The Paradox Of Indigeneity And Question Of Identity Of The Adivasi Community Of Assam

The Adivasi in India and Assam are traditionally known as the first people or indigenous people since pre-historic (stone) age migrating in different periods of time from different regions. However, Adivasi were among the first group of people to arrive in India before any other communities such as the Aryans, Dravidians, and Mongolians etc. The schedule tribe’s status for the Adivasi in Assam which has been a longstanding struggle in India offers certain rights –based legal benefits in the form of political representation, reservation and socio-economic subsidies. The most common perception against granting Schedule Tribes status to the Adivasi in Assam is their migratory history, however, in the tea gardens the fact that they came into the state as indentured labourers to work and their contribution to the economy of the state of Assam has been substantial. The Adivasi of Assam, branded as the Tea Garden Tribes, generally prefer to be called as Tea Tribes. Embracing Adivasi nomenclature is a deliberate move on the part of the tea tribes to assert their tribal identity as also to represent their collective demand for indigenous rights, including the recognition for achieving the status of ‘Schedule Tribe’. The paper is a modest attempt to address this debate.