empty canvas kondhas tribes niyamgiri

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in niyamgiri with the kondhas tribes

*** published as a web exclusive for Resurgence ***

The Sanctity of Land: Money is still deemed to have more worth than natural assets.

In the southwest corner of the state of Orissa lies a cluster of hills known collectively as the Niyamgiri Mountain. Extending over an area of about 250km2, Niyamgiri is protected under Section 18 of the Indian Wildlife Act as an area of extraordinary natural beauty. Officially recognised as an elephant corridor, Niyamgiri supports a diversity of wildlife, including leopards, sambhars, bears and barking deer.

It is also home to the Kondhas, three of India’s most isolated tribes, who live in about 200 villages located across the hill range. The largest of the tribes, the 8,000-strong Dongria Kondh, has dwelt there for centuries. Along with the other two, the Kutia Kondh and Jharania Kondh, its people enjoy an intimate relationship with the Niyamgiri Mountain, worshipping it as their ‘living God’. In return, Niyamgiri sustains them with all their needs: food, water, medicine and firewood. Their tribal identity is symbiotically connected to the mountain and the two cannot be separated.

In August 2008, India’s Supreme Court gave approval to Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd, a subsidiary of the UK’s Vedanta Resources plc, to develop the Niyamgiri as an open-cast mine. For buried beneath the hills’ surface are an estimated 150 million tons of bauxite, the principle ore used in the production of aluminium.

Bauxite also plays a crucial role in enabling the earth to retain its moisture. Removing the mineral would render the land dry and infertile. Vedanta cannot go ahead, however, until it has followed the procedures to secure all the environmental mining clearances required by law.

With deep-founded fears that the proposed project will destroy the culture and identity of the indigenous people as well as devastate the environment, strength of feeling, naturally, runs high. Tribal protests have been widely reported in the press and Amnesty, Survival International and Action Aid have added a strong international voice to the campaign.

Mark was commissioned by Resurgence magazine to examine the relationship between the Kondhas tribes and Niyamgiri Mountain and to discover the impact that the mining project will have on their cultural and spiritual rights as well as their tribal identity. Through his interviews with members of the tribe, he explores the points of connection between Western culture and the Kondhas in order that we may become more aware of the issues they face.