Is it possible to visit a tribe in India. I'd love to see how they live, what their culture is like and how they manage to survive without modern day utilities. Are they welcoming when it comes to strangers in their midst?
India has one of largest number of indigenous tribes in the world. These tribal communities are locally known as Advasi and still depend on basic economic activities such as hunting, fishing, and subsistence farming. A few examples of indigenous communities include the Khasis, Gonds, Angamis, Bhutias, and Santhals just to mention a few. You can always organize a visit to some of these tribal communities with your tour operator.
For the most part, Indian tribes are welcoming and they're not the "cannibal" types you often hear about. Those tribes live in Africa and other remote areas across the world. You may check with tour guides and tourist information centers just for clarification and perhaps they can organize a tribe-centric tour for you and your companions.
What a wonderful way to really get to know the people and culture of India. Are there any tribes that would allow you to stay with them for a week or so? That would be a great experience.
As far as I know, some tribes in India can be visited without any organised tours. These tribes can be found in Maharashtra, Nagaland and in Northeast India. With these places, obtaining organised tours aren't necessary at all. The Mahadeo Koli tribe in Maharashtra welcome visitors and allow them to stay with them. This tribe is quite small in numbers and mainly earn a living through farming. Some other tribes can be visited but you would need to go with organised tours. In Orissa, you can find about 65 tribes. Unfortunately, you need to be in an organised group as some areas of the place are inaccessible to tourists. Good luck!
This is something I'd be interested in. I love meeting people and especially if they are still steeped in the old traditions and ways of life. I gather that some or most of the tribes do not speak English.
Seriously! I'm yet to meet a "cannibal" tribe in Africa but have often heard stories of the practice in the Western world. Just do a google search on "incidences of cannibalism" and you'll find a majority of proven and documented cases came from Europe, the Pacific, and both North and South America.You are however right about Indian tribes. They are very welcoming and eager to take you around their indigenous settlements.
Not to steer too far off the topic, but cannibalism is one of those concepts popular culture has greatly misinterpreted. For one, it was very seldom about food. For most tribal cultures, they always had enough or more to subsist. Famine only was ever a problem when people relied on crops which had a tendency to fail or spoil. Instead, eating human flesh was more symbolic, a ritual practice to gain strength or connect with the dead. A lot of people think that is strange, but it is now part of global human culture for Christians to partake of communion, which is the symbolic eating of the body of Christ. Real flesh is substituted for a wafer, but the idea is the same, and cannot be thought of as exotic.
You know I guess I never really thought about cannibalism like that until reading that, so thank you for that jnorth88. I guess it makes sense, and it also makes sense that it would get morphed into this nasty, gory ritual through the movies and the media and all of those things that it becomes just the norm to think of it like that, when in reality the truth is quite different. Thanks for keeping us straight with our information.
Many tribesmen hardly speak English which is a good thing since it helps keep their culture and traditions safe from outside influence. Language is one of the most effective tools of cultural "contamination" if I may use that term. However, you'll always find fluent English speaking translators and guides to explain everything as you walk around the settlement.
