We live for our Niyamgiri: Dongria Kondh tribe, India from Survival International on Vimeo.
Watch the video interviews “We live for our Niyamgiri: Dongria Kondh tribe, India” on vimeo (duration 2 min. >>
The Dongria Kondh have lived in Niyamgiri for thousands of years and their lifestyle and religion have helped nurture the area’s dense forests and unusually rich wildlife.
A recent study found that the Dongria gather almost 200 different foods from their forests and harvest over a hundred crops from their fields. This amazing diversity sustains them year-round, with little need for food or goods from beyond their hills. The tribe also keeps chicken, pigs, goats and buffalo. Dongria men gather juice from the forest’s giant sago palm trees, a drink that provides energy for the long hikes they make throughout the Niyamgiri Hills.
Source: “We’ll lose our soul. Niyamgiri is our soul.”
URL: https://survivalinternational.org/dongria
Date Visited: 2 September 2023
The Dongria live in villages scattered throughout the hills. They believe that their right to cultivate Niyamgiri’s slopes has been conferred on them by Niyam Raja, and that they are his royal descendants. They have expert knowledge of their forests and the plants and wildlife they hold. From the forests they gather wild foods such as wild mango, pineapple, jackfruit, and honey. Rare medicinal herbs are also found in abundance, which the Dongria use to treat a range of ailments including arthritis, dysentery, bone fractures, malaria and snake bites. […] A recent study found that the Dongria gather almost 200 different foods from their forests and harvest over a hundred crops from their fields. This amazing diversity sustains them year-round, with little need for food or goods from beyond their hills.
Source: “Royal descendants of the mountain God” – Survival International
Address : https://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/dongria
Date Visited: 9 September 2020
Like in film, mining poses extinction threat to Niyamgiri hills inhabitants
Prasanta Paul, Kolkata, March 10, DH News Service | Read more in the Deccan Herald >>
The blockbuster sci-fi film ‘Avatar’ might have missed Oscar for the best movie by a whisker, but director of this blockbuster James Cameron ought to have reasons to cheer as his record-breaking film has stirred the hearts of hundreds of tribals in Niyamgiri mountain in Orissa. […]
There might be, however, a basic difference between Cameron’s “Avatar” and the fight of the tribals in Orissa. In the reel life, the fight to save the Na’vi’s “Tree of Souls” is a battle between good and evil.In the real life, the tribals’ movement to save the Niyamgiri mountain is akin to a dilemma of industrialisation versus tribal rights and highlights a broader standoff between industry and villagers and tribesmen in India’s one of the rich mineral belts and yet one of the most underdeveloped state of Orissa.
Source: ‘Avatar’ sparks fire in Orissa’s tribal hearts
URL: https://www.deccanherald.com/content/57424/avatar-sparks-fire-orissas-tribal.html
Date Visited: 9 September 2020
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