🌍 INDIGENOUS & TRIBAL AFFAIRS – CONSOLIDATED CURRENT NOTES

1️⃣ Supreme Court on Tribal Women’s Inheritance Rights (India)

• Tribe concerned: Gond Tribe
• Status: Scheduled Tribe under Article 342
• Judgment (2025):
  • Supreme Court held that tribal women are entitled to inherit ancestral property
  • This right exists even if customary law does not explicitly recognise it
• Significance:
  • Upholds gender parity within Scheduled Tribes
  • Harmonises customary law with constitutional morality
  • Strengthens Article 14 (Equality) and Article 21 (Dignity)

🕒 Timestamp: October 8, 2025

🔗 News Source: Indian Express – Explained

2️⃣ Protests at Atacama Salt Flat – Lithium Mining (Chile)

• Location: Atacama Salt Flat, Northern Chile
• Global Importance:
  • World’s largest lithium deposit
  • Contains ~90% of Chile’s lithium reserves
  • Chile has the largest proven lithium reserves globally
• Companies involved:
  • SQM (Chile)
  • Albemarle (USA)
• Issue:
  • Protests blocked access roads over environmental & Indigenous concerns
  • Talks ongoing between SQM and Codelco on lithium future
• Relevance:
  • Indigenous rights vs green energy transition
  • Resource nationalism & environmental justice

🕒 Timestamp: January 11, 2024

🔗 News Source: Reuters

3️⃣ Khiamniungan Tribe – Cliff Honey Hunting (India–Myanmar)

• Tribe: Khiamniungan
• Region: Nagaland (India) & Myanmar (transboundary tribe)
• Practice:
  • Traditional cliff honey hunting
  • Combines livelihood, ritual, and ecological respect
• Concern:
  • Practice is vanishing
  • Threatened by modernisation & habitat loss
• Exam Value:
  • Example of Indigenous ecological knowledge
  • Cultural conservation of tribal livelihoods

🕒 Timestamp: 13 November 2025

🔗 News Source: The Better India

4️⃣ Wodaabe Tribe & Gerewol Festival (Africa)

• Tribe: Wodaabe
• Region: Sahel (Chad & Niger)
• Unique Feature:
  • Gerewol Festival
  • Men adorn themselves with makeup & attire
  • Women freely choose partners
• Significance:
  • Challenges conventional gender norms
  • Example of matrifocal choice in tribal culture
• Exam Angle:
  • Anthropology
  • Cultural diversity in Africa

🕒 Timestamp: September 27, 2025

🔗 News Source: News18

5️⃣ Brazil’s Crackdown on Illegal Mining in Munduruku Lands

• Tribe: Munduruku
• Country: Brazil
• Issue:
  • Illegal gold mining in Indigenous territories
  • Environmental destruction & mercury pollution
• Government Action:
  • Eviction of illegal miners
  • Military & environmental enforcement
• Importance:
  • Protection of Amazon Rainforest
  • Assertion of Indigenous land rights

🕒 Timestamp: June 23, 2025

🔗 News Source: Mongabay

6️⃣ Ngorongoro Land Dispute & Maasai People (Tanzania)

• Community: Maasai
• Area: Ngorongoro Conservation Area
• Government Step:
  • Two commissions inaugurated by President Samia Suluhu Hassan
  • Address:
    • Land ownership disputes
    • Voluntary relocation concerns
• Core Issue:
  • Balancing wildlife conservation with Indigenous livelihoods
• Exam Use:
  • Conservation vs human rights debate

🕒 Timestamp: February 22, 2025

🔗 News Source: Tanzania Invest

7️⃣ DRC Conflict & Impact on Indigenous People (Batwa)

• Tribe affected: Batwa
• Country: Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
• Crisis:
  • Fighting between government forces & M23 rebels
  • 237,000+ people displaced
• Impact:
  • Loss of ancestral lands
  • Heightened vulnerability of Indigenous communities
• Organisation Mentioned:
  • Minority Rights Group
  • UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)

🕒 Timestamp: July 2, 2025

🔗 News Source: Climate Diplomacy

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PART II 

1️ Shompen Tribe Votes for the First Time (India)

• Tribe: Shompen
• Status: Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG)
• Location: Great Nicobar Island, Andaman & Nicobar Islands
• Key Event:
  • Members of the Shompen tribe cast their vote for the first time
  • 7 members exercised their franchise
• Population:
  • 229 (Census 2011)
• Significance:
  • Landmark in democratic inclusion of PVTGs
  • Reflects outreach of the Election Commission of India in remote areas

🕒 Published: April 19, 2024 | 10:07 PM IST

📰 Source: The Hindu

2️⃣ Largest “Land Back” Deal – Yurok Tribe (USA)

• Tribe: Yurok Tribe
• Region: California, USA
• Key Development:
  • Completion of largest single “Land Back” deal in California history
• Organisations Involved:
  • Western Rivers Conservancy (WRC)
  • Yurok Tribe
  • California Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB)
  • California State Coastal Conservancy (CSCC)
• Importance:
  • Restoration of ancestral Indigenous land
  • Indigenous-led conservation model

🕒 Published: June 9 (Year as per official release)

📰 Source: Yurok Tribe Official Website

3️⃣ Uncontacted Mashco Piro Tribe Spotted (Peru)

• Tribe: Mashco Piro
• Status: Uncontacted Indigenous Tribe
• Location: Amazon Rainforest, Peru
• Issue:
  • Tribe seen near a village
  • Activists warn of pressure from nearby logging projects
• Risk Factors:
  • Exposure to fatal diseases
  • Threat to survival due to external contact

🕒 Published: August 29, 2025 | 4:42 PM IST

📰 Source: Times of India

4️⃣ Mass Māori Protest Against Treaty Reinterpretation (New Zealand)

• Community: Māori
• Event:
  • 40,000+ protesters gathered outside Parliament
  • Protest against bill to reinterpret Treaty of Waitangi
• Movement:
  • Culmination of a 9-day hīkoi (peaceful march)
• Significance:
  • Treaty of Waitangi = founding document between British Crown & Māori
  • Protest seen as defence of Indigenous rights and sovereignty

🕒 Published: November 19, 2024

📰 Source: BBC News

5️⃣ Chukchi Recruits Replaced by Sámi Reindeer Herders

• Communities:
  • Chukchi (Russia)
  • Sámi (Northern Europe)
• Development:
  • Chukchi recruits dismissed
  • Replaced by Sámi reindeer herders
• Relevance:
  • Indigenous labour, militarisation & Arctic geopolitics
  • Cross-border Indigenous livelihoods

🕒 Published: September 2025

📰 Source: ScienceDirect

6️⃣ Sentinelese Tribe & India’s “Hands-Off” Policy

• Tribe: Sentinelese
• Location: North Sentinel Island, Andaman & Nicobar Islands
• Government Approach:
  • “Eyes-on and hands-off” policy
• Reason:
  • Any contact may cause genocidal disease outbreaks
• Legal Protection:
  • Indian Forest Act, 1927
  • Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972
  • SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989
• Fact:
  • Visiting the island is illegal

🕒 Last Updated: December 12, 2025

📰 Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica

7️⃣ Hongana Manyawa Tribe Threatened by Nickel Mining (Indonesia)

• Tribe: Hongana Manyawa
• Location: Halmahera Island, Indonesia
• Issue:
  • 40% of tribal land under nickel mining concessions
  • New battery plant will intensify mining
• Risk:
  • Disease exposure
  • Habitat destruction
• Context:
  • Halmahera hosts world’s largest nickel mine

🕒 Published: June 26, 2025

📰 Source: Yale Environment 360

8️⃣ Bnei Menashe – Israel’s ‘Lost Tribe’ from Northeast India

• Community: Bnei Menashe (“Sons of Menashe”)
• Ethnic Family: Kuki-Chin-Mizo (Tibeto-Burman)
• Indian States: Manipur & Mizoram
• Claim:
  • Descendants of one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel
  • Exiled in 722 BC by Assyrian Empire
• Historical Turning Point:
  • 1950s: Adoption of Judaism after prophetic dream
  • 2005: Recognised as “seed of Israel” by Rabbi Shlomo Amar

🕒 Published: December 27, 2025

📰 Source: The Week

9️⃣ Israel Approves Immigration of 5,800 Bnei Menashe

• Decision:
  • Israeli Cabinet approved full Aliyah (immigration) of remaining Bnei Menashe
• Numbers:
  • 5,800 people to migrate by 2030
  • 1,200 by end-2026
• Process:
  • Orthodox conversion mandatory
  • Managed by Jewish Agency for Israel
• Concerns:
  • Allegations against private group Shavei Israel
  • Earlier resettlement in West Bank (now discontinued)

🕒 Published: November 27, 2025

📰 Source: The Print

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