This photo series is from a 3-day visit to Simlipal on the occasion of World Indigenous Day, 2021 to meet, understand and document these beautiful people who live a life so ordinary and yet so extraordinary. Simlipal is a Biosphere Reserve in Odisha. For ages it has been home to various Indigenous tribes.

I met these Santhal people who are mainly farmers. They live in mud houses with their domestic animals and birds. They speak Santhali, Odia and Hindi. Nature is their God and they live the kind of sustainable lives we all need to learn from.

Lately these people are forced to go out of the jungle for livelihood. If this keeps happening, it could result in loss of their precious indigenous knowledge. Nature is the center of their concern. They have been following practices like crop rotation and organic farming since. They have learned sustainable living from their heritage. Intervention by government and various NGOs has been really helpful in providing these people their due rights. 

Ramu

Age: 8yrs

Laxman Sarna

Age: 32 yrs

Beola Suren

Age: 45yrs

Surai Hemram

Age: 22yrs

Bisnupriya Kiskum

Age: 20yrs

Sanu Kiskum

Age: 28yrs

Dayavati

Age: 12yrs

Chitamaroon standing with Mahua tree.

Age: 46yrs