Odisha's indigenous women and their 'dream maps' seek to protect lands from climate change
KORAPUT: 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. With those practices under pressure from a changing climate, they are making their most significant effort yet to speak up for their community's needs, advocating for Indian authorities to protect and restore their lands as the nation of more than 1.4 billion people tries to adapt to a warming world.
Women are leading the way. Muduli and others from 10 villages, with help from a local nongovernmental organisation, have surveyed and mapped out resources that are dwindling and what needs restoring.
Comparing state government data from the 1960s with their results, they found that common areas in many of their villages had shrunk by up to 25%. The women have created what are known as dream maps, showing their villages in their ideal states.
The most prominent of their bright colors is green.
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