Baiga tribe

Practice of shifting cultivation

The Baiga tribes practice shifting cultivation in the forest areas. They say they never ploughed the Earth, because it would be akin to scratching the breast of their Mother, and they could never ask their Mother to produce food from the same patch of earth time and time again – she would have become weakened. For this reason, Baigas used to live a semi-nomadic life, and practiced Bewar, or 'dahiya' cultivation  – out of respect, not aggression. These techniques, (also known as 'swidden' agriculture), rather than being a cause of deforestation, have been shown to be effective conservation devices, employed for centuries by tribal peoples. Woodsmen and hunters, the Baigas of Central India were reluctant to do work for others. They saw themselves as people of the forest, who could only live on the produce of the forest. It was below the dignity of a Baiga to become a labourer.

Tattooing tradition amongst Baigas

One of the tribes for whom tattooing is an integral part of their lifestyle is the Baiga tribe. This tribe inhabits the dense hilly forests in the eastern part of the Satpuras, in Shahdol, Bilaspur, Rajnandgaon, Mandla, and Balaghat districts. The Baigas are of Dravidian stock and are one of eight prime tribes of M.P.

It is believed that this tribe is an offshoot of the Bhuiya tribe of Chhota Nagpur. A distinguishing feature of the Baiga tribe is that their women are famous for sporting tattoos of various kinds on almost all parts of their body. The women who work as tattooing artists belong to the Ojha, Badni and Dewar tribes of M.P., and are called Godharins. They are extremely knowledgeable about the different types of tattoos preferred by various tribes. Their mothers traditionally pass on this knowledge to them. Tattooing amongst the tribals commences with the approach of winter and continues until summer.

Demographics

The Baiga are designated as a Scheduled Caste in much of Uttar Pradesh. The 2011 Census of India for that state showed those so classified as numbering 17,387. They are, however, designated as a Scheduled Tribe in Sonbhadra district.

Forced evictions

Since the 1960s, the Baiga have been the victims of forced evictions at the hands of the Indian authorities. These are often carried out in the name of conservation, in an attempt to protect the tiger populations, but have disastrous consequences for the displaced communities.

Language

It is believed that the ancestors of the Baigas spoke an Austroasiatic language, however no trace of it is left now. Some Baigas (specifically those from the Mandla district) have mentioned "Baigani" as their mother tongue in the past: Baigani is now recognised as a variety of Chhattisgarhi influenced by Gondi. Most Baigas communicate with outsiders in Hindi, and some of them also know a few local languages like Gondi or Marathi depending on the region they live in.

Baiga foods

The baiga takes coarse food and shows no extravagance in this aspect. They eat coarse grain, kodo, and kutki, drink pej, eat little flour and are normally content with what little that they get. One of the prime foods is pej that can be made from grounding macca or from the water left from boiling rice. Local people gave testimony that this food is much better and healthier than many other food that they eat. Also, beyond doubt they eat several items from the forest that includes primarily Chirota Bhaji, Gular leaves such as Chirota, chinch, chakora, sarroota, peepal etc. They also eat BirarKand, Kadukand and other rhizomes. Mushroom is also a delicacy. Numerous fruits such as mango, char, jamun, tendu are also eaten. They hunt as well, primarily fish and small mammals.