tribal orissa

laureninTN

This is an appeal for help, at the moment i'm researching an article about the tribal people and areas of orissa, for a magazine in India. I spent a couple of weeks there on my last trip to india, and i fell in love with the place, but i found the exploitation of the people and natural resources pretty hard to stomach. People are being exploited by companies running 'tribal tours', many of the villages i visited felt like human zoos. Also the Indian government are abusing and ignoring the laws designed to protect the tribal way of life. Recently, the decision has been made to relocate about 3 villages to make way for aluminium mining by a british company called starlight, on land that is supposed to be protected.
I'm finding it difficult to dig up reliable info, and much of what i do find is outdated, it's even harder now that i'm back in the UK. I did mange to talk to an anthropologist who has been living with one of the tribes for 3 years now, but as he only comes down from the hills every 6months or so, he's pretty hard to contact!
Basically, I'd be really interested to hear about peoples' experiences in and opinions of orissa, good or bad, and if anyone has any information about the exploitation of the people and land I would really welcome it.

yamla

I went to Damanjodi (district Koraput) in Orissa some 10 years ago when I was in school. I simply loved the place at first sight. It was so lush and green. Later I found out that the National Aluminium Corporation had set up an alumina refinery there in 1986, and was mining a significant area for bauxite. I didn't know what to make of it at that time. I was totally awe-inspired by the huge plant. But when I think about it now, I feel that though the building of the refinery would have provided temporary employment to the local tribals, but it would have taken away their land, way of life and culture forever.

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