A Survey of the Ethnobotanical Knowledge of the Birhoɽ People of India

As researchers from the non-profit organization Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages, we conducted a three-year study of Birhoɽ, an endangered Munda language of Jharkhand, India. Our work documenting the traditional plant knowledge of the Birhoɽ resulted in a 159-page study of 94 local plant species as well as their Birhoɽ names and various types of uses.

This study deals with the cultural traditions of the Birhoɽ tribe, how they manage and wield knowledge of their local ecology or natural habitat, and specifically how they use some of the many plants found in their area of habitation.

The intention of the study is to acknowledge that indigenous Birhoɽ people are of vital importance for local biological (and linguistic) conservation. It also serves to celebrate the vast environmental knowledge that the Birhoɽ community of India possesses and utilizes to their benefit. While this study is published in English to allow the widest possible group of readers worldwide to gain insight into the vast environmental knowledge of the Birhoɽ community, we are also preparing a version in the Birhoɽ language for local community use alone. There is a diversity of knowledge regarding local environmental resources that characterizes different members of Birhoɽ society, resulting from the different and varied roles and activities of each social actor in their community depending on their age and duties, as well as the level of specialization needed to attain knowledge of certain features.

We examined Birhoɽ traditional plant knowledge by conducting interviews with members of the same family from different age ranges and genders to determine gradients or specialization of knowledge across these groups, and how they may differ or have changed over time. Male and female members of the community with their specific gendered, individual, ethno-medical knowledge were encouraged to share their specialized domains of information. All collaborators are listed below. The Birhor plant data in this publication is also being stored at the Tropicos database, which is maintained by the Missouri Botanical Garden.

During the course of this research, we also focused on creating and providing community resources that will benefit present and future Birhor generations. We produced the first-ever Birhoɽ children's book and an online Birhoɽ Living Dictionary, both of which contain a wide range of ecological knowledge drawn from the ethnobotanical publication. These projects were funded by the Zegar Family Foundation, and their support is gratefully acknowledged.

Dr. Gregory D. S. Anderson (author)
livingtongues@gmail.com

• https://livingtongues.org/birhor/

Providers ID
ISBN 978-1-953999-01-6

Publication DOI
None

Project Data GUID
None

The BC (Biocultural) Notice is a visible notification that there are accompanying cultural rights and responsibilities that need further attention for any future sharing and use of this material or data. The BC Notice recognizes the rights of Indigenous peoples to permission the use of information, collections, data and digital sequence information (DSI) generated from the biodiversity or genetic resources associated with traditional lands, waters, and territories. The BC Notice may indicate that BC Labels are in development and their implementation is being negotiated.

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