Thanks to Madhurai Deshmukh, co-leader of our trip, for sending around "Here, Literacy is Unimportant," an article about Ganesh Devy and the Tribal Academy we'll be visiting in Gujarat. The Academy is part of the Adivasi Academy and is associated with the Bhasha Research Center (see their "India Together" website for more information and news). "Tribal" populations in India are officially recognized by the constitution (as "Scheduled Tribes") and given special support to overcome the effects of past discrimination. According to the article the syllabus at the Academy is an "improbable grouping of nature studies, tribal culture, language and history, art and craft, dance and music, drama and farming. This is the empirical portion of their education that receives no attention in government schools, and one that is valiantly working to reinstate the children's fast-falling indigenous identity."You might want to take a look at Devy's 2005 article, "Nomads Together," for a discussion of his specific interest in working with nomadic communities, historically designated as "criminal communities" under colonialism. According to Devy, these are "denotified communities," and they "think of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as far more fortunate."
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