Birhor Project Update!

This year we have made substantial progress on one of our big projects in India, “Documenting the Fragile Knowledge Domains of the Birhor People.”

Birhor Documentation Project, India 2019. Photo by Dr. Bikram Jora.

In the photo above, Living Tongues project facilitators Shashi Kant Lakra (left) and Anukaran Mardi (right) collaborate with Birhor community members in Sadbhaiya village, India.

One of the reasons this project is successful is because we train local tribal scholars and collaborators to conduct the day-to-day fieldwork themselves. By liaising with the community directly, local scholars improve the authenticity of the data collected.

Isjor: How The Birhor Treat a Snakebite

Here is a snapshot from the Birhor cultural and linguistic documentation project. Our local collaborators have been documenting medicinal uses of local plants. In the photo above, Anukaran Mardi (right) interviews Mr. Biswanath Birhor (left) who observed, “The plant is a root known as isjor. For treating snake bites, about 4 to 5 inches of isjor root is ground with water and drunk at regular intervals. For a headache, a small amount of isjor paste is applied to your forehead.”

Many thanks to the Zegar Family Foundation for supporting this important cultural and linguistic documentation project. Read more about the Birhor people.