UP Government Starts Tribal Tourism

Table of Contents

The Tharu people are an ethnic group indigenous to the Terai in southern Nepal and northern India.
They are recognized as an official nationality by the Government of Nepal.
In the Indian Terai, they live foremost in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
The Government of India recognizes the Tharu people as a scheduled tribe.
Tharu people worship mainly their tribal Goddess (The Earth) called as ‘Bhumsen’ in their folk language. They worship Lord Shiva as Mahadev.
This community has a paternal family system but women have a high position and more rights
Tharu people plant rice, wheat, mustard, corn and lentils, but also collect forest products such as wild fruits, vegetables, medicinal plants and materials to build their houses.
They hunt deer, rabbit and wild boar, and go fishing in the rivers and oxbow lakes.
The Tharus never went abroad for employment – a life that kept them isolated in their own localities.
The most striking aspects of their environment are the decorated rice containers, colourfully painted verandahs and outer walls of their homes using only available materials like clay, mud, dung and grass.
Most Tharu tribals consume alcoholic beverages, and some eat beef. They eat rice with chutney or curry – and ghonghi, an edible snail

What is Tribal Tourism?

Tribal tourism refers to a new form of travel in which tribes allow tourists to visit their villages in order to be “exposed to a culture completely different from [their] own. In recent years, this opportunity to experience “authentic” indigenous life has grown in popularity across the globe.
Popular in Brazil, Guatemala, Peru etc.

Tharu villages in Balrampur, Bahraich, Lakhimpur and Pilibhit, will be connected to the ‘Home Stay Scheme’ of the UP Forest department without disrupting their existing environment and tourists will be able to live in these natural habitats in these huts.
The forest corporation would also train the Tharu people to communicate in a better way with the tourists and they would also guide the tribes in terms of behaving in a certain manner with the visitors.

Often these experiences turn into unsavoury “human safaris”, as with the Jarawa in the Andaman Islands,
The Andaman Trunk Road cuts through their territory, and despite committing to closing it, the Indian government has not yet acted.
The road has opened up the Jarawa reserve to poachers and settlers, but also to tourists.

Example of Ethiopia Mursi tribe tourism
Vehicles full of tourists will arrive in Mursiland, then briefly stop to take photos before heading back. There’s no meaningful exchange, and most Mursi do it grudgingly.
Aware that these visitors don’t want to emulate their way of life, to learn about them or to get to know them – they just want an exotic souvenir – this makes many of the Mursi feel frustrated and exploited.
The irony is that many of the Mursi’s adornments aren’t part of how they usually dress or decorate themselves, but have been added to better fit the images tourists have come to expect. It’s hardly an enriching experience for either side.