Cross-Cultural Environmental Lessons: an Indigenous Case-Study

By Raj, Selva J; Madhok, Bindu

INTRODUCTION

The new environmental consciousness characteristic of the second half of the twentieth century ushered in a dual trend of reinterpretation and appropriation of traditional beliefs and practices. While religious leaders and theologians have sought to creatively relate and reinterpret religious beliefs and practices to accommodate environmental concerns, both Western and Eastern environmental scholars have turned to Eastern philosophical and religious traditions for conceptual resources and eco-friendly practices. Within the academy, the latter trend is palpable in environmental courses and textbooks-particularly in such humanistic disciplines as Philosophy and Religious Studies-that devote considerable time and energy to the study of Eastern religious beliefs and practices.’ Impact of this trend is also unmistakably discernible in current environmental discourse and growing literature in the field that seeks to integrate the ecological insights and ecofriendly practices of eastern traditions like Hinduism and Buddhism.2

The interest in Eastern and traditional worldviews and practices is, by and large, inspired by the conviction that these could provide alternative conceptual and practical resources for developing a global environmental ethic. The appropriation of Eastern beliefs and practices for such purposes has been fiercely criticized and condemned by such comparative philosophers as Gerald Larson as an unfortunate remnant of an orientalist, colonial legacy while others like Holmes Rolston pose the critical question ‘Can the East help the West to value nature?’3 Sensitive to cultural specificity and conscious of the pitfalls of naive romanticism, contemporary environmental scholarship-best exemplified in the writings of Callicott and Ames adopt a more disciplined approach to comparative environmental study.4 These scholars however remind us that, while some environmental activists and scholars might have jumped onto the romantic bandwagon, this was not true of mainstream environmental scholarship. They argue that “even in the early enthusiastic and native literature of environmental philosophy, the notion that an alien set of ideas could be mined from its cultural matrix, exported to the West, and intellectually consumed with therapeutic effect was skeptically greeted.”5

Instead, they cite the following as discernible benefits of cross- cultural environmental scholarship: “One clear way that the East can help the West to understand and value nature is… by revealing certain premises and assumptions-concerning the nature of nature and who we human beings are in relation to it, as well as the kind of knowledge of it that we seek to obtain-which lie so deep within or which so pervade the Western world view that they may not come to light any other way;”6 Additionally, “Eastern traditions of thought… share certain untraditional insights into nature with contemporary Western science; but they express these insights, unlike contemporary Western science, in a rich vocabulary of imagery, symbol, and metaphor. If indeed there is a convergence of traditional Eastern philosophy and contemporary Western science toward a common understanding of the nature of nature, then the East may help the West express its own new natural philosophy… in a vocabulary more accessible to a lay public than the arid formulae of Western science. Eastern modes of thought, in short, may resonate with and thus complement and enrich the concepts of nature and values in nature recently emergent in the historical dialectic of Western ideas.”7

More recently, scholars like Callicott have embraced a “one- many” approach to cross-cultural environmental ethics. In Earth’s Insights ( 1994) Callicott writes: “Thus we may have one worldview and one associated environmental ethic corresponding to the contemporary reality that we inhabit one planet, that we are one species, and that our deepening environmental crisis is worldwide and common. And we may also have a plurality of revived traditional worldviews and associated environmental ethics corresponding to the historical reality that we are many peoples inhabiting many diverse bioregions apprehended through many and diverse cultural lens. But this one and these many are not at odds. Each of the many worldviews and associated environmental ethics can be a facet of an emerging global environmental consciousness, expressed in the vernacular of a particular and local cultural tradition.”8

As scholars in the U.S. with cultural ties to India, our own intellectual orientation towards cross-cultural scholarship is in consonance with such a pluralistic approach advocated by Callicott above, while being mindful of Larson9 and other comparative scholars’justified criticisms of mix-and-match approaches to cross- cultural scholarship. As CaUicott himself admits, “In part, this requires a more sophisticated cross-cultural comparison of traditional and contemporary concepts … than has so far characterized discussion.”10 In this vein, here we draw attention to a lesser known Indian tradition-the Santal tribal tradition-its religious worldview, basic cultural assumptions, and prominent eco- friendly practices as a case-study rich in its contributions to cross-cultural environmental studies.

A LESSER KNOWN INDIAN TRADITION: THE SANTAL CASE STUDY

In their quest for conceptual resources and eco-friendly practices in Asian traditions. Western environmental scholars have traditionally focused on several better known Eastern philosophical and religious traditions like Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Departing from this conventional trend, we introduce readers to a tribal tradition in north India that thus far has been exempt from Western appropriations, largely due to Western scholars’ limited familiarity with this tradition. After a brief introduction to the Santals and their religious universe, we focus on a select number of their eco-friendly practices and beliefs as resources for developing a pluralistic understanding and cross-cultural appreciation of environmental ethics.

The Santals: A Brief Overview of the People and Their Religious Universe

According to the 1991 census of India, the Santals, who constitute the largest homogenous scheduled tribe in India, numbered approximately 4.2 million or 6.8% of the nation’s total tribal population. The bulk of Santal population is largely concentrated in the three Indian states of Bihar (a part of which is now renamed as Jharkhand), West Bengal, and Orissa..” A sizeable number is also found in Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, Bangladesh, and Nepal. The language of the Santals is Santali, a member of the Munda family of languages. Under the influence of Christian missionaries, the Santals have adopted the Roman script that is in currency to this day. As regards their ethnic or political history, the Santals do not have a recorded history of their own, although they possess a rich oral tradition. The first authoritative written record of Santal history was compiled in 1887 by L.O. Skrefsrud in Santali from oral transmission by a Santal ancestor and was translated later by P.O. Bodding.12 The Santals possess a well-organized social structure with a clearly defined hierarchy of officers such as headman (man/hi), overseer of village morals (paranaik), religious functionaries (naeke), and bailiff (godet), with their attendant duties, rights and privileges. The village council (panchayat), where every properly initiated Santal adult gains membership, is the village high court, and the village market-place (hatia) is the center of weekly social gatherings and fellowship.

The Santal religious consciousness and its more concrete expressions (such as myths, rituals, and sacrifices) revolve around a large number of supernatural beings, powers, and spirits (bongas).13 According to Santal belief, their geo-physical landscape and supernatural world are peopled with these spirits and powers who conduct the course of nature, human events, and ultimately human destiny itself. In addition to these spirits, they believe in a number of impersonal powers residing in or connected with natural objects who are not worshiped but controlled through exorcism or magic exercised by the ritual specialist. So pervasive and central is this belief in spirits that some scholars describe Santal religion as “bongaism.”14 Their calendrical rites, seasonal festivals, and sacrificial rituals serve as concrete instruments for maintaining an appropriate relationship with the spirits that pervade the universe and ensuring societal stability and personal well-being. For an agricultural society that lives in jungle surroundings, constantly exposed to the threats of nature and dependent on natural resources for their survival, such a belief in supernatural beings or spirits only seems natural.

The Santal Sacred Grove

The Santal tradition has a number of beliefs, institutions, and practices that, seen from an environmental perspective, would appear potentially ecofriendly. Most notable among these is the institution ofjaherthan or sacred grove.15 Although the concept of the sacred grove is not unique to the Santals, the sacred grove plays a vital role in their social, cultural, and ritual life. \Typically, the Santal sacred grove, known asjaherthan, is a cluster of five trees- four sal trees locally known as sarjom (shorea robusla)and one mahua (bassia latifolia) tree-believed to be relics of the primeval forest. Each tree in the grove represents one of the five principal spirits of the tribe: Maran Buru (great mountain), Jaher Era (The Lady of the Sacred Grove), Moreko-Turuiko (five-six), Gosai Era (a female spirit), and Pargana Bonga (boundary spirit). The resident spirits of the sacred grove are revered as guardians of the society and held responsible for the success and failure of crops. Usually located at the end of the village, the exact location ofthejaherthan is determined by the first settlers of a Santal village after careful divination in which the principal spirits of the tribe themselves are said to demarcate the site through a human medium. Since no two villages share the same sacred grove even though the spirits of the grove are the same everywhere, the sacred grove serves as an important criterion to ascertain village membership. As such, it is an important cultural and religious identity marker. The construction of a sacred grove is one of the first communal tasks migrant Santals undertake when they settle in a new, alien location, especially in non-tribal areas.

As the abode of the tribal spirits and as the locus of community worship, the sacred grove (jaherthan) is the most auspicious sacred space for various ritual, cultural, and social celebrations. Religiously, it is the preeminent site of interaction between the Santals and the supernatural world. At principal Santal calendrical festivals the Santal dependence on the spirits is expressed through various propitiatory sacrifices and oblations. Of the seven annual community festivals involving elaborate ritual offerings, libations, and blood sacrifices-typically fowls-dedicated to the sacred grove spirits, the sohrae (harvest) festival, celebrated in December- January after the harvest is gathered, and the baha (flower) festival, held in February-March when the matkom trees begin to blossom, are the two most important festivals. The ritual taboos and etiquette prescribed for the village priest and the entire village society during these two major festivals have been well-documented by ethnographers.16

The cultural significance of the sacred groves in Santal communal life is evident insofar as the significant moments in a Santal’s life are marked by special celebrations and rituals observed in the sacred grove. It is the preeminent locus where an individual Santal’s social and cultural identities are constructed, celebrated, and reinforced. For example, both birth and death are said to pollute the sacred grove, its resident spirits, and the entire society so that no festival or worship might be held until proper purification ceremonies have been observed. Such pollution is ritually cleansed through specific rituals observed in the sacred grove. At various stages of the elaborate Santal marriage ceremonies, invocations, libations, and sacrifices are offered to the spirits of the sacred grove to ward off evil spirits and to ensure the future welfare of the couple and of the village. Maran Buru, ancestor spirits and spirits of the sacred grove (jaher bongos) are especially remembered and revered during marriage ceremonies. Of special note is ihe sindurdan ceremony, the main marriage rite. Sindurhas special religious and symbolic significance for the Santals for whom it serves a special medium and a ritual channel between themselves and the bongas. When sindur is applied on the forehead of the bride, the bride who until then is attached to her father’s bongas renounces allegiance to them and adopts those of her husband thus entering into a new stage of relationship with a new set of spirits.17 According to Santal belief, failure to ‘remember’ the spirits (bongas) at such occasions would bring disastrous consequences like epidemics and death.

A number of taboos-gender-specific as well as generic taboos- govern Santals’ attitude to the sacred grove. The most important gender-specific taboo concerns women’s participation in the ritual activities at the sacred grove. As a rule, women are not permitted to be present when sacrifices are offered nor can they eat the flesh of animals offered to the grove-spirits, whereas all properly initiated males are eligible to participate in the rituals performed at the sacred grove.’8 Additionally, all Santals are forbidden to “cut any of the sacred trees in thejaherthan or collect fallen branches.”19 The sacred character of the grove, reinforced by the taboos and prohibitions mentioned above, reveals the Santal reverence for the spirits and a concomitant respect for the natural environment. By and large, these taboos have helped prevent indiscriminate and largescale deforestation in densely populated districts like Dumka (formerly Santal Parganas). Admittedly, the Santals do use the natural resources available in the forest but such use is principally governed by basic needs of survival than by a desire for mass production or profit. For example, even when they cut trees, they cut only the branches to gather firewood for domestic use and a modest amount for sale, unlike non-Santals (dikhus) who fell trees for profit. During our recent fieldwork, Santal villagers. Christian missionaries, and NGO officials working among the Santals corroborated this fact. Additionally, the Indian government’s ruling that no non-Santal might purchase land in tribal areas like the district of Dumka has so far prevented the establishment of major industries in the area, thereby keeping the area relatively free of air pollution.

Some “Eco-friendly” Practices of Santals

Besides the institution of the sacred grove, the Santals have a number of cultural, social, and religious practices as well as lifestyle patterns that might also be viewed as promoting ecological virtues and behavior. A few examples would suffice. As an agricultural community, most Santal villagers grow, apart from rice, vegetables such as egg plant (brinjal), garlic, onion, radish (muli), bitter gourd (karela), potatoes, tomatoes, jackfruit, pumpkins, pulse (harhar), and beans (barbati) for domestic consumption as well as for sale in the hatia, the weekly market in the neighboring town that is usually several miles away from their homes. They also sell mangoes and dates (kajur) grown in the village; mahua flowers are dried and sold, their seeds generating oil for domestic use as well as for sale. Walking is the most conventional way of getting to and from the market-place (hatia)- center of social and economic commerce-although occasionally bicycles may also be used. This custom of walking several miles has both social and environmental benefits. Besides providing a social outlet and occasion for intra-village and inter-family fellowship, it also helps keep the air free of pollution.

As an agricultural society dependent on nature and its resources for survival, the Santals maintain a close relationship with the land and the natural environment in which they live. A middle-aged woman at Kukur Tapa, a remote village 11 kilometers from Dumka, stated: “We regard nature as Mother Earth. We cannot think of living without her. Our cultivation, trees, houses, our very living and existence depends on the Earth. We don’t view the land as something to be bought and sold but something that has to be preserved.”20 The traditional Santal farming system relies on organic manure and natural fertilizers. Each village or neighborhood has its compost pit where trash and waste are deposited and subsequently used as manure. Lately, however, there has been a notable change in farming methods as some Santals have taken to chemical fertilizers and pesticides to ensure greater yield of crops. Furthermore, often an entire village shares a single well or pond. The limited supply of water has also acted as an important incentive for the Santals to make careful and diligent use of available water resulting in a lived ethic of conservation.

Closely related to their frugal lifestyle is the Santal tendency to conserve and recycle. Given the limited industrial resources available in the region, the Santals make diligent and maximum use of the products they design frequently from their natural environs. For example, almost every Santal village in the Indian states of Jharkhand and West Bengal has bamboo groves from which baskets and other household items such as mri (puffed rice) packets, lids for rice pots, protective covers for saplings, umbrellas, hand-held fans, hampers, and mora (bamboo stool) are made. Other common bamboo items include doors, mats, winnowing fan, and brooms. Sal leaf cups made of sal leaves commonly used in Santal homes for serving tea is another item drawn from the natural environment. The leaf-cups are also used when taking herbal medicine prescribed by the village medicine man. While bamboo basket production is a cottage industry among the Santals, particularly among the Mahalis (a social sub- group of the Santals), leaf cup production is another cottage industry among the Santals who sell them to local non-Santal merchants who, in turn, use these to serve tea in their tea-stalls. Sal leaves are also used to make bidis, a local cigarette, for domestic use. Bidis however are not made for commercial purposes since the Santals fear that the money generated from such sales would be spent on excessive drinking, a major social ill among the Santal men. Thus, the natural environs not only generate ecological habits amongst the Santals and neighboring non-Santali populations but also provide economic incentives for the Santals to work towards the preservation of the natural flora and fauna. Their domestic utensils are generally made of copper, brass, or clay which reduces the need for plastic or paper products. Old brass and aluminum plate\s are exchanged for stainless steel plates. Furthermore, Santal women do not discard old saris and dhotis (cloth worn by men) but rather re-use them to tailor children’s clothes. During our field-research we learned that Santal villagers also use old clothes as layers in quilts and blankets. These practices not only reflect the poverty and frugality of Santal life but also show that the Santals make maximum use of their immediate environs for sustainable living without depleting natural resources.

Another characteristic feature of Santal culture is its reliance on tribal herbal medicines. While Santals view most diseases as unnatural, ascribing them to the agency of certain evil spirits which they believe can be counteracted through religious means, they also acknowledge the natural causes of ordinary illnesses. The curative system they have developed and used reflects an experiential knowledge of natural remedies for common diseases. For centuries the Santals have relied on an intricate indigenous herbal medicinal system that is grounded to some extent in the ancient Indian ayurvedic (“the knowledge of long life”) holistic medicinal system.21 While the ayurvedic system has a large corpus of texts, the Santal medicinal system is a folk tradition orally transmitted from one generation to the next. Put simply, the Santal attitude to illness and disease is a curious combination of “sense and superstition.”22 The Santals regard illness and disease as foreign and inimical to humans and acknowledge the natural causes and material nature of illness prescribing appropriate natural remedies. What is intriguing is that they rely on natural, organic resources like barks, leaves, roots, vegetable oil, hail water and dew to treat both physical and non-physical (psychological and/or spiritual) maladies. Bodding records a list of 305 Santal prescriptions for various human diseases and 15 veterinary medicines.23 In the opening pages of an informative essay titled “Santal Medicine,” Bodding comments that “Knowledge of their [Santal] medicine will… show their knowledge of nature, and how they use this knowledge.”24 He continues:

The medicines employed are mostly part of trees, shrubs or plants. Sometimes the leaves of the fruits are used; frequently it is the bark; or the roots, or the bark of roots. The last is so much the case that a common name of theirs for their own medicine, as distinguished from, e.g. European medicines, is rehet ran, lit. root medicine. They have an idea, that the roots of a tree, or what is underground, will preserve the inherent qualities better than what is above ground, exposed to all kinds of influences.25

What Bodding noted nearly a century ago holds true even today. Some examples might be helpful. Santal villagers use a potion prepared from tamarind leaves mixed with water as a remedy for diarrhea. Tamarind paste is used for healing various common body pains. They also use tamarind leaves for seasoning rice water. Other natural remedies for diarrhea are drawn from sal sarjom, bhel (a tropical fruit) and alma (berri) fruits. Similarly, as elsewhere in India, the Santals use neem leaves for various bodily ailments, including measles, while its twigs are used as tooth brushes. Besides neem twigs, the Santals have for centuries also used sal (Shorea robusta) twigs for dental hygiene. “This is used at one end, until it becomes something like a brush, and is then vigorously used, whereupon the mouth is rinsed with water. The sal contains some resin or juice that may likely be of some assistance in preserving, in any case in cleaning the teeth.”26 When Santals visit friends settled in areas where sal trees are not common, they carry sal twigs (dalauni, literally, tooth brush twigs) for their own use and as prized gifts to friends. Tulasi (basil) is used to fight common coughs and colds. Santals spread smoked cow-dung and neem leaves in their courtyards as mosquito-repellants, although malaria continues to be a major health hazard among the Santals.

Whereas the village medicine man (raranic) is believed to have comprehensive knowledge of roots and herbs and their medicinal power, most adult Santals are also cognizant of some of these medicines. For Santals, the diagnostic process not only entails adequate knowledge of the curative powers of such natural objects as leaves, herbs, and oil extracted from medicinal leaves and plants and the effective use of the natural environment and its resources but also certain beliefs in supernatural powers. Divination (sunum bonga), literally oil offering, is the common method to ascertain the final cause or origin of disease, death, and other unnatural maladies believed to be caused by supernatural agency like the bongas. Given their faith in an indigenous medicinal system, Santals tend to regard modern medicines as futile, although this situation is rapidly changing.27 Since nature and vegetation are a valuable resource for cure, rural Santals take special care not to destroy the vegetation or displace the natural environment partly out of self-interest and partly out of reverence for the spirits permeating the universe. All in all, the Santals demonstrate a deep respect for the land in which they live because their personal, social, and religious identities are intimately connected to their physical space.

Also worthy of note here is the prominent role Christian social development organizations have played in Santal social, economic, and religious life since the mid-eighteenth century. An important instance of missionary impact on the Santal ecological environment is evidenced in the development of gobor (cow-dung) gas plants for generating electricity. The gobor gas plant integrates traditional local knowledge and resources with modern technology where organic manure like cow dung is stored in a communal reservoir to generate gas for cooking as well as electricity for domestic consumption. Both foreign funds as well as, more recently, local funds have been deployed in the construction of such gas plants as a way of encouraging sustainable living. Other environmental initiatives undertaken by non-governmental organizations include the following: a) planting of tree saplings, b) promotion of natural fertilizers, c) discouragement of hybrid crops to promote sustainable land use, d) restoration of indigenous irrigation systems and facilities, e) initiation of water-shed programs to prevent soil erosion, and f) the maintenance of clean water system.28

Cross-Cultural Environmental Lessons

A close look at Santal social, cultural, and religious life and assumptions raises several important questions. Could Santals be legitimately considered conservationists or environmentalists given that their lifestyle seems to resonate with certain environmental ideals and objectives? Do Santals observe these practices for ecological reasons or for practical and religious considerations? To what extent does the intentionality of the agents matter when we seek exemplars of ecological lifestyle? Is it reasonable for modern societies to revert to or coopt such a pre-industrial and pre- literate ethos and life-style? What cross-cultural lessons might environmentalists draw from, for example, the Santal sacred groves? Are these immune to transplantation in a different cultural setting?

For some environmental scholars, a key issue concerning the ecofriendly cultural and religious practices of peasant societies and rural communities like the Santals is whether one can postulate a causal link between the nature friendly life-styles of rural, peasant cultures and environmentalism.29 According to Tomalin, such a fallacious causal postulation is due to the failure to distinguish between “instances of nature worship and the conscious, reflexive application of religious ideas to contemporary environmental concerns.” Speaking specially of sacred groves and tree-cult in India, Tomalin points out that “although the preservation of sacred grove… in India has retained large areas of biodiversity, such groves were more likely to have been protected because of the presence of the deity to whom the grove was dedicated than out of a desire to conserve the environment.”30 The current trend to regard primal and non-industrial societies as environmentally friendly, according to Tomalin, “is an interpretation of tradition rather than a traditional interpretation” because, she argues “whilst many religio-cultural traditions do have a strong connection with the natural world, elements of the natural world may be considered as sacred without any explicit consciousness about the relevance of this to environmental crisis.”31

In a similar vein, Nagarajan challenges the position adopted by some environmental scholars/activists like Vandana Shiva32 who have posited a necessary correlation between the Hindu perception of the sacred in nature and ecological conservation. Nagarajan writes:

I want to point out here the false leap or slurring that we sometimes allow within environmental discourse between identifying a belief or a way of life as ecological because a natural object is imbued with sacrality and the belief that it is thus necessarily conservation-oriented. Shiva assumes that if a natural object is labeled as sacred, then it will call forth a cultural lifestyle that is conserving of the environment… the practice of worshiping it [tulasi plant sacred to Hindu ritual] does not necessarily reflect on the conservation of the natural world. Therefore the assumption of Shiva and others… that worshipping the tulasi plant leads to a concomitant and parallel preservation of both the tulasi plant and the rest of natural world is unfounded.”.

The critiques of Tomalin and Nagarajan rightly serve as cautionary notes to environmentalists about the pitfalls of romanticizing peasant cultures and primal traditions. Indeed, our fieldwork findings suggest that the Santal taboos and r\ules governing the sacred grove, for example, are primarily intended to cultivate and demonstrate reverence to the spirits to whom the sacred grove is dedicated, to ensure the protection and support of the spirits for societal stability and to garner earthly blessings. Clearly, the notion of an “environmental crisis” is not in the forefront of Santal cultural and religious consciousness and to claim otherwise would be to falsely characterize Santal beliefs and worldview. Nonetheless, one can legitimately make the distinct and accurate claim that respect for and care of the environment are integral to the Santal lifestyle as demonstrated above, and that the Santals are, as several of their daily practices and commitments reveal, an ‘environmentally friendly’ tradition.

To what extent can Santal lifestyle serve as a cross-cultural model of ecological living? More specifically, could other rural and urban groups in Western societies draw lessons from the ecofriendly outlook and practices of the Santals? The Santal case-study brings out the myriad ways in which humans continue to depend on their natural environs for their day-to-day existence, ranging from economic, nutritional, and medical to religious, cultural, and identity-forming issues. One important lesson, sometimes forgotten in highly industrialized societies, is that humans continue to need natural habitats for their survival (and ironically, these today need human protection for their continued existence). Secondly, Santal practices further exemplify that human needs can be met in ways consistent with ecological objectives that are not destructive to nature insofar as they utilize natural resources while ensuring nature’s regenerative powers. Additionally, the Santal recognition of the medicinal value of plants serves as a reminder that traditional societies have for centuries effectively used indigenous herbal medicinal systems developed through local knowledge of native flora and fauna. Only fairly recently has the medical and scientific community in the west begun to recognize the herbal medicinal system as an effective, alternative curative system. Increasing recognition in the west of the largely unexplored medical potential of natural vegetation can help create an impetus towards scientific research pooling together human and other resources, thereby resulting in further environmental preservation and conservation efforts worldwide.

Would the transplantation of a sacred grove, say in a California town, yield a similar religious attitude and ethic among local residents? Rolston has rightly observed that “it is difficult to tear a practice out of the world view in which it is set, and what works in an Eastern climate might not work in Western culture because a particular conduct cannot be sustained without the metaphysics that backs it.”34 Needless to say, the Santal attitude to and valuation of the sacred grove are embedded in a specific historical context, religious framework, cultural ethos, and socioeconomic realities. Evidently, the modern industrial, often secular, context of the West would necessitate inevitable modifications in the specific form it assumes, its underlying assumptions and beliefs as well as in the practices associated with it. In the West, it could, for example, support the creation and maintenance of green spaces that might serve as centers of communal activities. The practices associated with such spaces would evidently be shaped by local values and ideals. The Green Gulch Center in California that seeks to relate traditional Zen Buddhist values and lifestyle to contemporary ecological ideals might be considered as a case-study of a transplanted tradition promoting the creation of a green space that serves both spiritual and ecological objectives.

A further and increasingly relevant question to be asked is: In what ways can the Santal case-study serve as an environmental lesson to other rural and urban communities in India? With globalization and increasing industrialization have come the challenges for countries like India to alleviate poverty and raise the standing of living of its people on the one hand without destroying the wealth of its own natural preserves on the other. The Santal case-study can serve as an important lesson to those who, in their rush to embrace the fruits of westernization, have lost touch with their own rich environmental heritage (both textual and oral), be it the confidence in herbal ayurvedic medicinal system or the reliance on natural products. The Santal case-study effectively illustrates how communities can live in harmony with climatic and other geographical features without spoilage of natural resources.

A close look at the social and economic realities governing Santal life would help temper any initial romanticism and produce a more realistic assessment of the cross-cultural value of Santal environmentalism. Even though the Santals have many ecofriendly beliefs and practices, they are by no means a model environmental community: That would call for greater sensitivity to health and hygiene, eco-conscious living, and eco-activism. None of these are overtly present among the Santals. Their ecofriendly lifestyle is determined to some extent by the existential contingencies of survival and poverty. Nonetheless, the ecological practices of Santals and their conservationist outlook towards nature and its resources expressed in their unique local customs and vernacular are indeed a powerful resource for cross-cultural environmental scholarship.

NOTES

1. David. Kinsley. Ecology and Religion: Ecological Spirituality in Cross-Cultural Perspective, (New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1995); Mary Evelyn Tucker, and John A. Gam.Worldviea’s and Ecology: Religion, Philosophy and the Environment, (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1994); Rosemary Radford Ruether,(ed.). Women Healing Earth: Third World Women on Ecology, Feminism, andReligion. (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1996); and J. Baird Callicott,& Roger T. Ames, (eds). Nature in Asian Traditions of Thought: Essays in Environmental Philosophy, (Albany, NY: SUNY Press., 1989. )

2. Baird Callicott. “Conceptual Resources for Environmental Ethics in Asian Traditions of Thought: A Propaedeutic” Philosophy East and West, 37 (2), 1987. pp. 115-130; Christopher Key Chappie and Mary Evelyn Tucker (eds). Hinduism and Ecology, (Cambridge, MA: Center for the Study of World Religion, Harvard Divinity School, 2000); Bill Devall and George Sessions, “Deep Ecology” in L. Pojman (ed.) Environmental Ethics (3rd edition), (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1985) pp. 157-161; and Arne Naess, “Ecosophy T: Deep Versus Shallow Ecology” in L. Pojman (ed.), Environmental Ethics (3rd edition), (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1985.), pp. 150-157.

3. Holmes Rolston III.. “Can the East Help the West to Value Nature?” Philosophy East and West. 37(2), 1987. pp. 172-190.

4. J. Baird Callicott and Roger T. Ames. (eds). Nature in Asian Traditions of Thought: Essays in Environmental Philosophy, (Albany, NY: SUNY Press., 1989.)

5. Ibid. ,p. 16.

6. Ibid

7. Ibid., p. 17.

8. J. Baird Callicott and Roger T. Ames. (eds.). Earth’s Insights: A Survey of Ecological Ethics from the Mediterranean Basin to the Australian Outback, (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press., 1994.) p. 12.

9. Gerald Larson. “Conceptual Resources in South Asia for ‘Environmental Ethics’” Philosophy East and West. 37(2), 1987. pp. 150-159.

10. J. Baird Callicott and Roger T. Ames. (eds.). Earth’s Insights: A Survey of Ecological Ethics from the Mediterranean Basin to the Australian Outback, p. 12.

11. A differently focused discussion of Santal religion and nature appears in Raj (2005).; and James Heitzman and Robert Wordern. (eds). India: A Country Study, (Washington, D.C. Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, 1996.), p. 200.

12. P.O. Bodding. Traditions and Institutions of the Santals- Horkoren Mare Hapramko Reak Katha, (Oslo: A.W. Broggers Boktrykkeri., 1942); and C.H. Bompas, Folklore of the Santal Parganas, (London: David Nutt, 1909.)

13. In the Santal religious scheme, the supernatural world includes, besides the collection of numerous bongos, other supernatural powers like the rakas (monsters), bhuts (ghosts), and curin (female goblins with terrifying appearance).

14. B.C. Mazumdar. The Aborigines of the Highland of Central India, (Calcutta: Calcutta University, 1927.)

15. Interestingly, two Catholic institutions in the Catholic diocese of Dumka, Bihar, have been named Jisu Jaher (literally, the sacred grove of Jesus). The attribution of indigenous names to nonindigenous figures and institutions coheres with the general Santal syncretic strategy, where an indigenous name and meaning, minus the object of attention, i.e. bongas, are integrated into the new religious system.

16. Joseph Troisi. (ed.). Readings in Tribal Life, (Delhi: Indian Social Institute, Vol. 1, 1979.)

17. Joseph Troisi. Tribal Religion: Religious Beliefs and Practices among the Santals, (Delhi: Manohar, 1978), pp. 186-187.

18. While women are excluded from public ritual contexts, they play an assertive role in the domestic sphere and in non-religious public setting, helping, for example, to reduce alcoholism among men, promoting literacy programs, and forming self-help groups. This information was gathered during our recent field-research among the Santals of Dumka district, Jharkhand in June, 2005.

19. Troisi, Joseph. Tribal Religion: Religious Beliefs and Practices among the Santals, p. 227.

20. Interview on June 28, 2005 at Kukur Tapa.

21. For a concise discussion of the contrast between traditional herbal medicine and Western medicinal systems, see D.P. Agarwal. “Traditional Herbal Medicine and Western Approach: A Contrast,” 2004. M.J. Bhandary and K.R. Chandrashekar. “On Scientific Reevaluation of Traditional Herbal Medicine.” Current Science 81(9), 2001, pp 1153-1154.

22. P.O. Bodding, “Santals and Disease,” Memoi\rs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta, vol 10 (1), 1925, p. 8.

23. P.O. Bodding. “Santal Medicine,” Memoirs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta, vol. 10 (2), 1927, pp. 135-426.

24. Ibid., p. 133.

25. Ibid., p. 149.

26. Ibid., p. 145. The practice of using neem twigs as tooth brushes is fairly widespread in rural India. On the medicinal qualities and antibacterial properties of neem tree that have been scientifically tested in Western countries, see Vasudha Narayanan. “‘One Tree Is Equal to Ten Sons’: Hindu Responses to the Problems of Ecology, Population, and Consumption,” Journal of the American Academy of Religion. 65(2), 1997. pp, 291-332.

27. Recently governmental and non-governmental agencies have made concerted efforts to make available allopathic medicines in remote villages to combat malaria, diarrhea, and other common diseases.

28. Information on Christian missionary initiatives was gained during an interview with Rev. Christudas, Director of Social Development Center, Dumka, on June 28, 2005.

29. Gladys Parentelli. “Latin America’s Poor Women” in R. R Ruether (ed.) Women Healing Earth: Third World Women on Ecology, Feminism, and Religion, (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1996.), pp. 29- 38; and Gabriele Dietrich. “The World as the Body of God: Feminist Perspectives on Ecology and Social Justice” in R. R. Ruether (ed.) Women Healing Earth: Third World Women on Ecology, Feminism, and Religion, pp. 82-98.

30. Emma Tomalin. “The Limitations of Religious Environmental ism” Worldviews. 6(1), 2002. p. 16.

31. Ibid., p. 15.

32. Vandana Shiva. Staying Alive: Women, Ecology, and Development. (London: Zed Books, 1989.)

33. Vijaya Nagarajan. “The Earth as Goddess Bhu Devi: Toward a Theory of “Embedded Ecologies” in Folk Hinduism” in L. E. Nelson (ed.) Purifying the Earthly Body of God: Religion and Ecology in Hindu India. (Albany: SUNY Press, 1998.), pp. 269-296.

34. Holmes Rolston III.. “Can the East Help the West to Value Nature?” p. 174.

By Selva J. Raj and Bindu Madhok*

* Selva J. Raj is Chair and Stanley S. Kresge Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Department of Religious Studies, Albion College, Albion, MI 49224; and Bindu Madhok is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Albion College.

Copyright Association of Third World Studies, Inc. Spring 2007

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