Forest Medicine

We are tribals, we are nature worshippers. We always depend on trees and plants to live. We sustain our livelihood by eating its tubers, fruits, and roots.

— PRADEEP KUMAR KANHAR · Boudh, Odisha

We Adivasi communities are communities that depend on nature, collect roots and tubers from the forests, and use them as food, which is very nutritious and also serves as medicine.

— Ram Kumari

We tribals cut down forests to build our homes and live in the forest itself. From the forest, we get roots, flowers, and delicious fruits, and we sustain our lives from them, and we also do farming.

— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

We tribal people bring herbs from the forest to treat many diseases, for the well-being of people.

— Ram Maravi · Dindori, Madhya Pradesh

My name is Rina Kuonro. We are the tribal indigenous people. We produce food and collect from the forest, and we express our desire to live with the forest or with nature. This is a humble request to the government for us, and please pay attention to the forest-derived food that we can obtain.

— RITARANI PRADHAN · Raikia, Kandhamal, Odisha

We tribal people bring herbs from the forest and treat ailments, which is very important for health.

— Ram Maravi · Dindori, Madhya Pradesh

Tribals consume their food, roots, vegetables, etc., and live their lives well.

— Ram Maravi · Dindori, Madhya Pradesh

We tribals are completely different from other castes; our ancestors used to live in forests and sustained themselves by eating fruits, flowers, etc., from the forest.

— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

The lifestyle, food, and traditions of the tribe are naturally connected to nature.

— SUKDEV HEMBRAM

We, the tribal people, worship nature. We worship trees and plants. We are always with nature.

— PRADEEP KUMAR KANHAR · Boudh, Odisha

Our community lives by building homes in the forests, hunting wild animals, and sustaining themselves by eating tamarind, mango, guava, and other produce found in the forest. Thus, they belong to a different way of life.

— bachcha lal · Shahganj, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

To define our tribe, first of all, we live in jungle villages and use herbs and all kinds of medicines.

— bachcha lal · Ormaura, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

Our tribe is completely different from other castes. Our lifestyle and food habits are completely different. We are completely dependent on nature. We also get various food items from nature. We worship nature.

— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

My name is Maneni Pradhan, from Raikakonda Malu. We, the indigenous original inhabitants, produce food from the forest and want to live with nature. We are expressing this desire. We are humbly requesting the government that all these efforts be made for us.

— RITARANI PRADHAN · Raikia, Kandhamal, Odisha

The Makadia tribe's life and livelihood depend on the forest. They live by gathering and selling fruits, flowers, roots, medicinal herbs, and mushrooms from the forest as food. They respect whatever their elders say. When food in one forest runs out, they move to another forest.

— Anirudha Marai

My tribal people, living in the forest far from the city and making food from forest produce.

— bachcha lal · Shahganj, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

Tribal people generally live in forests, live in hills, eat forest products, so they lead a different life from ordinary people.

— Kunakanta Behera · Dashapalla, Nayagarh, Odisha

Adivasi is neither a caste nor a pretense; it has its own civilization and culture. It relies entirely on nature. We Adivasis live in forests, live an independent life, and have a unique art of living.

— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

Our diet. We are in a jungle area. The jungle's herbs and some of its air. Now, due to its influence, our diet is different. We remain healthy for this reason because we rely on herbs; when we wake up in the morning, it's the herbs...

— ANIL KUMAR · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

My name is Rashmita Pradhan. Just as our ancestors remained healthy by eating fruits and roots found in the forest, prepared without chemicals, we also wish to eat the same food now. We are from tribal-dominated areas. Our forest is our lifeline. Therefore, our ancient traditions should be restored, and our forest should not be destroyed. Thank you. Raika Kandhamal.

— RITARANI PRADHAN · Raikia, Kandhamal, Odisha

We are people who are respected even from childhood. Living far from the city, in villages, forests, and mountains, we practice wild farming and consume herbal remedies, and that's why (we are of) another kind.

— bachcha lal · Shahganj, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

We indigenous people used to eat roots and tubers from the forests and sustained ourselves with them. These also served as medicine, keeping our bodies healthy. Even today, we should use roots and tubers.

— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

Our tribe has been living in this village for a long time. We are natives of the surrounding area. Now, medicinal herbs...

— Vijay Kumar bhardwaj · Kasdol, Baloda Bazar, Chhattisgarh

Our tribe lives in the forest, far from villages and cities, and for food, they eat mahua, dori, koyna, this street, etcetera, kola.

— bachcha lal · Shahganj, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

We get various types of fruits and roots from the forest.

— Laba Kumar sabar · Bada Baridi, Rayagada, Odisha

Our tribe is different from other tribes because our festivals, food, lifestyle, worship, and everything else is different. We live our lives according to our own ways; our eating and drinking habits are also different, and we also eat tubers and fruits from the forests.

— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

Tribal people used to build homes after cutting down forests and used herbs, fruits, and food from the forest. And they used to drink Chuwada water. That's why tribal people are different.

— Chanda

The factors that define our tribe are mostly living around the forest, along with our dress and traditional attire.

— Sunil oraon · Ranchi, Jharkhand

I am Juno Chhatria. We are tribal people. We used to live by cultivating the forest and land. We used to eat fruits and roots from the forest, and we used to eat food without fertilizers, and we were not victims of any disease. Currently, we are eating food with fertilizers and are facing various diseases. That's why we request the government to return our previous world to us. Raykia Kandhamal.

— RITARANI PRADHAN · Raikia, Kandhamal, Odisha

We are indigenous people and we worship nature.

— Manjusha Marko · Dudhi, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

We are a tribal community, we farm using ploughs and bullocks, and we sustain our lives. We clear forests and bushes to make fields, and we cultivate sawa, medo, mijhri, and maize, which were grown by our ancestors, and we also preserve their seeds.

— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

Tribal people often live in forests and eat many things that we don't know.

— Chanda

My name is Susmita Pradhan. We are the indigenous, original inhabitants. We wish to live in harmony with nature, producing our own food. We are demanding the government to conserve the things that are disappearing from the market. We are requesting the government to restore the forest products like roots and various forest items that are disappearing.

— RITARANI PRADHAN · Raikia, Kandhamal, Odisha

We used to live in our nature with the forest, happily bringing forest produce. We would all eat and live together. You were climbing.

— sudhir gamanga · Gadiakhala, Ketalugurha, Rayagada

We, the people of the tribal community, are worshippers of nature and are connected to water, forest, and land. Our culture and traditions are unwritten, which makes us different from others.

— Rupesh Maravi · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh

Our tradition is connected to nature.

— Amar Lal Dhurwey · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh

In our tribal communities, when we fall ill, we rely on roots and herbs. So, other communities should observe us.

— PRADEEP KUMAR KANHAR · Boudh, Odisha

Residents in the forest bushes have a business of various medicinal plants, and they benefit from it for food.

— Devisingh Solanki · Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh

The heritage of the tribals was the forest.

— Amar Lal Dhurwey · Mandla, Madhya Pradesh

All of us, the tribal and indigenous people, lived and resided in villages nearby, practicing traditional occupations and surviving solely through traditional farming.

— Mukunda Majhi · Udulibeda, Malkangiri, Odisha