Indigenous knowledge of herbal medicines among the Hill Korwa tribe of Surguja district, Chhattisgarh

Pages: 982-984
Harshdeep Singh Dhanjal and K.K.N. Sharma (Department of Anthropology, Dr. Hari Singh Gour Vishwavidyalaya, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh)

Tribals are the integral part of Indian civilization and possess a very rich cultural heritage. Human beings in general and tribals in particular depend upon nature for their primary need. The tribals, especially particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs) consider their habitat and environment as a source of food and shelter. As they are born and brought up in the forests, their life long and trans-generational interaction with nature is encapsulated with indigenous knowledge system. Indigenous knowledge synonymously known as traditional knowledge or traditional ecological knowledge is the cumulative and collective body of knowledge and belief handed down by cultural transmission through generations. It can be defined as a corpus of knowledge belonging to a particular geographical area held by the members of a distinct community. The tribal people have a specific indigenous knowledge that is unknown to the non-tribals. The present study has been conducted among the Hill Korwa tribe of Surguja district, Chhattisgarh. The present paper provides information about the indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants used by the Hill Korwa tribe as medicine in the treatment of various diseases and ailments.