Gangadhar Daivadnya, Professor, Department of Tribal Studies, Kannada University, Hampi, said on Monday that it was necessary to respect the immense value of the traditional knowledge possessed by tribal communities.
He was delivering the keynote address at the inaugural function of ‘Unveiling Tribal and Folk Culture’ programme organised by the Department of Humanities, Bhandarkar’s College, here.
Dr. Daivadnya said that tribal communities had a lot of valuable knowledge of medicinal forest herbs. Studying tribal communities was like studying all about humankind, he said.
There was a lot that the modern civilisation could learn from the tribal communities and their traditional knowledge, Dr. Daivadnya said. Tribal communities were leading a peaceful life in the forests. It was the British who wanted to establish tea and coffee plantations in the forests, who first tried to push them out from there, he said.
It was to this end that the British passed the Forest Acts and the tribal communities were forced to come in contact with the outer world, Dr. Daivadnya said.
Tribal communities had their own literature and poetry, laying bare before the world their superiority. The tribal people knew epic poems by rote. This showed how powerful their memory was. “Why is their memory so strong, and why is the memory of modern people so short?” he asked.
The Fifth Tribal Conference would be held in Kundapur, Dr. Daivadnya said.
Narayan Shetty, Principal of Bhandarkars Degree College, welcomed the gathering. Charulatha Somal, Assistant Commissioner, inaugurated the programme.
H. Shantharam, Administrative Officer of the Academy of General Education, presided over the inaugural function.
Modern civilisation could learn a lot from tribal communities, says professor
