Wilfrid C. Bailey

Development Programs and The Koya of Orissa, India: A Test of Nehru's Philosophy

SPREADING CIVILIZATIONS of the past and developing nations today share several problems. One of these is how to deal with tribal populations that come into their sphere of influence. Rome had to deal with the Germanic tribes and the Emperor Ashoka (ca. 273-232 B.C.) declared his compassion for the tribal groups in India. The Aborigines Protective Society was organized in England in 1837 and expressed a major concern over the treatment of the Hottentots and Bantu in the Cape Colony at the hands of the British and the Boers (Stocking 1971: 369). Nearly 150 years later this situation is still a problem attracting world attention. There have been numerous organizations of this type. Two very active ones today are the Cultural Survivals, Inc. (Cambridge, Mass.) and International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (Copenhagen, Denmark). Policies adopted fall into a continuum from complete loss of identity as a tribe to total isolation from the mainstream. The former may occur through complete assimilation and it may be difficult to establish the fact that they were tribes. For example some of the untouchable or harijan castes of southern India such as the Cherumans and the Panyers of Kerela are thought to have been in-