Tribal Atlas of Odisha

Abstract

The state of Odisha occupies a unique position in the Tribal map of India for having the largest variety of Scheduled Tribe Communities. This state is the homeland of 62 different tribal communities including 13 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) numbering 95,90,756 as per 2011 Census. The Scheduled Tribe population of Odisha accounts for 22.85 percent of the total population of the state and 9.17 percent of the total Scheduled Tribe population of the country. The tribes of Odisha live across the length, and breadth of the State. They are largely concentrated in the hill regions of northern and southern parts of the state which have been declared as the Scheduled Areas and Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) Area covering about 45.00 percent of the total geographical area of the State. Although they are found in all the districts of the State, more than half of their total population is found in three districts namely Koraput (undivided), Sundargarh and Mayurbhanj. The tribes of Odisha are at various stages of socio-economic development. At one extreme are the group which lead a relatively secluded and archaic mode of life keeping their core culture intact while at the other extreme there are communities which are indistinguishable from the general agricultural communities. The tribal people of Odisha express their cultural identity and distinctiveness in their social organization, language, demography, rituals and festivals and also in their dress, ornaments, art, crafts and other folk traditions. Each tribal community has distinctive characteristic features reflected in their social, economic, political and religious sub-systems. Each possesses its own unique culture which differentiates one from the other. The tribes of Odisha exhibit wide diversity among themselves in their social, cultural and economic patterns. Every tribal society representing pre-literate, encysted and simple society characterized by endogamy, patriliny, patrilocality and distinct identity in its unique social system. Almost all, except the small tribal groups have sub-divisions based as territorial distribution, occupation etc. All of them possess family, lineage and clan/sib organizations often associated with totems, except the Saora, that regulate all important activities of the community like marriage, ownership of property and inheritance, successions etc. Ever since the country got Independence, Government of Odisha, with the support of the Union Government has been trying to improve the overall quality of life of the tribal people and to bring them to the national mainstream in a footing of equality. The pace of tribal development took a leap forward with the introduction of Tribal Sub Plan approach during the fifth Five Year Plan. Although there has been considerable improvement in the quality of life of the tribal people due to the implementation of various developmental interventions over six decades, the pace of development has fallen short of expectations. Now, there emerges the need to know the present demographic status and development status of different Scheduled Tribe communities of the state for formulating effective plans and programmes for development intervention. To meet the need, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Research and Training Institute (SCSTRTI) of Bhubaneswar, Odisha - the premier tribal research institute of the state has been bringing out books, booklets and brochures on demographic and development status covering various aspects of the Scheduled Tribes of Odisha and various units and projects of their development from time to time based upon data from successive Censuses, its own socioeconomic surveys and other relevant official sources, which have been immensely helpful to the planners, administrators, academicians and researchers working in the field of tribal research, documentation, development planning and implementation. The Academy of Tribal Language and Culture (ATLC) has published several literature on the languages and cultures of different tribes of Odisha. To add to it, there has been a need to bring out a Tribal Atlas of Odisha presenting up-to-date information on demography, culture, language and other socioeconomic development indicators of 62 Scheduled Tribes of the state. During nineteen eighties, ATLC had published a Tribal Atlas of Odisha in collaboration with the Geography department of Utkal University of Odisha based upon the tribal demographic data of census, 1971 which have become outdated by now. Therefore, it has been felt necessary to bring out an Atlas of Tribal Odisha based upon the recent data. To accomplish the task, ATLC launched the project for preparation and publication of the Tribal Atlas in 2011-12. The work was prolonged for non-availability of the data of Census 2011 till 2015 though other relevant official data were in hand. The exercise has been completed passing through many hurdles. Finallyitis going to see the light of the day. The Atlas of Tribal Odisha, in its present form is the first of its kind, is a graphic presentation. It displays the salient features of the tribal population of Odisha with the help of a series of maps, charts and diagrams. The Atlas contains 60 Plates of maps along with some corresponding graphs and diagrams which portrays the distributional aspects of the Odisha's tribal population, ecological setting of the tribal habitats, their socio-cultural attributes, such as linguistic/dialectal affinity, sex composition and marital status, literacy levels, participation in economic activity and the structure of their workforce. The Atlas is organised into three major sections such as (i) Tribal Scenario of Odisha, (ii) Tribal Sub Plan Area and (iii) PVTGs. Plates of maps in each Section are preceded by an explanatory text. It is hoped that it will prove as a powerful tool of policy and social research dealing with the culture and development of tribes in Odisha.