Indigenous Himalayan Futures in Troubled Times

Keywords: Indigenous geographies; Indian Himalaya; Indigenous youth
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Monday
Session Start / End Time: 2/28/2022 09:40 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/28/2022 11:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 24

Abstract

The Indian Himalayan region characterized by colonial authorities as India’s “Mongolian Fringe” due to its geographic and racial proximity to China and South-East Asia, continues to be viewed with suspicion and anxiety by the postcolonial Indian state. At present, heightened right-wing nationalism and infrastructural development across the Himalaya, are severely undermining Indigenous territorial sovereignty. Indigenous organizations have responded to these troubled times through a valorization of their sacred ties to ancestral territories. A critical appraisal of this valorization is warranted since in many instances Indigenous territorial rights, have been weaponized to curtail the rights of "outsiders" including religious minorities and migrant populations (such as the figure of the "Bangladeshi Muslim" in Northeast India). Drawing on research with Indigenous youth from Sikkim and Ladakh, and in conversation with critical Indigenous scholars like Kyle Whyte, Zoe Todd, Dolly Kikon and Virginius Xaxa, I attempt to think through the radical potential of Indigenous "relations and relationality" with an animate, vital landscape, and the possibilities/limitations of translating this into just and ethical relationships with non-Indigenous minorities and marginalized groups in the Indian Himalayas, and beyond. This intersection of concerns offers a productive entry into theorizing decolonization and Indigenous geographies in the Indian context and an opportunity to think with Indigenous scholars across contexts.