India: Indigenous Women and their ‘Dream Maps’ Seek to Protect Lands from Climate Change

May 15, 2025 | Sibi Arasu
AP News
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At a small stream in India’s eastern state of Odisha, Indigenous villagers catch eels and fish for a dinner celebrating an annual harvest festival. The bounty of communal farming, foraging and fishing marks the start of a new season. But the fish and other resources have been dwindling.

“Nowadays, the rains come late, affecting our farming, leading to a decrease in production,” said Sunita Muduli, a Paraja tribeswoman from Putpondi village. She stood on freshly tilled fields that would be sown again with millet before the increasingly unpredictable monsoon rains. The Indigenous Adivasis have lived in these villages for millennia. They continue traditional practices of farming millet and rice and foraging leaves and fruit from the forest to make plates, the local brew and more.