I've travelled India since the 70's and had
never heard of the tribal people who live
in Orissa.There are many different tribes and in
2007 I visited six.

The Bondas are the most primative, living in the
hills and still hunting with bows and arrows.
The women shave their heads and wear up to
250 strings of small beads without clothes.

Like many Asian minorities they are anamist,
and the women are the dominant sex.
This is totally at odds in a Hindu/Muslim society,
as are many of their sexual practices.

The Indian government are trying very hard
to pull these people into "normal" society,
sometimes by knocking their houses down
and building concrete blocks for them to live in.
This and land grabbing has pushed them back
in to the hills and made them more militant.

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