Indigenous People of Niyamgiri and Foucault’s Heterotopia

Dr. Shruti Das

Associate Professor, P.G. Department of English, Berhampur University (Odisha)

Sir Thomas More’s 1561 fiction Utopiasupposed an ideal space in an island off the coast of the Americas where he compared and critiquedthe social and economic condition of the then Europe with his ideal society. Since then this perfect imaginary human habitat or “utopia” has gained currency as a concept and also as a genre. Utopia has become a synonym for a remote and ideal place where nothing, including law, Government and social conditions, is imperfect. (Miriamwebster.com) Francoise Choayin 1986 defined utopia as a space or a model society that is the opposite of a real society and exists outside the space and time coordinates of real society. Further, this utopia is not subject to any change whether physical or temporal. Michel Foucault was the first to seriously think about utopia as an ‘othered’ space, albeit imaginary. In his essay “Of Other Spaces: Utopias and Heterotopias,” published in 1984, Foucault has spoken about real spaces existing in every culture that are counter-sites which are represented, contested and inverted by the enacting utopia, which present society in perfected forms and which are fundamentally unreal spaces. Such a place, or countersites, Foucault calls “Heterotopia.”(3-4) Thus “Heterotopias” are real spaces existing within society yet “othered” and they are in reality effectively enacted utopias.Hutchins and Giardino in their essay “Foucault’s Heterotopias as Play Spaces” find a parallel between Foucault’s heterotopias and Johan Huizinga’s concept of the Magic Circle. Like Foucault Huizinga too “asserts that play spaces are defined by spatial, temporal, and social boundaries defined through ritual actions and agreements which create another form of self-delineated otherness that is taken on temporarily for play”(10) The play spaces are real spaces where everyday life is enacted.

Foucault has defined six principles of heterotopias to further his argument. In the first principle of heterotopias he explains that all cultures have heterotopias which may be categorized as the ‘heterotopias of crisis’ and ‘heterotopias of deviation’. Crisis heterotopias are reserved, privileged or sacred spaces for members of primitive societies in “crisis”, that is, a society that maybe within a larger society but in an involuntary state of being that is different and does not appear “normal” to the outside world.Foucault believes that the first kind, that is, the heterotopias of crisis is disappearing with modernisation and giving way to the second kind which is heterotopias of deviation. This can be related to the reality of the indigenous people who resist development and assimilation and want to continue living in their natural habitat and are considered to be other than normal by society. In the second principle he discusses the specific function of heterotopias. The real spaces evolve as society evolves and becomes more aware of itself. For example when the streams dried and it became difficult for the Dongria Kondhs to live in the dangerous terrain on the top of Niyamgiri hills they moved to the slopes and the foothills. In the third principle Foucault talks about different heterotopias, sometimes incompatible, brought together and clubbed as one.The fourth principle states that heterotopias are temporal and temporary spaces that can be erased after the specific purpose, such as a village fair. The fifth principle describes how heterotopias have a system whereby one can enter and exit a space very much akin to the principle of entry and exit of the Magic Circle. The heterotopias is seen as isolated and at the same time penetrable. In the sixth principle of heterotopias Foucault describes the relationship of heterotopic spaces to the outside space. This space may be illusory of even psychologically gratifying.

The Dongria Kondhs are a small indigenous primitive community living in the Eastern Ghats in the State of Odisha in India.(Tatpati, Kothari and Mishra 2) As per the 2011 survey there are about 6264 surviving Dongria Kondhs (the female population is about 3608). They live in 64 hamlets in the steep slopes of the Niyamgiri ranges towards the Southern most tip of Odisha. They are concentrated in the Chatikona, Kurli, Bissamkatak and Muniguda Blocks. Their recent history is characterized by resistance to the promise of development, to economic exploitation and exploitation of their way of life, their habitat, the Niyamgiri hills and the flora and fauna therein, by a British Multinational Aluminium extraction Company, Vedanta Aluminium Limited, who wants to mine the Bauxite that forms the top layers of Niyamgiri. Such developmental agencies profess a utopia for these people. In fact, such professed utopia is counterproductive as it oversteps the immediate reality, is impractical and unreal as it proposes to claim nature and natural resources that have sustained the DongriaKondhs over centuries, supplementing them with a better/modern lifestyle. In the context this paper is tempted to analyse the condition of the DongriaKondhs and the Niyamgiri Mountains as a heterotopias. Here my attempt is to examine how the DongriaKondhs who live in their real, cultural and sustainable ‘space’ are being othered by external forces such as the Governmental, religious and Multinational corporations who intend to “Civilize” these people and aculturize them into modern ways of life. A heterotopias is created when the Dongria Kondhs ‘other’ themselves by resisting external forces and engage with their own people isolated by larger society.

Stories and myths, which form the cultural ethos of the Kondh people have been collected and the Kondh society per se is examined as the text. This paper sets out to be qualitative, multidisciplinary, involving ethnographic data along with oral literary data collected from the Kondhs themselves and from various books, journals and websites offering material about the Kondhs their faith in nature and natural resources, their livelihood, reality, their resistance to surrendering their habitat, the Niyamgiri ranges, and how they are presented as a negative stereotype by the non-tribal society. As a theoretical backdrop to my analysis I have adapted Michel Foucault’s theory of Heterotopias, especially the first principle. Crisis heterotopias are reserved, privileged or sacred spaces for members of primitive societies in “crisis”, that is, a society that is different and does not appear “normal” to the outside world. Historically, primitive groups or indigenous people have been placed in the fringes of society which is a defined exotic space and may be comparable to Huizinga’s Magic Circle. In this study the Magic Circle encircles the DongriaKondhs, who have been put into places far away from society, that are separate, with their own history and cultural norms of behaviour and thus they appear different to the society outside. This contradicts what the Kondhs see themselves as. They see themselves as one of the prime races of mankind. They strongly believe in their history, propagated through myths, that they are the original inhabitants of the Earth, emerging out of the earth by the grace of their Gods and thus they have a special relationship with the Earth Goddess, Dharni Penu.

The Kondhs believe in their myths as profound truths and practice their traditions unfailingly. Basically animists, they are deeply concerned about their origin and the creation of the world, which form the basis of their understanding about their surroundings, about the humans and humanity and the intrinsic values of their own culture. Creation myths generally express the idea how a culture and a people came to be. They are pre scientific tales of existence and are mostly romantic. Gods and heroes are used by primitive societies to explain their history, cultural practices, traditions, the natural world around them and their response to it. To the DongriaKondhs the Earth Goddess, DharniPenu, is a human incarnation participating actively in their daily lives. She is also known as Nirantali, the creator goddess. (Das, Creation Myth 66-69) The Kondhsstrongy believe that, “In the beginning there was nothing but water. Nirantali-Kapantali emerged to the Earth’s surface as Saphaganna. After her came other gods and the first humans, who were Konds.” The humans could not live on water so upon their request Nirantali sank the water down and made rocks emerge. Still there was no Earth, so the Kondhs begged Nirantali to give them earth. She took mercy on the humans, and as myth goes she produced earth from her hair and spit. Her spit formed white ants who excreted earth. “Others say she sent the Konds to search for earth” which they could not find and eventually scratched the rock with their nails. The rock took mercy on them and they could excavate earth.

They took four handfuls of earth, – black, white, red, and yellow- which Nirantali told them to throw in four directions.Now the earth was spread over the rock, but it still was not firm… they set up a bamboo pole and sacrificed a cow, a buffalo and a pig before it, and the earth became hard and dry. The bones of their victims became rocks and the hair became trees and grass. Nirantali created other creatures and plants from beeswax and dirt on her body…. All their deities are closely connected with nature, identified with features of the local environment or natural forces including diseases. As well as priests they have diviners and shamans, who go into trance to communicate with spirits. (Padel 2-18)

The Kondhs practice a thoroughly “Shamanic religion” and equality is a “powerful ideal” in their culture. Everybody has right to equal land and there is no landed landlord and landless labourer. The society is open and equal too, the women are not bound by double standards of sexual morality and enjoy the same status as men in marriage and love. They do not know anything beyond on Niyamgiri.

The Niyamgiri hill range spreads across the Kalahandi and Rayagada districts of the state of Orissa in eastern India. The hills are home to one of the most pristine forests in India and a variety of wildlife; a proposal has been made to establish a wildlife sanctuary there. The economy of the DongriaKondhs, one of the oldest indigenous tribal populations of India, is based on hunting, gathering, and subsistence agriculture, for which the fertile lands and ecology of the Niyamgiri are vital. The group follows syncretic beliefs combined with animism, and within their religious order, the highest importance is given to the Dharani penu(Earth God) and the NiyamPenu(the Niyamgiri God). Accordingly, the Niyamgiri hills are the very representation of their living god, their creator and sustainer. The Niyamgiri Range is also rich in mineral resources, in particular bauxite, from which aluminum is derived. Vedanta Aluminium Ltd., an Indian subsidiary of Vedanta Resources PLC, operates a giant aluminum refinery right at the foot of the Niyamgiri Hill. (Qtd. Menon 10656).

In this connection we may appropriate Foucault’s argument that, “In the so-called primitive societies, there is a certain form of heterotopias that I would call crisis heterotopias, i.e., there are privileged or sacred or forbidden places, reserved for individuals who are, in relation to society and to the human environment in which they live, in a state of crisis” (4) The Dongrias hold their mountain sacred. The forest in and around Niyamgiri where their God Niyam Raja resides is a heterotopia for them.The Government’s utopian ideas of ‘opening up’ the tribal spaces for non tribal people encouraging them to ‘civilize’ the tribals is the major bane. It has systematically created a negative stereotype of the adivasis or the tribal people, “the idea or belief that tribals are dirty, naked, promiscuous,lazy, addicted to drink, superstitious, and essentially ‘ignorant’ and ‘backward’…” (Padel 290)The negative stereotypes held by the isolationists are essentially a hangover from British colonialism. The DongriaKondhs believe Niyamgiri to be a sacred site, where they have lived for centuries in harmony with the nature, sustaining and self sufficient. A “single family,” notes Manipadma Jena, “harvesting an average of 130 kg of wild produce in a single year. Their varied and nutritious diet, which includes over 25 species of plants, comes directly from the forests, while springs originating in the Niyamgiri hills provide fresh, clean water all year round.” (Jena IPS Web)Dongrias have a nexus of food with the forests and Niyamgiri. Manipadma Jena argues that the isolationists, who have created a negative stereotype of these tribals and exploit them by intruding into their habitat, should learn from the Dongrias the sustainable food-forest nexus.

The struggle of the DongriaKondhs is clearly a crisis heterotopia trying to save the ecosystem on which they depend for livelihood sustenance.“Over centuries, the DongriaKondhs have helped to maintain the rich biodiversity of their forests, which is home to tigers, leopards, giant squirrels and sloth bears. The DongriaKondh have no over-arching political or religious leader; clans and villages have their own leaders and individuals with specific ceremonial functions, including the beju and bejuni, male and female priests. The Dongria believe that animals, plants, mountains and other specific sites and streams have a life-force or soul, jela, which comes from the mother goddess” (www.survivalinternational.org). For them there is no distinction between the self and the Other. They live in perfect harmony with their ecological environment. The ravaging of their mountains for bauxite would result in gross health and environmental hazards.(Das 51-52) Their underlying cosmo-visions or worldviews, history and cultural and physical space are fundamentally different from the way in which the modern, ‘developmentalist’ economy looks at nature and natural resources. Foucault explains,

The space in which we live, which draws us out of ourselves, in which the erosion of our lives, our time and our history occurs, the space that claws and gnaws at us, is also, in itself, a heterogeneous space. In other words, we do not live in a kind of void, inside of which we could place individuals and things. We do not live inside a void that could be colored with diverse shades of light, we live inside a set of relations that delineates sites which are irreducible to one another and absolutely not superimposable on one another. (Of Other Spaces3)

The mountain that protects the Dongria giving them food and shelter is such a site that cannot be reduced to a mine, no external culture be it Hinduism or Christianity can be superimposed on their religious beliefs. The struggle of the Dongria against the forces of destruction stands in line with many such contemporary struggles in India and abroad, including the “Kalinga and Bontok peoples against the Chico River Basin Development Project in the Philippines, the Wet’suwet’en Nation against the tar sands and gas pipelines project in British Columbia, the Guarani peoples against commercial plantations on their territories in Brazil” (kalpabriksh.org) and the Wajan and Jagalingou peoples against coal mining in Queensland, Australia, to name a few. Padel cites Bailey and Levi Strauss and observes that

…in most tribes’ histories the world over we find periods of intense imposition by outsiders. British conquest brought Konds into the world economic system, making highland an ‘economic frontier’, where several political systems meet… For Konds as for so many other tribes this introduced an element of discontinuity into their history. The whole pattern of their relations with outsiders was transformed in such a way as to undermine their independence. To call this whole process of change’ economic and social development’ masks this basic fact (Levi-Strauss 1978) 22

The model of economic development followed both by developed and developing nations is entrenched in structural violence against indigenous people and the natural world and is gradually wiping out the diversity of societies, cultures and livelihoods that exist around the world. As a case in point I would like to cite an email written by the Lakota Warrior Woman, Madonna Thunder Hawk, to Christina Nichol (which she was generous enough to share with me), as recently as Sat, Mar 23, 2019 at 7:07 AM, stating the new Lakota Law and the Cheyenne River Nations protest against Big Oil Company pushing pipelines through their territory. Madonna is appalled that theGovernment has passed legislature preventing them from protesting for their rights:

In the wake of the movement at Standing Rock, Big Oil has not slowed its efforts to push pipelines through our Native nations. And now, as the battle over Keystone XL brews in South Dakota, the state legislature has passed two laws — SB 189 and SB 190 — meant to curb our constitutionally-protected right to protest.(Madonna email)

The case is similar the world over. Priya Ranjan Sahu in his article “Odisha: Relative of tribal group chief opposing Vedanta mines arrested on charges of being Maoist,” reports that a 20 year old girl, Kuni Sikaka, who was protesting the mining of Niyamgiri by VAL(Vedanta Aluminium Company), was arrested by the Odisha Police under the pretext that she was a Maoist terrorist. This is similar to the State terrorism a continuation of colonization that these primitive people are subject to. The police officer, K Siva Subramani tells Scroll in that,

20-year-old Kuni Sikaka, daughter in law of NSS’ co-convenor Dodi Pusika, was arrested from Gorta village in the Niyamgiri hills. “We apprehended her after she was found to be a Maoist. Now we are motivating her to surrender. She will get all benefits as per the state government surrender policy if she surrenders” (Sahu Scroll.in)

The DongriaKondhs through their resistance struggles against the mega mining company Vedanta have already exhibited how they grapple with the present day version of neo-colonialism that they are subjected to. They have articulated their own responses to local and global crises. The Dongrias engage in an emotional challenge to protect Niyamgiri Mountain, a pristine space in nature, whose habitation and subsistence are deeply integral to the sacred, sustainable, life-giving capacity of Niyamgiri. Their situation is, what in Foucauldian par lance would be, a heterotopias of crisis. The enforced assimilation by depriving them of their natural habitat and resources would mean giving in to a ‘deviation heterotopias’ and the traditional knowledge system and original economic model of sustainability would be lost. It is pertinent to conclude with Jena observation that,

… one need only look up at the Niyamgiri hills for a lesson on an alternative economic model, one based on community management and control of land and resources, rather than the rampant destruction of living ecosystems for profit.

Here in Odisha, the forest-food nexus meets the accumulated traditional knowledge of an ancient people, pointing the way to a horizon where hunger is a thing of the past, not the future. Web.