Decolonizing Indigenous Feminist Epistemology in Adivasi Communities of Jharkhand

In the Indian social context, the term "Indigenous" refers to Adivasis, derived from the Sanskrit words "adi" (meaning original) and "vasi" (meaning inhabitant). Adivasis are classified as Scheduled Tribes (STs) under the Indian constitution. However, the category of tribe is a colonial construct and does not fully capture the essence or diversity of indigenous cultures.

If a subject is marginalized and misrepresented it inherently becomes a central concern of feminist inquiry. Indian Tribal women have mostly been studied from a Western, colonial gaze which renders them oriental and mysterious or through the privileged lens of upper caste-class researchers, who portray them as primitive and backward. This paper, focusing on the Jharkhand region of India, seeks to decolonize Indigenous feminist epistemology by exploring the precolonial roots of gender inequality, oppression, and power relations within tribal societies.

The phenomenology of Adivasi women in the contemporary feminist theory in India is massively underrepresented. By employing qualitative interviews and narrative analysis, this paper argues that in order to study Adivasi feminist epistemology and develop an Adivasi feminist standpoint we must comprehend their perception, lived experience and lifeworld. Research work in this discipline would be a process of co-creation of knowledge and would be free from the constraints of Western research methodologies and rooted in Indigenous frameworks of understanding.