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© Kamla-Raj 2005 J. Hum. Ecol., 17(4): 307-312 (2005)
Functional Attributes of Tribal People of Western Himalaya: Need for Indigenous Knowledge Based Sustainable Planning
Gopal S. Singh
Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221 005, Uttar Pradesh, India E-mail:gopalshs@yahoo.co.in
KEYWORDS Western Himalaya. Tribals. Status of Women. Indigenous Knowledge. Interactive Planning. Ecosystem Sustainability
ABSTRACT Since the dawn of civilization, both sexes have played a significant role in the evaluation of mankind. In the tribal society of western Himalaya, people have been playing an integrated role in terms of ecosystem functioning. Nonetheless, women have been playing a key role in the upliftment of social, cultural, economic and political values since age-old in the mountainous region. The distinct allocation of activities of men and women has evolved locally for productive and functional usages and it has been inheriting since generations. The status of both sexes is exclusively dependent up on functional attributes of the people concerned. However, the position of women in the study area is, by and large, equal to men; women work 14-16 hours a day and enjoy their life. They never feel bore in harsh and inhospitable geo-climatic conditions but they have molded themselves to contribute optimally through conducive functioning at different subsystem levels. Lack of developmental policies and programmes focusing on cultural domain and centering around agriculture-animal-forest-domestic based interactive subsystems/sectors are endangering the indigenous society of the region. Therefore, developmental approach should be centered on interactive subsystem levels derived from indigenous knowledge oriented packages rather than introduced alien packages.
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