The cultural dimension of environment: Ethnoscientific study on Santhal community in eastern India

International Journal of Anthropology and Ethnology

Koustab Majumdar¹  Dipankar Chatterjee¹ 

[1] Division of Rural and Tribal Development, Faculty of ARTD, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute, Morabadi, 834008, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India;

关键词: Culture;    Environmental perception;    Environmental change;    Ethnoscience;    Santhals;    India;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s41257-021-00057-2

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

This study explores the Santhal community to enhance the understanding of the human-nature relationship that fully captures distinct intricacies of ethnoecology. Relying on a qualitative research design, this study focuses on the perception and interpretation of environmental aspects using ethnoscientific methods among Santhals in West Bengal, India. It reveals that Santhals are still unique in perceiving the environment learned through folk models. Santhal’s perception of environmental domains is constituted by various cognitive elements (resource distributions, care, feelings, attachment, myths, and superstitious credence toward their environment) and multifaceted interpretations (living beings, nonliving objects, natural and built environment). Based on its evidence, this study recommends that indigenous worldview-based ethnoscientific knowledgeis the identity of indigenity that shapes ethnoscientific knowledge can be used in sustainable resource management practice. Furthermore, the study proposes a view that ignoring this unique ethnoscientific knowledge-based worldview base may degenerate the indigenous culture.

【 授权许可】

CC BY