A student embarks on a quest to learn about and reconnect with her Khasi heritage. Cana Badahunshisha Nongkhlaw . The shadows of colonialism still loom, casting a grimy veil upon those who suffered at its vile hands. People may question how a past era should have any significance, arguing that dwelling on history is irrelevant

Tea and coffee plantations in southern India encroach on Indigenous Peoples’ ways of life and territories, threatening the protection of their sacred groves. WORDS AND IMAGES Lakshmi Unnithan   . Are our modern temples different from sacred groves? Sacred groves are patches of trees on forestland, representations and remains of what forests used to be

A Phool Mali youth connects with the gardening and agricultural traditions of her ancestors. Geeta Vishnu Ingle . What is common to honeybees and Phool Mali people? Flower gardens and collective knowledge! I am Geeta Vishnu Ingle, a twenty-six-year-old native of Pimpri Mali village, Mehkar Taluka, Buldhana district of the Indian state of Maharashtra. I

A quest to uncover the Feast of Merit leads a young Naga woman to rediscover her culture and homeland. WORDS Küvethilü Thülüo | IMAGES Küthonüyi Chotso . My earliest memory of visiting my paternal grandparents was when my grandmother Azutsa told me to avoid sitting in certain spots in her kitchen because a bird was

An ancient healing practice persists and thrives in the forests of a territory of life in central India. Shubham A. Agrawal . Whispers of a hidden community, nestled within the heart of Chhattisgarh’s ancient forests, have captivated explorers for a long time. Tales of Dewari healers wielding nature’s secrets, their remedies carried on the wind,

In a fictional account set in the near future, a Badaga woman finds her way back home to the forest of her dreams in the Nilgiri Mountains of South India. WORDS Monisha Raman | IMAGES Sindha Joghee “We have honored the past and we have not blindly adopted the new.” — Badaga proverb . As

Loktak Lake fishers in Northeast India assert their inherent right to their territory of life. WORDS AND IMAGES Salam Rajesh . In the cold, misty winter morning before daybreak, Koi Tomba huddled in his dugout canoe stretching out the length of his gillnet that must be laid on the water, the upper line just below

Removed from their lands by a tiger conservation project, Indigenous villagers in Northeast India reconnect with their forest home through hornbill conservation. WORDS AND IMAGES Upayan Chatterjee  . “If we choose to walk into a forest where a tiger lives, we are taking a chance.” Searching online for images captioned with this famous Peter Benchley

Gaoli pastoralists in central India assert their traditional natural resource governance against fortress conservation. Ajinkya Shahane, Pandhari Hekade, Kanna K. Siripurapu, and Prafulla Kalokar   The Melghat region of the Satpura Range in central India is renowned for its lush green forests, its tigers, and the Korku Indigenous tribe, who once lived in the forest

Despite the challenges of changing times, the Bhils of Maharashtra stay connected to the forest, their homeland, and their cultural traditions. Shankar Bhil   This story is about my people, the Bhils of Nandurbar district of Maharashtra, India. It shows how connected we are to our land. The Bhils are one of the largest Indigenous