Should tribal hunts be allowed?
Tribals in India organise ritualistic hunts despite the ban on hunting. Is it the law or culture that has to evolve?
BETWEEN JANUARY and April every year, several tribes in different parts of India prepare to observe a special tradition. It is the post-harvest season and the men in the tribes celebrate the period by going into the forests on mass ritualistic hunts.
In Koraput and Malkangiri in southern Odisha, the tribes’ chiefs, priests and shamans decide the date and time of the hunt. The hunting party comprises 50 to 500 members, all of whom are assigned a specific role. Some members chase the animals into a particular spot, while others wait to ambush the animals. After the hunt, the men march back to their villages in a victory procession. They are welcomed by women and the priests and the slaughtered animals are offered to their deities. The celebration ends with a feast in which the meat is cooked and shared by the village. “In addition to providing food, such rituals address the tribals’ economic, cultural and physical well-being,” says Subrat Sahu, a Delhi-based tribal activist.
The communal hunts are called by different names in different regions: the one organised in Jharkhand’s Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary is known as Vishu Shikar, Sendra and Jani Shikar. The Santhal tribe of eastern India calls the festival Disu Sendra or Disom Sendra, while the Mundas and Oraons call it Phagu Sendra. It is also practised by the Marias in Chhattisgarh and many tribes in India’s north eastern states.
Trouble with the law
Forest-dwelling communities have hunted for centuries. But if one takes into account the present law of the land, all types of hunting are illegal. The Wild Life Protection Act, 1972, strictly bars the killing of scheduled animals or animals protected by the law. Though the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act (fra), 2006, recognised the right of tribal communities over forest produce, it excluded forest animals from the definition. In other words, the law prohibits forest communities from practising their traditional right of hunting or trapping or extracting a part of the body of any species of a wild animal. And yet, neither tribals nor others have ever taken to the streets to protest for their cultural right. “Unlike jallikattu, where a large number of youth were mobilised on social media, the tribals in Simlipal or Dalma do not stand a chance when it comes to getting media attention for their issues,” says Biraj Patnaik, principal adviser to the Supreme Court commissioners on the Right to Food.
Legal or not, tribals continue to hunt during the winter and spring, leading to confrontation and clashes between them and the authorities. Rakesh Hembrom, secretary of the Dalma Buru Sendra Samiti, that organises the mass hunt every year in Dalma, Jharkhand, is ready to defy the law. “Hunting is a way of life passed down to us by our ancestors. We have been hunting since the dawn of time, when there were no laws. And we will continue it. We will not allow our culture, religion and traditions to be obliterated,” he says.
The police and forest officials are aware that such hunts are likely to be organised during certain months each year and try to stop the tribals from entering the forest. If the tribals manage to enter national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, the officials try to evict them. The police also hold flag marches or patrols through tribal villages around the time of the hunts, to keep an eye out for such activity and deter the tribals. The most widely reported clashes between the two sides take place in the Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary in Jharkhand and the Simlipal Tiger Reserve in Odisha in April (see ‘Hunt for Hunters’). “Like every year, this time too, we are creating awareness in tribal villages, gathering intelligence about would-be offenders and cooperating with tribal shamans who sanction the hunt,” says Harish Kumar Bisht, field directorcum-regional conservator of forests, Baripada, Odisha, where the Similipal Tiger Reserve falls. Ajay Kumar Satpathy, deputy field director of the Simlipal reserve, claims that no incidents of tribal hunting have taken place in the reserve since 2012. “Our patrolling and security arrangements have become very strict. We are able to drive away any tribal parties who try to enter the park. Prior to 2012, poaching incidents did take place and mass arrests were made from 2006 to 2008.”
But law enforcement is a tricky issue in the Northeast where tribal and community culture dominates social matters. Like in other states, tribal hunting in north eastern states is also practised in the winter months. People hunt in groups and target deer, wild boar, antelopes, squirrels, birds and bats, among others. Except in wellknown national parks and sanctuaries such as the Kaziranga in Assam, tribal hunting is practised in defiance of the State’s laws. Gin Neih Thang, a social activist and Zomi tribal from Manipur, says, “There are no hunting restrictions known to tribals in the Northeast. Even if there were, no one would agree with them as being able to hunt in your own land is part of tribal culture.” Many forests are owned by communities and are governed according to their own laws. For example, in eastern Assam, most forests in the Tenymei Naga areas are communityowned, while among the Tangkhul and Sema tribes, forests are owned by tribal chiefs. “In Mizoram, we (Chin-Kuki tribals) are in power. The tribal government usually regulates hunting,” says LL K Piang, assistant professor of social sciences at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.
Conservation or culture?
It is difficult to quantify the extent of tribal hunting in India. Though cases of hunting are registered under the Wildlife Protection Act, there is no official data differentiating between incidents of ritualistic hunting and those of poaching for illegal wildlife trade or sport. Hence, there is no ready information on how many animals are killed by tribals each year. But conservationists say the practice of tribal hunting threatens the wildlife population in forests. “These mass hunting practices are no longer sustainable. Almost all forests of east-Central India are suffering from what scientists call ‘empty forest syndrome’ where all large-, medium- and even small-sized wildlife has been wiped out completely. There are simply not enough wild animals left to sustain such
hunts,” says Raza Kazmi, a wildlife conservationist in Jharkhand. Salkhan Murmu, a politician from Jharkhand, says the practice should be discontinued. “Ritual mass hunting was done by tribals to keep the population of wild game under check. Now there are no animals left. Why should it be done in such a situation?” he asks.
But others argue that tribal practices are in sync with the cause of forest conservation. “When it comes to hunting, indigenous societies know exactly which animal is to be hunted or not hunted in what season, unlike the poachers and the forest department,” says tribal activist Sahu. “They have the knowledge and skills to maintain the balance of not only the animals, but also their ecosystem.” Sahu adds that the problem starts when experts, who do not understand this symbiotic relationship between indigenous communities and their surroundings, make laws about the ecosystem. Kaisu Kokho, assistant professor at Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia, says the timing of tribal hunts is thoughtfully selected. “In eastern Assam, the hunting season is from October to March. Animals do not breed during this period. But from April to September, the tribes do not hunt so that animals can mate and produce offspring,” he explains.
Nutrition is also a critical aspect as the levels of stunting and wasting due to malnutrition and undernutrition are high in tribal areas. Mamang Dai, a Padma Shri author from Arunachal Pradesh, says, “In the past, hunting was about food security. Meat and fish was usually dried and stored for lean periods.” Among other tribes, though wild game does not constitute a major part of the diet, it is one of the sources of protein. “Our experience of working with tribal communities shows that tribals are eating a very poor quality of diet and depending essentially upon rice to fill their stomachs. There used to be some advantage from hunting and gathering from the forest, which is now long gone. It has not been replaced by the market, or their own agricultural, horticultural, poultry and animal breeding practices,” says Vandana Prasad, Supreme Court Commissioner on the Right to Food.
Middle ground
Wildlife conservationist Kazmi suggests that tribal hunts must evolve to preserve the culture and rituals but exclude the killing of wildlife. “This has been tried over the years in Dalma and many tribal leaders and groups are slowly understanding and coming aboard,” he says. Other experts suggest allowing tribals to hunt while maintaining conservation, like in African countries such as Tanzania (read ‘For the people’, p40). Whether such a move will see support from lawmakers and conservationists in India is, however, doubtful.