Dimapur: Nagaland University’s Tribal Research Centre organised a webinar on “The Indigenous Issue and Identity: Peninsular India versus the Northeast” in commemoration of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples 2025.
Addressing the webinar, eminent social scientist and director of North Eastern Social Research Centre (NESRC), Guwahati, Dr Walter Fernandes explained that the term indigenous carries different meanings in India and globally, a Nagaland University release said on Sunday.
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He said “The term applied distinctly in the Peninsular and Northeast contexts.”
Fernandes contrasted the Peninsular and Northeast indigenous experiences in his talk.
He said in Peninsular India, myths of origin, sacred groves, and gradual conquests shape identity, with land, water, and forests forming the core of indigeneity, and the resources which threatened under colonial rule.
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In the Northeast, however, identity is more clearly defined through customary laws and autonomy, he said.
Over time, Peninsular struggles have evolved from fighting displacement and land alienation to resisting cultural domination by a dominant religion imposing its identity, he said.
In contrast, he said, the Northeast continues to prioritise autonomy and customary laws, even as it now faces increasing alienation from land and resources to outsiders, migrants, non-tribals, and the state in the name of national development.
Addressing the deepening divisions over land control among indigenous communities in the Northeast, he observed that ‘competition has arisen between the tribes’.
Noting that the indigenous issue has taken a new turn, Fernandes further mphasised the need for indigenous communities to work collectively in addressing their challenges, a process that may not happen in a day. He added that this requires leaders to pursue development rooted in equality, justice, and reconciliation.
He urged the participants to recognise that indigenous issues stand at a critical crossroads, shaped by shifting identities, contested land politics, and the mounting pressures of development.The event drew more than 100 participants, including teachers, scholars, postgraduate students, and independent researchers from various institutions.