SORROW SONGS OF THE WOODS (HB)

Sorrow Songs of Woods focuses on the fine and complex relationship between Adivasis and Nature in Manbhum. This book analyses the nature of colonial intervention in indigenous societies and the politics of identity formation of Adivasis in relation to the transformation of their community system and the state. It provides an empirically detailed and region-specific study of the ethnic version of ecological nationalism and seeks to locate the concept of indigeneity in terms of values, identities and knowledge systems-within a unified indigenous worldview. This volume also studies Adivasi survival strategies and resource utilization practices, From the late nineteenth century, the recurrent famines that plagued this area as a consequence of the changes wrought by colonial policies on centuries-old traditional modes of production and environmental resource management systems, deprived Adivasis of nutrient supplements, and their health declined. Adivasi medicine men took to exorcism, ascribing the causes of diseases to individuals, especially women. This book also traces the history of the Kurmis who were not Adivasis but wanted to become Adivasis so that they could be included amongst tribes. With an interdisciplinary perspective, this book is not only an important contribution to environmental history but to the new and emerging fields of Adivasi Studies and Environmental Humanities.