Organisation of Panel
Sacred Landscape, Indigeneity and Cultural Heritage
Landscapes in indigenous cultures are part of social memory, cultural intimacy and expression of indigenous ontologies. In anthropology, the concept of landscape has been discussed strongly with reference to the human-non-human; human-nature relation, identity articulation and discourses on globalisation. In recent debates on indigeneity and indigenous theory, landscape, identity and memory are vital components, especially relating to intangible heritage and indigenous spirituality.
This panel proposes to discuss the impact of globalisation on the imaginary and ecological situation of indigenous landscapes with a strong focus on adivasi cultures. The panel addresses the notion of the sacred space or heritage used by adivasi people in India or indigenous people globally. It will also explicate varied attributes of sacred spaces, and discuss them as emerging new sources of agency and factors for social resistance in postcolonial settings of India and other parts of the world.
Individual paper Lidia Guzy:
Landscape as Resistance - Gandhamardhan Mountains of the Bora Sambar Region
The paper aims to present an example of successful eco-resistance against bauxite mining and industrialisation fought in the mid 80ies by Adivasi Paiko, Binjal and Sora communities as well as by local activists in the Bora Sambar region of western Odisha vital until today.
http://www.inscricoes.iuaes2018.org/modalidadetrabalho/public/openpanel/?EIXO=21
The Gandhamardan Surekhya Andulan - the Gandha Mardhan Protection Movement (Gandha=medicine; mardhan= mountains) of western Odisha shows how a landscape and the protection of its environment have become an expression of local resistance and of regional identity