The document discusses the need to preserve tribal and indigenous cultures in India. It outlines several ways to achieve this, including through documentation of material and non-material art forms, institutionalization of cultural learning, recognition of artists, and awareness programs. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs leads various government bodies that work to scientifically preserve exotic tribal heritage through techniques like documentation, establishing research institutions, and empowering local communities and organizations.

1. PRESERVATION OF
HERITAGE AND
TRIBAL CULTURE
PRESENTED BY,
A.AIYESHA
NEHAL AGRAWAL
SUBASHISH ROUT IITTM
SUNIL SAHOO IBTLG – 3RD SEM

2. Introduction
India is marked by its rich traditional heritage of Tribal/Folk Arts and
Culture. Since the days of remote past, the diversified art & cultural forms
generated by the tribal and rural people of India, have continued to evince
their creative magnificence. Apart from their outstanding brilliance from
the perspective of aesthetics , the tribal/folk art and culture forms have
played an instrumental role in reinforcing national integrity, crystallizing
social solidarity, fortifying communal harmony, intensifying value-system
and promoting the elements of humanism among the people of the
country.

3. Introduction
The following slides talks about how to preserve this unique culture of the
tribal/folk art and make sure their survival is to be considered the
paramount. And also make sure that their culture is showcased with out
any hindrance.

4. The Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, adopted by
the 32nd session of the General Conference of UNESCO in September 2003, calls for
safeguarding knowledge and skills that are recognized by communities, groups, and
in some cases individuals, as forming part of their cultural heritage; are transmitted
from generation to generation and constantly recreated; are crucial for the sense of
identity and continuity of communities and groups; are in conformity with human
rights, and, mutual respect and sustainable development. This is commonly known as
traditional or indigenous knowledge. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples, endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council in June 2006, recognizes “that
respect for indigenous knowledge, cultures and traditional practices contributes to
sustainable and equitable development and proper management of the environment”

5. Government Bodies that
help in Protection and
Preservation of Tribal
Culture
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs is the Apex
ministry that handles tribal affairs under
varied departments.
Under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs the Tribal
Research Institute and the Tribal Welfare
Department in Tirpura , Carry out scientific
techniques to preserve the exotic tribal
heritage in the North East and as well as
other parts of India.

6. Preservation of Tribal Culture
• Culture is an identity and it distinguishes one human group from others.
And it also distinguishes humans from animals; so we need culture for
our own identification;
• It is the most important concept in the study of aspects of human life; it
acts like a measuring stick to our life and development;
• Culture is like a living organism, if looked after properly, it can grow,
multiply and spread; if not, we become responsible for its eternal
destruction. We must look after it and make it grow, or else we shall
have to lose our value when it loses its vitality.
• Culture can be alive, culture can be dead or extinct. There are various
aspects of our culture, which we can perhaps claim to be neither alive;
nor dead. An inert, dormant culture does us no good.

7. • We know that culture mainly has two forms material culture and non-
material culture. Material culture includes material benefits and
advancements such as development in the fields of communication,
households, etc., non-material culture on the other hand, includes
folklore, beliefs, tendencies etc. In our society, the material culture
changes earlier and moves faster than the non-material culture; and in
the process the latter is left behind. This lagging of a culture (behind the
other) is called ‘Cultural lag’. This cultural lag has become more and
more pronounced in our society and it causes confusion. To minimize
the degree of confusion, we need to speed up our cultural activities to
cope up with the velocity of material culture.

8. Institutionalization
• An institute in the given context may mean any organization, group, or
any building or place wherein and under which the teachers and the
taught shall come and interact with one another and, teach and learn
the art. Some institute can be run centrally, say, at Agartala, while others
may have to be run at a village to be supervised by the Community or
the Village Council, any interested NGO, registered or non-registered
organization, whichever the government may deem fit and proper to do
the job.

9. Recognition of
Artists
• Recognition of the artists may be ensured.
There are unsung artist who could never
come up to the limelight due to want of
recognition, and their artistic know-how will
also die along with them. This recognition will
encourage the new learners and people of
the new generation to learn, uphold and
practice their culture with pride and
confidence.

10. Awareness
Programme
• Awareness Programme among the communities may
be effective to encourage the people to learn their
culture and to practice them. In the past our
forefathers lived in a monoculture society and cultural
practices were instinctively inherited. In the multi-
cultural world, the center of attention is obscure and
confusing. Now, it is a time for paradigm shift to
ensure surer protection of one’s culture, the sole
identity of a people. Popularizing the Art:
To popularize the arts, programmes such as cultural
exchange, cultural exhibition may be frequently
organized through which the people will uphold and
spread their culture and they will also learn about
other’s culture and the spirit of mutual appreciation will
develop.

11. Documentation of
Cultural Art Forms
• For example,
The tribal people of Tripura, who live in hilly, forested and
scenic habitat of rivers and valleys, reflect high
accomplishment in the fields of culture, especially in art
and crafts with all its variety and uniqueness. But the
modern civilization, coupled with industrialization and
urbanization, has cast its influence in such way that some
traditional cultural art forms are either on the verge of
extinction or under the spell of sea-change improvisation.
Now, it is crying need of the hour that all these artistic
expressions and creations of tribal people, be it material
or non-material culture, need immediate attention,
preservation, documentation and encouragement by the
concerned people before they are completely lost in
oblivion.

12. • The cultural art forms of Tripura can be classified into two groups:
Material Non-material
Weaving and textiles Music
Wood work and basketry
and cane work
Dance
Pottery and terracotta Folk stories beliefs rituals
(Religion)
Metal works and
ornamentation
Oral literature and festival
House-type and production
decoration activities
Festive deities
Games and sports

13. The documentation of cultural art
forms of tribal people of the State may
be of four types. They are:
• Written Documentation: By
undertaking research work,
publishing monographs etc.
• Photographic Documentation: By
photography and microfilming.
• Computerized Documentation: By
data storing, CDs etc.
• Human Documentation: By
conducting training programme
involving traditional scholars and by
institutionalizing the traditional
learning.

14. • The documentation of tribal art forms should be made community-wise.
Advisory councils may be formed for each community. The council shall
identify the items for preservation and formulate policies for improvisations.
Under non-material culture forms, tribal dance, music and festival should be
taken up immediately. A list of community wise festivals, dances and music
are given in the Annexure. –SUMMARY OF DOCUMENTATION:
Material and non-material art form need to be documented, Documentation
may be classified into four as under :
• Written documents
• Photographic documents
• Computerized documents
• Human documents.

15. Conclusion
Therefore, these are the few steps that can be taken to ensure the
preservation of heritage and culture of the tribal people from various parts
of India. Thanks to the initiatives of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

16. THANK
YOU