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WORLD ANTHROPOLOGICAL UNION

CONGRESS 2024​

Paper

Representing Raji Identity: A Study of a PVTG in Uttarakhand Himalaya

presenters

    Rajanikant Pandey

    Nationality: India

    Residence: India

    Central University of Jharkhand, India

    Presence:Face to Face/ On Site

Keywords:

Decolonizing, Identity, PVTG, Raji, Uttarakhand

Abstract:

Raji of Kumaon is a very small endogamous group of less than eight hundred people having the status of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) granted by the Indian State since the 1980s. Earlier discussions by scholars have argued about Indian Raji being similar to nomadic hunting-gathering groups like Chepang, Kusanda, Raute, and Raji of western regions of Nepal. Ethnological writings during the colonial period have distorted the names and identities of people, who did not have means of self-representation. Recent linguistic and anthropological studies have thrown fresh light on the identity of Uttarakhand Raji and their affinities with possible cognate groups in Nepal. Thus, a critical analysis of administrative reports, amateur ethnological writings, and anthropological works is conducted to ascertain any evident connection between these different people. The present paper, therefore, revisits this problem of the imposed colonial identity of Raji in terms of nomenclature, language, physical characteristics, and oral histories, and attempts to correct such misrepresentation of people. The paper, therefore, furthers the contentions surrounding elite academic biases in writings about vulnerable groups like Raji in Uttarakhand Himalaya.