THE EARTH MOTHER AND THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF INDIA

Abstract

A lion's share of the primeval people of India consider that their ancestors have appeared on earth as and when the Earth Mother gave birth to them; then she took care of them, fed them, protected them, developed them and finally called them back through the process of death. The Juangs of Orissa believe that the first Juang emerged out of the Earth Mother and all of their posterity are her children. They have a filial relationship with the earth. To the Muria Gonds of Bastar, the human population is one of the crops of God raised by Earth Mother. These crops are in favour of the clan. As the crops depend on the soil, all the beings in the world rely on Earth Mother. Her presence is all pervading and all encompassing. She is the common mother to all. The Munda of Jharkhand revere the Earth as the goddess who gives birth to them; at the point of death she will take them back into her lap, In the Near Eastern tribal tradition the first human being is called Adam, meaning made out of earth or clay. So too Sita means the furrow, daughter of the earth. As Vannucci points out, "Sita the generous goes  unscathed through the ordeal of fire and at the end she returns to Mother Earth, Cleansed by water and purified by fire "l Originated from earth, humans have to return to earth. "You are dust and to dust you shall return" (Gen 3:19b). In fact the whole of a life cycle-birth, growth, occupation, marriage, death - all are related to earth. The dead are commemorated by erecting memmorial stones on the ground. The earth remains as a reminder to the tribals of their ancestors and of themselves. Since the tribal life revolves around the Earth Mother, they treat her as  their own preserver, protector, progenitor and above all the most revered  and respected Mother.