Author: Bruce Bonta
Black-Necked Crane Designated Ladakh’s State Bird
The government of Ladakh has just declared the black-necked crane as the state bird of the union territory. The bird has important symbolic value for the Ladakhi people. According to news reports on September 1 in the Kashmir Observer and in Outlook India, the Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory of Ladakh also declared the […]
Some Ju/’hoansi Children Lack Sufficient Food
A primary school, attended mostly by Ju/’hoansi, serves as the major source of food for many San children who only are able to go when they are fed. The shortcomings of the sporadic school lunch program at the Omatako Primary School near Tsumkwe, the major community of the San in northeastern Namibia, was described in […]
Fipa Traditional Healers
A news story from Sumbawanga, Tanzania, on August 12 announced that the government of the Rukwa Region was urging traditional healers to register their healing medicines. The article does not mention the society the healers identify with, but most of them would probably be Fipa. The healers, members of the Tanzanian Society for Traditional Healers […]
Tendong Lho Rum Faat Celebrated in Sikkim
On August 4, the Sikkim Lepcha Association issued a statement which indicated that the ancient festival of Tendong Lho Rum Faat will not be celebrated this year with its normal festivities due to the recent upsurge in the COVID 19 pandemic. Instead of the usual activities in Lepcha communities around the state, the organizers asked […]
Academic Achievement of a Birhor Girl
A 16-year-old Birhor girl has passed the matriculation exam in the Hazaribagh District of India’s Jharkhand State and she plans to continue her education. According to a Press Trust of India story of August 3, published by numerous major news services, Payal Birhor is the first girl from their society to reach that level of […]
Officials Visit a Paliyan Community
The chief executive officer of the Theni District in India’s Tamil Nadu state visited a Paliyan colony on July 24, asked numerous good questions, and made some promises of help from the district government. The unusual aspect of Collector K. V. Muralidharam’s visit was that two of India’s major newspapers, The Hindu and the Times […]
Tourists Flood Ladakh
While some of the peaceful societies portrayed in this website receive relatively few visitors, for others, tourists are very important. The people of Ladakh are among the latter, as numerous news stories over the years have indicated. One report in 2016 pointed out the differing attitudes toward tourism among the Ladakhi. They appreciate the positive […]
Semai Folklore
A news story in 2008 described a number of reasons for the relative lack of success by the Malaysian schools in educating their Orang Asli children. A current report brings the analysis up to date by concentrating on one of the major problems: cultural differences. Cultural differences between the Orang Asli and the majority of […]
The Living Museum of the Ju/’hoansi
The Ju/’hoansi people founded their Living Museum of the Ju/’hoansi San near Tsumkwe, Namibia, several years ago in order to help preserve and showcase for visitors their values and way of life. According to their website, “the Living Museum is an authentic open-air museum where guests can learn a lot about the traditional culture and […]
The Paliyans Have Ration Cards
The Times of India reported recently that the District Collector for the Madurai District was investigating reports of the illegal mortgaging of ration cards in a local Paliyan community. The official, S. Aneesh Sekhar, visited the Paliyans at the Alagammalpuram Colony, located about 60 km. from Madurai City, and explained the laws prohibiting such activities. […]
