A PREFATORY NOTE ON THE CULTURAL ECOLOGY OF THE MAL PAHARIYAS OF JHARKHAND

Sucheta Sen Chaudhuri; Muthiah Ramakrishnan.

doi:10.29121/granthaalayah.v13.i2.2025.5997

Authors

Dr. Sucheta Sen Chaudhuri Professor, Dept. of Anthropology & Tribal Studies, Central University of Jharkhand, Ranchi - 835 222 (Jharkhand, India). (Project Director, ICSSR'S Major Project on Cultural Ecological Knowledge of the Mal Pahariyas of Jharkhand.)
Muthiah Ramakrishnan Assistant Professor, Dept. of Anthropology & Tribal Studies, Central University of Jharkhand, Ranchi - 835 222 (Jharkhand, India). (Project Co-Director) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5075-421X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29121/granthaalayah.v13.i2.2025.5997

Keywords:

Adaptations, Culture, Ecology, Social-Physical Settings, Sustainability, Environment

Abstract [English]

Cultural ecology, which appears to be a new phrase, has been used to refer to the nature of human adaptations that people have developed with their ‘social and physical environments’ (Charles O. Frake 1962). The adaptations that have been conceptualized as being associated with biological and cultural processes are considered inevitable as they enable the population enough to live successfully in their given and changing environmental settings (David Joralemon, 2010). As cultural ecology provides opportunities for understanding the adaptation processes of communities both diachronically as well as synchronically, in this study, it has been used as a methodological framework/perspective for exploring the socio-cultural life of the Mal Pahariyas of Jharkhand concerning their social and physical adaptations. In other words, this study looks at the role of (their) natural environment in the construction and contemplation of their social organizations and overall collective behaviours. However, this study also pays attention to the limitation in the relationship between the Mal Pahariyas and their natural environment because the relationship that seems to be eternal depends entirely on the nature and level of the livelihood dependency of the people on their environment. Therefore, it can be understood that, for many of the indigenous and tribal communities, their association with the environment enables their survivability through its vital role that resulted in the establishment of a strong reciprocal relationship between the people and their natural environment and beyond. as studies on the reciprocal relationships between the indigenous and tribal communities and their environment are scarce, particularly in the context of Jharkhand, and the Mal Pahariyas, to be specific, a research proposal entitled “A Study on the Cultural Ecological Knowledge of the Mal Pahariyas of Jharkhand" had been submitted to the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) for consideration for financial support and subsequently, the project proposal had received funding for its implementation with effect from February 15, 2024. Therefore, the aim of this note on the cultural ecology of the Mal Pahariyas of Jharkhand is to give an outline of the ongoing project and also to do an indicative role of the whole research programme, which promises many academic things as outcomes at its successful completion of the first year.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Baitha, B., & Hassan, M. P. (2024). A Psychological Study on Resilience Among Mal Paharia Adolescents of Dumka District. International Journal of Indian Psychology, 12(1), 2703–2707.

Bates, D. G. (2005). Human Adaptive Strategies: Ecology, Culture, and Politics (2nd ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Bateson, G. (1973). Steps to an Ecology of Mind. London: Paladin.

Berkes, F. (1999). Sacred Ecology: Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Resource Management. Taylor & Francis.

Berry, J. W. (1979). A Cultural Ecology of Social Behavior. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 12, 177–206. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60262-2

Binford, L. R. (1968). Post-Pleistocene Adaptations. In L. R. Binford & S. R. Binford (Eds.), New Perspectives in Archaeology (pp. 33–42). Chicago: Aldine.

Blute, M. (2008). Cultural Ecology. In Encyclopedia of Archaeology (pp. 1059–1067). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-012373962-9.00098-4

Bremermann, H. J. (1970). Principles of Natural and Artificial Intelligence. In H. E. Von Gierke, W. D. Keidel, & H. L. Oestreicher (Eds.), Principles and Practice of Bionics (pp. 425–446). Slough, England: Technivision.

Chomsky, N. (1959). Review of Verbal Behavior by B. F. Skinner. Language, 35, 26–59. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/411334

Craik, K. J. W. (1943). The Nature of Explanation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Dove, M., & Carpenter, C. (Eds.). (2008). Environmental Anthropology: A Historical Reader. Oxford: Blackwell.

Finke, P. (2005). Die Ökologie Des Wissens: Exkursionen in Eine Gefährdete Landschaft. Freiburg and Munich: Alber.

Frake, C. O. (1962). Cultural Ecology and Ethnography. American Anthropologist, 64(1), 53–59. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.1962.64.1.02a00060

Geertz, C. (1957). Ritual and Social Change: A Javanese example. American Anthropologist, 59, 991–1012. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.1957.59.1.02a00040

Geertz, C. (1965). The Impact of the Concept of Culture on the Concept of Man. In J. R. Platt (Ed.), New Views on the Nature of Man (pp. 93–118). University of Chicago Press.

Goodenough, W. H. (1957). Cultural Anthropology and Linguistics. In P. Garvin (Ed.), Report of the Seventh Annual Round Table Meeting on Linguistics and Language Study. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Monograph Series on Language and Linguistics (Vol. 9).

Goodenough, W. H. (1961). Comment on Cultural Evolution. Daedalus, 90, 521–528.

Goodenough, W. H. (1970). Description and Comparison in Cultural Anthropology. Chicago: Aldine.

Goodenough, W. H. (1971). Culture, Language, and Society. McCaleb Module in Anthropology. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Gregory, R. L. (1969). On How Little Information Controls so much behavior. In C. H. Waddington (Ed.), Towards a theoretical biology, Vol. I. Chicago: Aldine.

Gregory, R. L. (1970). Information Processing in Biological and Artificial Brains. In H. E. Von Gierke, W. D. Keidel, & H. L. Oestreicher (Eds.), Principles and practice of bionics (pp. 73–80). Slough, England: Technivision.

Haenn, N., & Wilk, R. (Eds.). (2006). The Environment in Anthropology: A Reader in Ecology, Culture, and Sustainable Living. New York: New York University Press.

Hames, R. (2007). The Ecologically Noble Savage Debate. Annual Review of Anthropology, 36, 177–190. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.anthro.35.081705.123321

Head, L. (2007). Cultural Ecology: The Problematic Human and the Terms of Engagement. Progress in Human Geography, 31 (6), 837–846. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132507080625

Head, L. (2009). Cultural Ecology: Adaptation—Retrofitting a Concept? Progress in Human Geography, 34 (2), 234–242. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132509338978

Head, L., & Atchison, J. (2008). Cultural Ecology: Emerging Human-Plant Geographies. Progress in Human Geography, 33 (2), 236–245. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132508094075

Joralemon, D. (2010). Exploring Medical Anthropology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Keesing, R. M. (1974). Theories of Culture. Annual Review of Anthropology, 3, 73–97. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.an.03.100174.000445

Krech, S., III. (1999). The Ecological Indian: Myth and history. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

Lapka, M., Vávra, J., & Sokolíčková, Z. (2012). Cultural Ecology: Contemporary Understanding of the Relationship Between Humans and the Environment. Journal of Landscape Ecology, 5 (2), 12–24.

Lapka, M., et al. (2012). Cultural Ecology: Contemporary Understanding of the Relationship Between Humans and the Environment. Tájökológiai Lapok, 5 (2), 12–24.

Mairh, A. K., et al. (2010). Traditional botanical Wisdom of Birhore Tribes of Jharkhand. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge, 9 (3), 467–470.

Manna, S., & Ghosh, A. (2015). Endangered Culture and Dialects with Special Reference to Mal Paharia: A Primitive Tribal Group of Jharkhand. In G. K. Bera & K. Jose (Eds.), Endangered Cultures and Languages in India (pp. XX–XX). Spectrum Publications.

Mathur, P. R. G. (2008). Ecology, Technology and Economy. New Delhi: IGRMS & Rawat.

Meggers, B. J. (1971). Amazonia: Man and Nature in a Counterfeit Paradise. Chicago: Aldine.

Merry, S. (2003). Human Rights Law and the Demonization of Culture. Anthropology News, 44 (3), 4–5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/an.2003.44.2.4

Mora, S. (2014). Cultural Ecology in Archaeology. In C. Smith (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology (pp. 1848–1855). Springer Science+Business Media. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_1280

Nagengast, C., & Turner, T. (1997). Introduction: Universal Human Rights Versus Cultural Relativity. Journal of Anthropological Research, 53 (3), 269–272. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/jar.53.3.3630954

Panda, N. B. (2021). ‘Sovereign and ‘Tribesmen’ in Jungleterry: Augustus Cleveland and the Birth of Tribal Policy in Early Colonial Bengal. Asian Confluence. Shillong.

Piccardo, C., & Canepa, M. (2021). Cultural Ecology: Paradigm for a sustainable Man-Nature Relationship. In W. Leal Filho et al. (Eds.), Partnerships for the Goals. Encyclopedia of the UNSDG. Springer, Cham. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95963-4_26

Reichel-Dolmatoff, G. (1976). Cosmology as Ecological Analysis: A View from the Rain Forest. Man, 11 (3), 307–318. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2800273

Risley, H. H. (1891). The Tribes and Castes of Bengal (Vol. II). Calcutta: Bengal Secretariat Press. (Reprinted in 1981 by Firma Mukhopadhyay, Calcutta).

Roy, S. C. (1925). The Birhors: A little-known jungle Tribe of Chota Nagpur. Ranchi: GEL Mission Press.

Sahu, C. (2004). Birhor Tribe-Dimension and Development. New Delhi: Sree Publications.

Sears, P. (1957). The Ecology of man. Oregon State System of Higher Education.

Steward, J. (2016). The Concept and Method of Cultural Ecology. In N. Haenn et al. (Eds.), The Environment in Anthropology (Second Edition): A Reader in Ecology, Culture, and Sustainable Living (pp. 12–17). New York: NY University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9781479862689.003.0005

Steward, J. H. (1955). The Concept and Method of Cultural Ecology. In Theory of Culture Change: The Methodology of Multilinear Evolution. Aldine.

Sutton, M. Q., & Anderson, E. N. (2010). Introduction to Cultural Ecology (2nd ed.). Lanham, NY: Altamira Press.

Townsend, P. K. (2000). Environmental Anthropology: From Pigs to Policies. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.

Tripathi, S. (2017). Birhor and Their Culture: An Ethnographic Account of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups of Chhattisgarh. XXX, 127–150.

Tuttle, E. H. (1923). Dravidian Z. The American Journal of Philology, 44 (1), 71–72. Johns Hopkins University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/289648

White, R. (1997). Indian People and the Natural World: Asking the Right Questions. In D. L. Fixico (Ed.), Rethinking American Indian History (pp. 87–100). Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

Zapf, H. (2012). Ecocriticism and Cultural Ecology. In M. Middeke et al. (Eds.), English and American studies (pp. 253–258). Stuttgart: J.B. Metzler. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-476-00406-2_18