Dimensions of Indigeneity in Highland Odisha, India

Abstract

This article describes and analyzes forms of indigeneity with reference to a highland community in Odisha called Gadaba. Three types of indigeneity are distinguished: indigenous indigeneity, ascribed indigeneity, and claimed indigeneity. The first concerns local sacrificial practices through which indigeneity is constructed. Significantly, this type of indigeneity is local, symmetric, relational, and the Gadaba are themselves the creators of this representation. Different forms of ascribed indigeneity, by contrast, assign indigeneity to the Gadaba unilaterally, and the relationship between those who ascribe and the Gadaba is asymmetrical and monolithic. The third type of indigeneity is as yet in a nascent state as only a few Gadaba voice an indigenous identity in the larger political field of the state, and no cultural performances are referred to nor do political organizations exist to support such a claim.