Abstract
This chapter presents a syncretic tradition of interaction between indigenous and other communities through museum exhibits. Indigenous cultures as diverse as they are, from primitive hunter-gatherers and pastoralists to industrial city dwellers and in terms of diverse life styles tribal, folk and urban, find a proper place in museum. The diversity is often depicted as an integrated pattern of culture in which all the varying forms of cultural life fit like pieces in a mosaic. But for an average Indian, it is difficult to visualize elements of unity in an apparently divergent cultural milieu spread over length and breadth of the country. Under such a situation, museums play a significant role by providing a platform for interaction and education of the society at large and by disseminating the knowledge of biological and cultural aspects of humankind from prehistoric to contemporary times. The discussion in this chapter depicts such a dynamic role of museums. Precisely, present chapter is an attempt to highlight the different dimensions of anthropological museum and how it is useful for envisaging and preserving the tribal culture and their heritage.
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Notes
- 1.
The various cultural properties or curious objects, which are collected for the museum, are known as museum collection (see Khatua 2011:1).
- 2.
The objects, which are acquired from an ethnic group, are known as ethnographic objects (see Khatua 2012:86).
- 3.
The Lakshadweep Islanders refer to places like Cochin, Calicut of Kerala and Mangalore of Karnataka as mainland. These nearby places from the Islands are often accessed by ship for their daily needs and health-care services.
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Khatua, N. (2020). Envisaging Tribal Culture and Decoding Anthropological Museums. In: Behera, M. (eds) Tribal Studies in India. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9026-6_13
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