Alterations and Adaptations An Analysis of the Indigenous Spaces of Nilgiris Irulas

Abstract

This dissertation explores the impact of modernity on a Dravidian Adivasi community called the newlineIrulas residing in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu. The study emphasizes the significance of newlineunderstanding the indigenous worldview of the Irulas and underlines the necessity of newlinesafeguarding their traditional homelands or territories that have been organically functioning in newlinetune with their surrounding ecosystem. newlineIn contemporary times, various scientific and technological interventions engineered through newlineneo-capitalistic ideologies have muted the cosmological world view of the indigenous newlinecommunities worldwide. With the advent of modernity, the native sciences of these indigenous newlinecommunities have been denigrated to be primitive or savage by nature. This thesis strives to newlinedemonstrate the inherent value of such native knowledge and argues for the incorporation of newlinesuch indigenous knowledge systems towards sustainable development. newlineThis thesis seeks to explore this phenomenon primarily through the geo-political notion of space newlineproposed by the French Marxist philosopher Henri Lefebvre. Through differentiating space newlinebroadly in terms of abstract and concrete spaces, I seek to examine the various means through newlinewhich the indigenous landscapes or the territory of the Nilgiris Irulas have been altered in newlinemodern times. The Irulas consider land and nature as highly sacred. Their indigenous land and newlineterritory is perceived to be more than a mere economic resource. The symbiotic relationship of newlinethe Irulas with their environment forms the foundation of their traditional ecological knowledge newlineand the associated native science. newline