tribal communities consisted of a series of activities centred around what we define here as the three ‘main’ tasks: food procurement, the protection of life, property and territory, and childbearing and rearing which includes the maintenance of basic health standards. The activities of food processing and distribution, house construction fencing, care of livestock, maintenance of sanitation and physical cleanliness, etc. are defined as ‘extension’ activities of these three main activities. Though the description of these activities forms an integral part of this article, it is not possible to continue the discussion in terms of a generic description of these activities, without adding the gender element, for the traditional tribal economy was based on a division of labour along gender lines. Besides this, the fact that it has been vastly ignored in tribal studies, places on us the responsibility of attempting to give the gender dimension its due place in intellectual ventures of the sort undertaken here, of which the present article is only one contribution. Our focus on tribes in this context gains special significance because even today there are surviving many examples of the kind of tradition and change that we discuss here.

    The gender dimension in the ‘main’ activities

    a. Food procurement

    12In the work sphere, the gender factors were apparently in operation much before food production was ‘invented’, when, according to human history, human beings depended for their food on hunting and food gathering and for physical protection on organised protection and warfare. According to feminist contentions, the distortion of human history began with this period itself, since history was written by human beings of the modern world who were victims of deceptive processes that were seeped in androcentric value systems. According to this contention, ‘man-the-hunter’ was projected as the main ‘bread winner’ at the cost of ‘woman-the-gatherer’ who was assumed to be primarily a passive recipient of the productive activities of men, and whose activities centred around the home and hearth. Food gathering, processing and distribution were assumed to be parts of the latter. According to the feminist counter-argument, it was actually ‘woman-the-gatherer’ who was a source of sustained food supply, her activities being less subjected to the whims of providence. Women, who gathered fruits, nuts edible leaves, flowers, mushrooms, roots and tubers, etc., could be depended upon to provide daily sustenance, while meat was merely a supplementary food item, when available. Studies quoted show that in fact, among communities described as ‘hunters’ that survive today, only 20-40 percent of calories consumed by the population comprises of meat and other animal extracts (Lee & De Vore 1968). The remaining comes from vegetable foods and fish.

    13Feminist contenders of this theory assert that owing to the idealisation of men as the main food procurers, the role of women in human economic development has been grossly underrated. This is extended to the food production phase, the analysis of which has brought forth a further spate of arguments. The theory that food production was a revolutionary innovation based on malnutrition or undernutrition among food gatherers has been fiercely contended with the counter-argument that malnutrition was in fact not known among hunter-gatherers who learnt to be more innovative in the type of food consumed whenever scarcity presented itself. In Kalahari, women require only two or three days to gather the necessary food items for the week (Lee 1972). Food production, according to the counter-theory pointed out earlier, was not the revolutionary innovation it is made out to be, but a logical progression from the daily dealing with vegetable foods and wild seeds to experimentation by way of planting the seeds (Boserup 1981: 35). In this, it is argued, women may have played the main role since food gathering was primarily a female responsibility. Supporting this contention are the facts that the main food used in the early food production technique, i.e. slash-and-burn cultivation, is the hoe, which is nothing but a minor extension of the digging stick used in food gathering (ibid.), and that slash-and-burn is a primarily women’s responsibility, or a ‘female farming’ system as Boserup (1970: 32) puts it.

    14It is beyond the purview of the present article to go into details regarding the veracity of the above arguments. However it needs to be mentioned here that my own observations in the Orissa State of Eastern India, seems to lend teeth to the feminist contentions both that vegetable food provided plenty of nutrition and that there are strong probabilities that food production emerged as a logical development process, through the foraging activities of women. That the forests provided sufficient food by way of edible produce and meat has been repeatedly re-affirmed by several Orissa tribes. In most of these areas, there was rich forest cover as recently as the 1950’s or, in some cases, even the 1970’s. The pattern of food collection as it existed in the past persists to this day. From January to June-July, fruits of various species ripen and are collected, processed and stored. These are primarly the tasks of women. In the peak fruitation months of April-June, men too can be seen in sufficient numbers in the forests. Their tasks is to climb the trees and shake the branches, while women and older children collect fallen fruits. In the other months, women collect the available items on their way back from the slash-and-burn fields. In the lean months of August and October, the main tasks of women in foraging are digging out roots and tubers and collecting edible leaves, tender shoots, etc. When the forests were in plenty, women could fetch all their needs from within an area of one kilometer. A study in nine districts of Orissa showed that 20-30 years back, an average of 1.7 km had to be covered to fetch forest produce, the distance varying with the item from only 1.6 km for fuel and edible leaves to 2.1 kms for bamboo (Fernandes, Menon & Viegas 1988: 128). This itself goes to affirm that not much effort had to be put in to collect required items for daily living. This was so despite the fact that women kept strictly within the rules stipulated and restrictions imposed by customary norms and beliefs. One of these tribes, i.e. the Saoras, has been described by Verrier Elwin (1955: 58) as the most prosperous tribe encountered by him. Describing the food of the same tribe, Stirling (1825: 43) observed much earlier that

    ‘A great part of their subsistence is derived from the roots and produce of the jungles. The flowers of the Madhuka (Bassia latifolia) and the Keora (Pandanus odoratissimus) yield them an intoxicating liquor; in lieu of rice they consume the seed of the bamboo, a very heating and indigestible food; the wild yarms, arums, and other roots furnishing a nutritious, and not unwholesome substitute for bread; and for a desert they have the wild mango, the fruit of the Bela everywhere abundant, and the seeds of the Bauhinia racemosa, served up on the ribbed leaf of the Ravya (apparently a species of Dillenia) which answers the purposes of a dish.’

    15Elwin also noted the high reliance of the Saoras on millets, pulses, etc., obtained from the slash-and-burn fields in the 1950’s.

    16In this technique of food production my own study among the same tribe in 1987, and of others earlier, showed that the division of labour still reflects that prevalent centuries ago. The first step in slash-and-burn is of ritual offerings to the deities of the forest, asking them to pardon the destruction of the vegetation resorted to for survival. The actual agricultural process stretches over the whole year, beginning with the chopping down of the vegetation permitted to be chopped down, the cleaning of the area, collecting of the mass of vegetation in the centre and setting it on fire. In this process, the men wield the axe while the women use smaller implements to cut down bushes. Collecting the mass and setting it on fire is a combined task. This entire process takes up to a month. In March, the first rains wash down the burnt residue and spread it on the slope, thus spreading the required manure on the plot. Checking on manure formation during this month is the combined task of men and women who frequent the forests for hunting and food gathering, respectively. Hoeing and planting of peas and early variety of cereals is a task done by women in March-April, after which a combination of tasks of hoeing, spraying of seeds of cereals and pulses, etc., is accomplished. This demands intensive labour input and is done by women and men alike. The main contributions of men ceased at this stage, and from then on, women go through the various processes of weeding, checking on plant, growth, etc., in June and July. The first cereals mature in August and are harvested, chaffed and stored by women. The stalks of the harvested cereals have then to be removed to allow growth of other crop varieties, which task is combined with the plucking of newly matured cereal varieties and the chaffing of these in September. This is a female responsibility, though men help if female labour power is in short supply in the household. October and November similarly require intensive labour input by women, who have to flatten standing stalks of harvested crops, pluck some cereals and cut others, chaff, clean and store them. The last stage consists of harvesting of a species of peas which requires a lot of tedious work. Men help in the early mornings in this task if they are thus inclined.

    17As evident in the above, slash-and-burn is a complex long-fallow and labour intensive method of cultivation which provides a wide variety of food crops. The number of food grains listed among the Saoras exceeded fifteen and even this is not an exhaustive list. Besides these a variety of vegetables are also grown in these fields. Other studies have listed the cultivation of more than 30 crop species in slash-and-burn areas. For instance, Gangwar and Rama Chandran (1987: 347) have listed 15-33 varieties of food grains among the Sulungs and Nishis of Arunachal Pradesh.

    18Women combine the tasks in slash-and-burn and the collection of forest produce. It is significant to note here that the work process as well as the fruitation of the edible products of nature are thus organised that the periods of maximum input in one is also that of minimum input in the other. For instance, the initial stage of slash-and-burn cultivation requires much labour input and during this stage, a limited variety of vegetable foods are available. The peak fruit season, i.e. March to May requires only a few days of labour input in slash-and-burn and the most intensive period of slash-and-burn, i.e. August to October is the lean season for vegetable varieties. Traditionally, the combination of the tasks in both did not place unbearable workload on the women in view of the fact that forests were rich and foraging did not require the traversing of long distances.

    19Two significant features of traditional slash-and-burn economy described above need mention here in view of our focus on women. First, the control over and access to resources was thus organised that no single individual had enclusive rights over them. Slash-and-burn plots were distributed through an organised process of decision-making and the criteria in the amount of land distributed were labour availability within the household and the number of mouths it had to feed. The land as such belonged to the community till the distribution was made, after which the individual household exercised usufruct rights over if for the cultivation period, generally of three years. After this, the plot reverted back to the orginal status of communal property and a new area was allotted to the households. In the days when forests were in plenty, the cultivation cycle was of 20-30 years organised to ensure that no area was demarcated for re-cultivation till the forests on it has replenished completely. This is an important example of ‘optimal utilisation effort’ and many believe that this process in fact increases the regenerative powers of the soil. A similar community ownership is reflected in food gathering which was in general a group activity based on organised labour input of the group that ventured into the forest for the purpose. In the peak fruitation seasons, gathering could have been along household lines in that the household as a unit went in for collection, but during the remaining months women, who went in groups for slash-and-burn work, returned with the required vegetable foods and fuel.

    20The second significant feature of this economy is the fact that, though based on a division of labour along gender lines, there were apparently no cultural restrictions reflecting gender specificity in food gathering and slash-and-burn cultivation. It has been noted that men assisted in slash-and-burn tasks when female labour was in short supply and when more physical strength than forbearance was required. Similarly, in food gathering, men provided a significant amount of labour during the period when all available hands are required for collection work.

    21The first feature mentioned above relates also to the exclusively male activity of hunting, which was an organised activity as far as bigger game was concerned. Smaller animals were often trapped individually. Being exclusively male, the second feature may not apply to this activity except in symbolic expressions like the Janni Shikhar in the Chotanagpur area of Bihar, in which a mock hunting expedition was undertaken by women. However, it is not known whether any cultural restriction preventing female participation was traditionally in operation in the task of hunting.

    b. Warfare, Protection and Childbearing/rearing

    22The two main activities other than food procurement through gathering, slash-and-burn and hunting were warfare, protection and childbearing/rearing, which belonged to the male and female spheres of activity, respectively. Protection of human and cattle life from wild animals, intruders and natural elements and organising warfare with other tribes or outsiders were considered aggressive tasks to be undertaken by men and similarly, childbearing being a solely female capability, women were also responsible for the general health and well-being of the infants and small children. However, as the discussion on ‘extension’ tasks will show, though the responsibilities in these two main activities were considered to be gender-based, there were aspects of mutual sharing built into them.

    The ‘Extension’ activities

    23A logical division of labour along gender lines seems to have existed in the ‘extension’ activities, and in these too, there were no gender-based restrictions as far as observation among existing tribes shows. Women, who collected forest produce and cultivated the slash-and-burn plots also processed, cooked, distributed and stored these. They cleaned, husked where required, cooked and distributed the items required for immediate consumption and dried, salted and preserved or stored those which had to be kept aside for future use. Men, in turn, skinned, cleaned and cooked the meat of the animals they hunted or trapped and preserved the residues, especially the bones, for later use. In Saoras and Kondhs areas in the more remote parts of Orissa, this logic of extension of the main tasks is found to be in vogue even today and it is common to see men cooking meat, skinning the animals or birds, etc., while women concentrated more on husking, pounding, processing and cooking food grains and vegetable foods. An indication of male tasks in the past can be had from the following observation of Elwin (1955: 46):

    ‘In the early morning and at sunset, the men go out to the palm trees for their wine, a nourishing as well as a stimulating drink, and they usually bring some home for the women and children. They often take a little gruel at the same time, and they prepare tasty snacks, tit-bits of crab and chilli, special scraps of meat which are set aside and dried for the purpose after certain sacrifices, and chutneys of various kinds. Bones may often be observed hanging from a veranda, they are taken out to the palms and the marrow is extracted and cooked in wine.’

    24The same can be said of the ‘extension’ activities of the other primary tasks, i.e. childbearing and the protection of human lives and household wealth. The former, being an exclusively female activity, the women also cared for infants and younger children by bathing and feeding them, as well as maintaining basic standards of sanitation by cleaning the house and its surroundings, the utensils, etc. Once the children had outgrown their more vulnerable years, they were looked after by women and men alike, especially of the older generation, who could not be active in outside work.

    25Protection being a primarily male activity, men put in the main labour in house construction, raising of fences, etc. However, as in the case of activities of men, women too had significant tasks to do in these activities. They plastered the walls and floors, prepared the thatch and helped in fetching mud and timber.

    Asymmetric relationship

    26That women made a significant contribution in the work sphere among tribal communities is suggested by the above analysis. It is significant to note here that the hierarchical demarcation into outside/superior/economic contribution and inside/inferior/natural activity that is much prevalent in the world today, was not reflected in the traditional classification of work as described above. The analysis seems to suggest that responsibilities were rather undertaken according to capability and availability than inclination or status considerations.

    27In keeping with this logic, women also had a considerably high position in the social sphere of activities. The most respected and sought-after woman was also the most hard-working one. Women had powers equal to those of men in the choice of sex and marriage partners, in separation, divorce and re-marriage, etc. In fact, given their economic independence produced by the equality in access to the means of production and their economic responsibilities, it was often women who initiated separation and divorce.2 Owing to the fact that they were legitimate members of the village by virtue of their marriage or birth, such women could rightfully claim access to the forest resources of the village.

    28Some feminist researchers have found a close relationship between polygamy and ‘woman power’, in patriarchal societies where an easy way for a man to achieve high social status and prosperity was through maximising economic production within the family domain by marrying several times (Boserup 1970: 37-38).

    29Observations among the Saoras and Kondhs, both patrilineal tribes, support this contention. Among both, it is common for men to marry several times and maintain separate establishments, each wife producing a substantial quantity of food grains and vegetable foods from within the area allotted to her by virtue of her membership to her husband’s village.

    30However, there was one significant domain to which women had no access, and that was the formal decision-making structures. The fact that it is argued that ‘matriarchy’ has never existed in human history (e.g. Gisbert 1978: 69) goes to show that women rarely had the power of community decision-making in important areas like inter-community relationship, warfare, settlement of family feuds and disagreements, the distribution of slash-and-burn lands, etc.

    31This was however, not reflected in the day-to-day life in which women and men carried out their activities as equals. To quote Elwin (1975: 209),

    ‘It is as equals that men and women dance, it is as equals that a wife and a husband order their family affairs and it is as equals that they work and live together. There is thus a stress between the formal structure of tribal life and the actual feelings and emotions which thrust upon it.’

    32Mullings (1976: 240), in a useful description of this set of contradictory circumstances, defines the male-female relationship in such communities as ‘asymmetric’ – wherein access to means of production was not gender-based though that to status and rules was. This she opposes to the presently prevailing ‘inequality’ within agrarian structures in both simple and developed societies, in which even access to means of production is defined by gender. The latter is, in fact, fast replacing the traditional asymmetry in tribal areas of my acquaintance. We shall now go into the processes involved in this change.

    The emergence of Gender-Based Inequality

    33It needs mention, before we venture into the analyses of the factors and processes of change, that the claim here is not that prior to the introduction of change, an ideal situation of fairness and peace reigned in the tribal communities, nor that the life of the tribals was an idyllic one of robust health and happiness. Our discussion so far has, in fact, showed that tribal life was a harsh one, where work was hard and conditions difficult. Nor, as mentioned in the discussion on ‘cultural ecological balance’, was tribal economy and society a static one. Rather, change was an essential part of tribal life and it involved disruptions induced by the harshness of the natural realm. The attempt here is to bring into focus aspects which have a bearing on the work sphere within which the tribal woman operates. Within this context, it is necessary to emphasise that there exists a vast difference between change introduced from within, e.g. population redistribution, the ‘invention’ of food production, etc. which were more evolutionary in nature, and the imposed or ‘obtruded’ changes (Pathy 1982: 30). The former did not involve structural changes significant enough to transform the entire meaning and significance of tribal struggle with the material world, while extensive changes in the entire structure of tribal communities have been the main feature of the latter.

    34To confine our discussion in this context to the gender aspect, we need to focus on the two main expediments of outside influence, settled agriculture and the commercialisation of the forest resources – both revolving around work and both reflecting a disequilibrium in the traditional cultural ecology and asymmetry in gender relations. It is difficult to assess when the short-fallow, labour extensive, plain land agricultural system common all over the world and defined here as ‘settled agriculture’ was introduced in these areas, but as far as written records show, it has been fairly recent. An example is that of the hill Saoras of Orissa. S. N. Roy in 1927 observed the practice of only slash-and-burn among this tribe. In 1955 Elwin noted the reliance of the Saoras primarly on the slash-and-burn system, but also recorded the practice of settled agriculture mainly in the low lying and more accessible villages. Today it is a well recognised part of the Saora economy.

    35Similar have been the observations in many other areas. Samanta (1984: 195) noted in the case of many tribes of Tripura in North-East India, that the shift from slash-and-burn to settled agriculture began in the mid-19th century with the immigration of Bengali Hindu settlers. Among the Garos of North-East India, it was adopted through outside influence in a situation of scarcity (Kar 1982: 133). Among the Baigas it was the result of a deliberate policy of the Government to wean them away from slash-and-burn cultivation (1956: 124).

    ‘The plough is characteristic only of the European and the dominant Asiatic civilisations, in opposition to bewar (slash-and-burn cultivation) it has been exacted into a sort of fetish. The plough is undoubtedly the mark of the ever-advancing Hindu-European civilisation which will soon finally overwhelm the old culture of the axe.’

    36This prediction has come remarkably close to actualisation today. Why settled agriculture is here described as one of the main introducers of ‘inequality’ and causes of disequilibrium in cultural ecology is because of two of its significant features: first, it presupposes private ownership of property, and secondly it places socio-cultural restrictions on women’s economic participation. In other words, it contradicts both of the significant features of tribal economy mentioned earlier, i.e. common property ownership and equal access. To deal with the first, settled agriculture is owned by an individual and in the patrilineal system of inheritance (which is the system more common among tribes), is passed on in the male line. This directly implies unequal access to means of production by gender, an essential ingredient of ‘inequality’ as defined here. Second, activities in settled agriculture as they are today,3 are gender specific and are hierarchically arranged in that male jobs like ploughing and sowing are not ‘accessible’ to women (Gulati 1984: 73) and female jobs like transplanting and weeding will not be done by men owing to both the low status as well as tediousness of these jobs. To quote Roy Burman (1988: 21),

    ‘The anxiety of man to monopolise his skill in plough culture is reflected in the taboo that is observed almost all over India, against the women’s handling the plough. In many societies, she is not even allowed to touch it. In almost all the traditional peasant societies, cultivation by plough is considered to be the master operation in agriculture, all the other operations are linked up with it. This gives a decisive dominance to the man in the whole agricultural complex; the woman recedes to the background.’

    37The above quotation suggests that the dominance given to the male tasks under this system is not related to the amount of labour put in. Women contribute substantially in terms of the quantum of work: the jobs of transplanting, weeding, manuring, etc., are their sole responsibilities, while they also share work (in most areas where the system is practised) with men in harvesting. The crux of the matter lies in control over status and land, which are the main sources of power. There is thus a strong androcentric culture associated with settled agriculture which is supported by a similarly oriented social system of the communities which practise it, where women are considered (or have come to be considered) socially inferior beings.

    38While there may have been a logic of its own in the status ascription and division of labour under this system, what is significant for our issue here is that all aspects relating to this new culture have been and are slowly pervading the traditional tribal asymmetric system, so much so that it has completely replaced the traditional one among tribes that were first exposed to them. Two examples of such tribes are the Santhals and Mundas of Bihar State, certain sections of whom were awarded land titles by the British rulers, with the intention of seeking and ensuring their loyalty (Pathy 1981: 40-41). Accompanying this entitlement were the new value systems that were part of the agrarian systems of the 19th century, which include values of private (male) ownership and female inferiority in the productive and social spheres. From all accounts, the traditional ‘women’s economy’ has completely vanished in some areas inhabited by these tribes.

    39The ‘extension’ tasks are similarly affected. The logic of extension mentioned earlier does not prevail in the present circumstances; all household responsibilities, i.e. cooking, pounding and cleaning, distribution of food, fetching of water and fuel, cleaning the utensils and surroundings and taking care of the children are considered inside/inferior/natural activities, which are the responsibilities of women. That these jobs are considered inferior is reflected in the fact that till today in countries like India, these jobs are not officially recognised as ‘work’.

    Commercial exploitation of nature

    40In most of the more recently exposed communities, the second change agent mentioned earlier had an equally significant affect on women’s work and status; i.e. the commercialisation of forest produce which was associated in many areas, with the introduction of settled agriculture itself. This too, reflects disequilibrium in the traditional people-nature and gender relationships. The culture of profit-maximisation and accumulation of wealth entailed in this marks a complete imbalance in ‘cultural ecology’, brought through complete and simultaneous changes in both culture and ecology, throwing the tribal communities into a process of all-pervasive and extensive changes.

    41The first significant aspect of this change is the shift from the traditional personification of nature as ‘mother’ who had to be humoured and respected if her continued benevolence has to be ensured,4 to that of nature as a source of raw material, which has to be managed in a way that would yield the maximum material benefit for humanity. While this shift is in itself significant, the fact that the thirst of industry for raw material is unquenchable and ever-increasing adds a new value to it, since this implies a continuous process of indiscriminate utilisation. Every new finished product produces a new need in such a way that the scope of expansion is unlimited and goes much beyond the carrying capacity of the resource base. As a consequence, ‘optimal utilisation effort’ has no longer any relevance and utilisation has been stepped up so far beyond the optimum that there cannot be any return, even if attempts in this direction are made.

    42Our concern here being the forest on which so much depended for the tribals, it may be necessary to note, without going into too many details, that owing to this process, the forest cover in India has dwindled from 55.52 million hectares in 1972- 1975 to 46.35 million hectares in 1980-1982, indicating a loss of 9.17 million hectares in just 7-8 years. The annual loss is estimated to be around 1.3 million hectares. This has affected primarily the ‘closed’ forests, i.e. land with denser forest cover, 10.4 million hectares of which alone have been lost in the intervening period, according to the updated National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) data.

    43Paper industry being the main claimant of forest raw material, bamboo resources of the country were the first victims of this utilisation process, till the 1970’s when the resources had dwindled beyond reclamation and the focus had to be shifted to hardwood species. It is estimated that 70 per cent of the raw material consumed by paper industries till 1970 was bamboo and subsequently, its percentage declined to 51, the gap being filled in by hardwood (NCA 1976: 86). A sufficient indication of this reality is the distance covered for forest produce by the tribals, that has been mentioned earlier – the maximum distance of 2.1 kms covered is for bamboo, compared to 1.7 km for most other produce. The difference in the distance over the past 20 years for the produce is 6.8 kms.

    The impact on tribals

    44Among the tribes like Santhals and Mundas ‘obtruded’ change, when initiated, comprised of agrarian (settled-agricultural) economy and the cultural values associated with it. Studies have shown that a class division was created among such tribes through the awarding of land titles on the politically powerful persons within the tribes. A logical follow-up of this entire process was the accommodation of the tribals within the lowest strata of the caste system. The attemps at ‘Sanskritisation’ was the result. According to Nirmal Kumar Bose (1941) militancy and revivalism among some tribes which were part of the 19th-century history of development, are consequences of the incapacity of the tribe to rise in the caste hierarchy. To this may be added the gradual denudation of the forests on which they were so much dependent, by outsiders, e.g. the hated dikus (‘outsiders’) who were the main targets of tribal movements like the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (Jharkhand Liberation Movement). Though revivalism brought back some aspects of the traditional culture, the forests could not be brought back and the process of alienation from the forest continued, till barely a link exists, for instance, among sections of the Santhals and Mundas. The existing link pertains primarily to some remnants of the traditional religion and the continued dependence on forests for firewood.

    45Among the more recently exposed tribes like the hill-dwelling Saoras on the other hand, the system imposed had greater components of industrialism in the form of commercialisation of forest produce and the introduction of modern goods and values, than those of a new and different agrarian system. Whereas the agrarian system introduced among the tribes exposed to it in the 19th century had strong elements of the āranya samskriti where nature was personified as mother, the new industrial system had values entirely opposite to this, which conflicted the very essence of the traditional relationship of people with nature. Hence it is but to be expected that the ‘obtruded’ changes thus brought about would be rather drastic in character, affecting simultaneously the traditional culture as well as ecology and causing a precipitate imbalance.

    46The most visible of the impacts has been a drastic reduction in resource availability for the tribals. The supply of forest produce like fruits, nuts, leaves, flowers, roots and tubers, medicinal herbs, thatch material, bamboo, etc. and wild animals has dwindled, requiring the traversing of greater distances in search of these on the one hand, and affecting the food and medicine intake of the tribals, on the other. Because of denudation and Government controls placed over remaining forests, the area available for slash-and-burn has been reduced, with the result that the earlier system of rotation over eighteen years can no longer be maintained. A study in Orissa showed that the same land is now recultivated every three years (Fernandes, Menon & Viegas 1988). In addition to reducing manure productivity, this has resulted in soil erosion, further reducing food grain production from the land. This implies harder labour on the land, in addition to lesser intake of food grains.

    47The fact that the slash-and-burn cultivation cycle has narrowed down itself suggests a far graver though less visible consequence, i.e. the erosion of traditional norms that very scrupulously prevented the occurrence of such modes of overexploitation. This, in essence, means that the tribals, for whom such an act of over-stepping the optimum utilisation level was a sacrilege, are themselves resorting to such measures today. This is indicative of a complete charge in culture, a process which has been observed in many tribal areas.5 The competitive and consumption oriented outlook is replacing the tradition of conservation. Scarcity comes out as the single most important factor in the analysis of this significant trend. Earlier discussions have highlighted the fact that under normal circumstances, work culture is modelled to ensure both immediate and long-term survival. However, when immediate survival itself is threatened, existing concerns occupy the human mind completely and the relevance of long-term survival of the community diminishes. A form of myopia brought about by the need to sustain life sets in, in which farsightedness has little scope.

    48Besides the fact of the narrowing down of the traditional cultivation cycle, this is reflected in several other aspects of tribal economic activities. For instance, though some households in the Saora villages in Orissa still preserve standing trees out of respect for the beliefs of their forefathers, many do not care any longer for such sentiments. Also, the ritual offerings for the appeasement of the deity guarding the forests before slash-and-burn cultivation begins is observed today only in a symbolic form and the actual relevance of the act is forgotten. Few of the creation and religious myths are remembered. Similarly, traditional rules regarding the amount of wood and other produce collected and the way they are collected are nowhere in evidence. Several of the edible forest produce have high sale value and are regularly collected in large quantities by lower lying plainspeople. Because of this additional burden, the tribals themselves have begun to utilise the produce indiscriminately wherever they can get access, though scarcity, consumption needs as well as unfamiliarity with trading practices prevent them from earning much income out of these.

    The gender aspect in work today

    49The analysis of work contribution of tribals today has to be situated within the context of the above set of developments. Where linkages with the traditional forest economy have been minimised, women’s work is in keeping with the pattern of division of labour given by the settled agricultural and commercial/marketing systems. For those sections of the tribes thus affected that were not recipients of land titles within the colonial system or have lost such lands, the struggle for land control forms an intrinsic part of their survival. Many such households cultivate small plots of land or are landless. Many of these have to resort to local wage labour or migration to far away areas in order to survive. Such for instance, is the case of the Santhals and Mundas households residing in the slums around the National Aluminium Company (malco) Industrial Area in the Dhenkanal district of Orissa. These households, comprising the entire family, have migrated primarily from the Mayurbhanj district of the State. When asked why they had migrated, the most common answer among women was that the household owns little or no settled agricultural land, fuelwood was scarce in the areas, and life under such circumstances, rather hard. Their traditional economic tasks of food procurement through slash-and-burn and gathering of forest produce had for long become completely redundant. Men considered their work in the villages of origin to be primarily settled agriculture, but land scarcity had driven them out. It is significant within this situation to note that when both the male and female activities are adversely affected, the entire household as a unit moves out (Menon 1989). Back in the villages among these tribes, women have almost completely internalised the value system attached to settled agriculture and the commercial market. They do not touch the plough or sow paddy in their fields, but are engaged primarily in weeding, transplanting, manuring and harvesting. They also go in for locally available wage labour in construction and other activities.

    50In areas like the Gumma valley inhabited by the Saoras which had boasted of a rich forest cover even in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, the pattern is entirely different. Settled agriculture was brought in when the commercial value of forests and land was well established and as a result, most existing lands are either the officially declared Reserve or Protected Forests belonging to the government, or that already being cultivated by outsiders who are aware of the value of land. By the time the Soaras became aware of this value, most cultivable lands were already claimed, with the result that the average holding per household in one village, for instance, is a mere 1.09 acre. Since no land titles had been given, the difference between households is very little. Hence land is not a major economic alternative in Gumma.

    51Besides the fact of low availability of land, there is another important operative factor in areas like Gumma, that relates to the sphere of economic activity. Externally motivated economic change has been introduced at such a fast pace that little time has been given for the other aspects of life to accommodate to this change. Such for instance, it the food consumption pattern, the prominence given to women as the main food procurers and the gender relation in general. These are aspects which require a long-time span for adjustment because they are intrinsically cultural. In Gumma, the responsibility of food procurement is still considered to be primarily that of women. Also, the coarse millets, corn, peas, pulses and other produce continue to be the main food items, whereas rice, which is the produce of plain lands, is kept away for guests or for special occasions. Owing to these two circumstances and the lack of alternatives, women continue to plod on the slash-and-bum land6 and cover great distances to fetch the required items, despite heavy odds. The attachment of the Saoras to settled agriculture is as yet very low, inspite of the fact that the per acre production of food grains from this mode of agriculture is 177.96 kgs, compared to 44.96 kgs from the slash-and-burn land (Menon 1989).

    52A major impact of the persistence of values of female dominance in economy in such areas is that gender specificity in settled agriculture has been transcended, and women have equal ‘access’ to activities like ploughing, sowing, etc. which are otherwise prohibited for women in the lower-lying areas inhabited by non-tribals. The same pattern was also observed in other parts of Ganjam and Kalahandi where a close correspondence was observed between exposure to outside values and socio-economic restrictions on women (Fernandes & Menon 1987).

    Workload

    53While women’s work in their traditional economic activities have been rendered more difficult, the addition of new roles in settled agriculture and wage labour has placed an immense responsibility on their shoulders. While more has been added, none has been taken away. In fact, it was observed by some women in Gumma that increasingly, men are unwilling to engage in activities which their forefathers used to readily participate in. These pertain to assisting in slash-and-burn activities that require intensive labour input, fetching firewood when women are busy with other activities and helping in the collection of forest produce. On observation it was found that this was related to the emerging image of man as the main decision-maker and head of the household, who did not have to ‘assist’ women in their tasks.

    54In economic terms, it is also significant that such reluctance was specially observable when no monetary return is possible, e.g. in the lean seasons when available items like roots, tubers, edible leaves, etc. are the only items consumed. In the peak fruitage season men are seen accompanying the women in the forests or collecting fruits from trees owned by the household. The women also leave the job of sale of these items in the market to the men, though they accompany the men to the market.

    55While more work has been added in the form of settled agricultural tasks and occasional wage labour in the ‘main’ activity of food procurement, this has been extended also to the ‘extension’ activity: women now have to pound the paddy, husk and clean it. This is a logical extension (despite the fact that settled agriculture is considered a primarily ‘male’ job) because they are responsible for processing food grains from the slash-and-burn fields. The workload on women becomes altogether too great because they have to combine these ‘main’ and ‘extension’ tasks with their traditional ones in childrearing. It was noticed in Gumma that in some households where female labour was in short supply, the health of the child has been affected since survival activities, rather than health care, is the priority.

    Role redundancy and the alternatives for men

    56The discussion on change in the work sphere has so far revolved around food production and gathering. Childbearing/rearing has been indirectly affected, in terms of changes in time-management due to over-emphasis on the economic sphere of activities. Another of the most significant changes is that which pertains to the traditional male tasks of hunting, protection and warfare. With deforestation, the supply of wild animals has dwindled and where this has not completely stopped the activity of hunting, government bans have. Today, there are only symbolic expeditions in areas where the culture is still maintained. Similarly, warfare and territorial protection are now the prerogatives of the State administrative and policing machineries, much beyond the control of the communities. With the disappearence of predatory wild animals from the vicinity of most tribal habitations, the protection of human lives and cattle from these is not a requirement any longer.

    57The ‘extension’ activities associated with these tasks are similarly affected. Meat of bigger animals like goats, cows and buffaloes can only be purchased. These are still cooked by men on festive occasions, while chickens, which were traditionally used more for sacrificial purposes are now individually consumed on rare occasions, requiring primarily women’s labour. Fencing, an ‘extension’ activity connected with protection, has no relevance except on the rare occurrence of large cattle-holdings. The tasks of house construction and repairs is still mainly in keeping with the traditional division of labour, though repairs are done less frequently due to the shortage of thatch and other materials. Where new building materials and technology are accessible, the structures have obtained a semi-permanence, requiring little labour input. The protective value of a house has also been partially reduced since protection has now to be sought only from the natural elements like wind, rain and sun.

    58This, in essence, means that the tribal men have been rendered economically redundant when viewed within the context of their traditional tasks. This has affected their earlier standing in the community, especially so because it is the more aggressive tasks which are proofs of male virility that are non longer necessary. There is a special significance attached to this loss of status today because emerging values project men as (or expect them to be) the providers-protectors-decision makers. Due to reasons mentioned earlier, settled agriculture cannot mitigate this problem to any great extent though, if large areas were available, it could bring men to the forefront of economic productivity and thus confer some power on them.

    59A major alternative for the men under these circumstances, as Nurse (1980) has observed in the case of tribes in Africa and Melanesia among whom a similar process of role redundancy is in operation, is migration and the bringing back of ‘high status’ modern goods. The process has achieved such significance among these tribes that migration itself has become a status ascribing factor, i.e. the very act of moving away confers a certain status on the actor and if he can come back successful, he has access to both social and political powers. My own investigation in the Gumma valley of Orissa revealed a similar set of circumstances. Beside the fact that economic degeneration has set in, the commercialisation process has stripped the Saora men of their traditional status of warriors-protectors. When the valley was opened up for recruitment for the Assam tea gardens, few men migrated. These were mainly ‘forced labourers’. But with increasing pressure on the forest and the role redundancy thus caused, more and more men began to resort to migration to the tea gardens. Job availability in Assam has since then reduced, and the focus has shifted to the more difficult terrains of Arunachal Pradesh, where casual labour is available. The very act of migration is today a proof of masculinity, knowledge, power, etc. and young men who have ‘seen the world’ are much sought after by marriageable girls. The flooding of the local Block market with modern goods and clothes, which are visible but not accessible, has added to the attractions towards migration. Goods like radio, wrist watch, bicycle, etc. brought back from the areas of destination or bought with the cash brought back are important indicators of high status. However, the status factor seems to have become almost an obsession, so much so that in many cases, the more urgent requirements, of food and clothing, which are often cited as the main reasons for migration, become secondary. Many of the emigrants bring back cash and invest them on building brick houses which are symbols of power and affluence.

    60In contrast to the Nallo slum women who had no specific ties with their native land or forests, the Saora women of Gumma are unretrenchably tied to the forests by virtue of their economic tasks, and hence migration from Gumma is almost entirely of males. Data collected from 34 villages showed that the average males who were absent during investigation numbered 20.09, while females numbered only 4.74; in the total 161 females who had migrated from these villages, only 8 had gone alone in search of work, or to join their husbands. Closer investigation in one village showed that this generally happens only when there are other females present in the household to undertake the economic and household tasks. On the other hand, the consideration of work did not affect the male propensity to migrate, and it was common to find male emigrants from nuclear families that had only one working male.

    61For the women left behind, migration presents a major contradiction. On the one hand, they have internalised the status achievement value of the process and a wife is normally proud of her ‘experienced’ and ‘knowledgeable’ husband. On the other hand, migration causes undue strains on her – both physical and psychological. My investigations showed that women generally take over the economic roles of the husband in his absence, especially since food is already a scarce item. If the husband is away for a long time, the wife does not attempt the cultivation of the settled agricultural land both because of her incapacity in physical terms and because she believes that she ‘does not know how to cultivate’. In such cases she may rely on wage labour in addition to food gathering and slash-and-burn. Short-term migration presents a greater difficulty for the women. The men would have already started the cultivation process and in their absence, the remaining tasks fall on women, who have to combine these with those in slash-and-burn, food collection, housework, etc. Some of the case studies made portrayed the tremendous pressure on women under these circumstances, with the result that they would rather prefer to go in for agricultural wage labour instead, where the responsibility of land management is in the hands of someone else.

    62The psychological pressure is equally intimidating for the women. Changes in the material sphere have taken place at a very fast pace, and as mentioned earlier, social values and practices have remained far behind in this race. Polygamy is one such system which has not been affected by modernisation, probably because it has no economic value that could affect the commercial world. The polygamous tendencies and instincts of men (and the traditions attached with them) have a greater potential for being operationalised outside the limiting circle of the village and community, i.e. at the area of destination, and as a result many men return with a second wife or settle down in Arunachal Pradesh with other women. This possibility itself is a major source of fear for women whose husbands show interest in migration. The crux of this emotion lies more in the material sphere and is related to the fact that with the gradual transition from communal to private property ownership pattern, the access to even slash-and-burn cultivation in terms of ownership, has slipped from the hands of women and such lands are now passed on in the male line. Hence women have become completely dependent on men, resulting in their lack of bargaining power in the field of divorce, separation and remarriage. The women, therefore, have to bear impositions such as a co-wife or desertion. Whereas in the past there were greater occurrences of women divorcing men, today the opposite is the case. Deserted women, if they have been thrown out of home and earth, are economic destitutes since they can claim rights to neither natal or conjugal property. Community norms that protected them in the past having been eroded, they cannot find justice under such circumstances. In Gumma, the main controlling agencies are the religious ones of the Baptists, which are able to mitigate the troubles of women to some extent by declaring desertion to be a sin. However, they have not been able to control the process entirely and deserted women surviving on food gathering and wage labour are not uncommon to come by.

    63This feature of migration has made it a source of apprehension and fear for the women who would prefer, in view of this factor, that their husbands do not go away. This is especially so, because economic upliftment through migration is not particularly visible, unless seen in terms of the more visible aspects like brick houses, radios, watches, bicycles, etc. Little contribution has been made by migration to improve the availability of food and clothing for the majority of the tribal households in Gumma. The normative value of migration has superseded its economic value.

    Conclusion

    64Work among the tribals primarily of Eastern India is expressed in the present paper, as revolving around the survival and destruction of the forests on which they have depended for centuries. The forests had traditionally played a major and direct role in two of the main survival activities: food procurement and the protection of life, while their role in the third most important work component, i.e. childbearing/rearing, was more indirect.

    65Tribal struggle with material world was manifested in various rules pertaining to their activities in the economic sphere – rules that ensured that nature was preserved for the future survival of the human population which depended entirely on it. However, since restrictions regarding the mode and amount of forest produce consumed could not by themselves entirely ensure the protection of the source of survival, these were re-inforced by cultural beliefs, values, myths, songs, customs and traditions, etc. The conservation ethic was thus deeply entrenched in the entire socio-cultural identity of the tribal communities.

    66Within this background, the present article has traced transitions in the work sphere brought about by the imposition of new agrarian and industrial systems, which differ greatly from earlier changes which were self-imposed and more evolutionary in character. While both have caused changes within the economic and social systems of the tribal communities, imposition of economic components of the agrarian system in the 19th century and the values that go with it have had very different impact compared to those brought about by the industrial norms introduced more recently. While the former had components of the traditional conservation culture, the latter contradicted this culture entirely, throwing the tribals into a whirlpool of simultaneous changes in culture and ecology. This has led to a prolonged state of cultural-ecological imbalance, in which the tribals themselves contribute towards over-exploitation of their main source of survival. This state of disequilibrium is likely to continue till viable economic alternatives are available, and the socio-cultural systems are able to adjust to the new situation.

    67Since tribal women were traditionally in the forefront of economic activities, the above developments have affected their roles more than those of men, since they are forced to continue their struggles despite the adversity of the external circumstances. The workload on women is consequently very great and the erosion of cultural norms manifests itself more in their activities. The male roles, on the other hand, have been rendered completely redundant by the new developments. Since the alternatives available are few and not yet culturally accepted, their social status has received a setback, forcing them to search for alternative sources of prestige and power. One such alternative made available for some tribes is migration, however, migration further adds to the workload and anxieties of women, though at the same time, it also has normative factors attached to it which make the move and the movers attractive to the women.

    68Tribal women in areas like Gumma survive today amidst these contradictory systems. The pull of modernization is too great for them to resist, but each step towards it seems to place greater burdens on them. Tribal and rural development projects devised by the concerned Government departments, while laudable in intentions, have not been able to understand this process, nor even reach the women in their original forms.

    69One of the major steps forward in the right direction would be for the tribal women to be themselves aware of this situation and work towards mitigating the negative impacts. This ‘awareness generation’ has been successfully or unsuccessfully implemented by several voluntary organisations working among tribals, some in collaboration with concerned Government departments. In the present circumstances, such attempts seem to be the only hope for the tribal populations in the ‘backward’ regions of the country.

    Bibliographie

    Des DOI sont automatiquement ajoutés aux références bibliographiques par Bilbo, l’outil d’annotation bibliographique d’OpenEdition. Ces références bibliographiques peuvent être téléchargées dans les formats APA, Chicago et MLA.

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    Samanta, R. K. (1980). The Reangs of Tripura: Socio-Cultural and Agro-Economic Changes. In Social Scientist (Vols. 9, Issue 5/6, p. 44). JSTOR. https://doi.org/10.2307/3520402
    Samanta, R. K. “The Reangs of Tripura: Socio-Cultural and Agro-Economic Changes”. Social Scientist. JSTOR, December 1980. https://doi.org/10.2307/3520402.
    Samanta, R. K. “The Reangs of Tripura: Socio-Cultural and Agro-Economic Changes”. Social Scientist, vol. 9, no. 5/6, JSTOR, Dec. 1980, p. 44. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.2307/3520402.

    Cette bibliographie a été enrichie de toutes les références bibliographiques automatiquement générées par Bilbo en utilisant Crossref.

    References

    Bandhyopadhyaya, J. & Shiva, V. (1987), “Chipko”, Seminar, 330, feb.. pp. 33-39.

    Bose, N. K. (1941), “The Hindu Method of Tribal Absorption”, Science and Culture, 7, pp. 188-194.

    Boserup, E. (1970), Women’s Role in Economic Development. London, George Allen & Unwin.

    Boserup, E. (1981), Population and Technological Change: A Study of Long-Term Trends. Chicago, Il., University of Chicago Press.

    Elwin, V. (1955), The Religion of an Indian Tribe. Bombay, Oxford University Press.

    Elwin, V. (1956), The Baiga. Delhi, Gian Publishing House (Reprint).

    Elwin, V. (1975), “Tribal Women”, in Devaki Jain, ed., Indian Women. Government of India, Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, pp. 203-213.

    Fernandes, W. & Menon, G. (1987), Tribal Women and Forest Economy. New Delhi, Indian Social Institute.

    Fernandes, W., Menon, G. & Viegas, P. (1988), Forests, Environment and Tribal Economy. New Delhi, Indian Social Institute.

    Gadgil, M. (1983), “Forestry with a Social Purpose”, in W. Fernandes & S. Kulkami, eds., Towards a New Forest Policy: Peoples’ Rights and Environmental Needs. New Delhi, Indian Social Institute, pp. 111-133.

    Gadgil, M. & Malhotra K. C. (1980), Report of the Field Study Conducted on Behalf of the Committee on Legislative Measures and Administrative Machinery for Environmental Protection. Bangalore, Indian Institute of Science and Calcutta, Indian Statistical Institute (Mimeo).

    Gangwar, A. K. & rama Chandran, P. S. (1987), “Agriculture and Animal Husbandry among the Sulungs and Nishis of Arunachal Pradesh”, Social Action, 37 (4), pp. 345-372.

    Gisbert, P. (1978), Tribal India: A Synthetic View of Primitive Man. Jaipur, Rawat Publications.

    Gulati, L. (1984), “Agricultural Labourers”, in J. Lebra, J. Paulson & J. Everett, eds., Women and Work in India: Continuity and Change. New Delhi, Promilla and Co.

    Gupta, R., Banerjee, P. & Guleria, A. (1981), Tribal Unrest and Foresty Management in Bihar. Ahmedabad, Indian Institute of Management.

    Kar, PC. (1982), The Garos in Transition. New Delhi, Osmo Publications.

    Lee, R. B. (1972), “Population Growth and the Beginnings of Sedentary Life among the King Bushmen”, in B. Spooner, ed., Population Growth: Anthropological Implications. Cambridge, Ma., MIT.

    Lee, R. B. & De Vore, I., eds. (1968), Man the Hunter. Chicago, Aldine.

    Menon, G. (1989), Impact of Migration on Tribal Women’s Work and Status in Orissa (Report of Study for the ‘Indo-Dutch Programme for Alternatives in Development’). Amsterdam, University of Amsterdam (Mimeo).

    Mullings, L. (1976), “Women and Economic Change in Africa”, in N. Hafkin & E. G. Bay, eds., Women in Africa: Studies in Social and Economic Change. Stanford, Ca., Stanford University Press.

    NCA (1976) Report of the National Commission on Agriculture, Part IX: Forestry. New Delhi, Government of India, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation.

    Nurse, G. T. (1980), “Labour Migration as Agent of Change: African and Melanesian Societies”, in B. Singh & J. S. Bhandari, eds., The Tribal World and its Transformation. New Delhi, Concept Publ. Cy., pp. 99-109.

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    Notes de bas de page

    1 Among tribal communities of Orissa, it is common to find villages which retain the name of the village of origin of their founders. Thus ‘middle’ Minjiri in the Gumma valley of Ganjam district was founded by inhabitants of the original Minjiri (now known as ‘Upper’ Minjiri) and similarly ‘lower’ Minjiri was founded by inhabitants of ‘middle’ Minjiri. The reason for the foundation of both these Saora tribal villages was population pressure which compelled a section to branch off and wander in search of suitable locations, preferably near rivers or ponds. In this context, a song is sung among the villagers of ’Manemgolo’ village bordering on the Koraput district which tells the tale of ancestors who wandered in search of the ideal location for settlement. The song recites how they saw their dog return to them with wet and muddy paws and mouth, indicating the existence of a water source nearby. The song describes the location they found by following the dog as a paradise, where they ultimately settled.

    2 For instance, Elwin (1955: 56) noted that among the Saoras it was more common to find women deserting their husbands than vice versa, and the most common reason was the laziness of the husband.

    3 It may be mentioned here that gender specificity and status ascription in tasks may not have been essential features of the system when it was ‘discovered’ but rather features that have come to be associated with it over the years.

    4 This valuation is reflected in the description of Indian culture as aranya samskriti or ‘forest culture’ (Bandhyopadhyaya & Shiva 1987) because of the close socio-economic relationship between forests and the Indian people. In view of their complete dependence of the forest, it follows that this relationship goes deeper in the case of the tribals.

    5 Such a changeover is not limited to the relationship between the forests and the tribals, but has been observed among populations that have had a close relationship of dependence with other natural resources. GADGIL and Malhotra (1980) for instance, have noted that the traditional bird and snake catchers of Rajasthan, who utilised these sources of survival according to strict norms are today indiscriminately killing them because of commercial exploitation by outsiders. Similarly, river fishermen of Uttarkhand, who followed the strict rules of poisoning of fish only once a year are today doing so regularly because they now have to compete for their livelihood with outside businessmen dealing with fish.

    6 An important part of the slash-and-burn system is hoeing (or digging) to plant the seeds. With soil erosion, the land becomes hard and the task of hoeing more difficult and prolonged.

    Auteur

    • Geeta Menon

      Indian Social Institute (New Delhi)

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    1 Among tribal communities of Orissa, it is common to find villages which retain the name of the village of origin of their founders. Thus ‘middle’ Minjiri in the Gumma valley of Ganjam district was founded by inhabitants of the original Minjiri (now known as ‘Upper’ Minjiri) and similarly ‘lower’ Minjiri was founded by inhabitants of ‘middle’ Minjiri. The reason for the foundation of both these Saora tribal villages was population pressure which compelled a section to branch off and wander in search of suitable locations, preferably near rivers or ponds. In this context, a song is sung among the villagers of ’Manemgolo’ village bordering on the Koraput district which tells the tale of ancestors who wandered in search of the ideal location for settlement. The song recites how they saw their dog return to them with wet and muddy paws and mouth, indicating the existence of a water source nearby. The song describes the location they found by following the dog as a paradise, where they ultimately settled.

    2 For instance, Elwin (1955: 56) noted that among the Saoras it was more common to find women deserting their husbands than vice versa, and the most common reason was the laziness of the husband.

    3 It may be mentioned here that gender specificity and status ascription in tasks may not have been essential features of the system when it was ‘discovered’ but rather features that have come to be associated with it over the years.

    4 This valuation is reflected in the description of Indian culture as aranya samskriti or ‘forest culture’ (Bandhyopadhyaya & Shiva 1987) because of the close socio-economic relationship between forests and the Indian people. In view of their complete dependence of the forest, it follows that this relationship goes deeper in the case of the tribals.

    5 Such a changeover is not limited to the relationship between the forests and the tribals, but has been observed among populations that have had a close relationship of dependence with other natural resources. GADGIL and Malhotra (1980) for instance, have noted that the traditional bird and snake catchers of Rajasthan, who utilised these sources of survival according to strict norms are today indiscriminately killing them because of commercial exploitation by outsiders. Similarly, river fishermen of Uttarkhand, who followed the strict rules of poisoning of fish only once a year are today doing so regularly because they now have to compete for their livelihood with outside businessmen dealing with fish.

    6 An important part of the slash-and-burn system is hoeing (or digging) to plant the seeds. With soil erosion, the land becomes hard and the task of hoeing more difficult and prolonged.

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    • Venou, Fabienne. (2001) Genre et économie : un premier éclairage. DOI: 10.4000/books.iheid.5447
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    • Venou, Fabienne. (1999) Le mariage à l’épreuve du travail en usine : ouvrières de l’industrie de la chaussure en Inde du sud1. Journal des anthropologues. DOI: 10.4000/jda.3070

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    Menon, G. (1992). Ecological transitions and the changing context of women’s Work in tribal India. In G. Heuzé (éd.), Travailler en Inde (1‑). Éditions de l’École des hautes études en sciences sociales. https://doi.org/10.4000/books.editionsehess.25528
    Menon, Geeta. « Ecological Transitions and the Changing Context of women’s Work in Tribal India ». In Travailler En Inde, édité par Gérard Heuzé. Paris: Éditions de l’École des hautes études en sciences sociales, 1992. https://doi.org/10.4000/books.editionsehess.25528.
    Menon, Geeta. « Ecological Transitions and the Changing Context of women’s Work in Tribal India ». Travailler En Inde, édité par Gérard Heuzé, Éditions de l’École des hautes études en sciences sociales, 1992, https://doi.org/10.4000/books.editionsehess.25528.

    Référence numérique du livre

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    Heuzé, G. (éd.). (1992). Travailler en Inde (1‑). Éditions de l’École des hautes études en sciences sociales. https://doi.org/10.4000/books.editionsehess.25458
    Heuzé, Gérard, éd. Travailler en Inde. Paris: Éditions de l’École des hautes études en sciences sociales, 1992. https://doi.org/10.4000/books.editionsehess.25458.
    Heuzé, Gérard, éditeur. Travailler en Inde. Éditions de l’École des hautes études en sciences sociales, 1992, https://doi.org/10.4000/books.editionsehess.25458.
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