Not just a word, it’s a whole culture

Designers and retailers continue to exploit ‘tribal’ identity to sell fashion items that lack authenticity. Linguists, cultural interpreters and people of indigenous origin explain why it’s time to acknowledge and invest in India’s diverse cultural heritage

There are 705 anthropologically, ethnically, and linguistically distinct, constitutionally recognised Scheduled Tribes in India according to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Unfortunately, hundreds of these, each with countless unique cultural differences are often shoved under the common umbrella term, tribal. And it’s no different when it comes to fashion. Professor Anvita Abbi is a linguist known for her studies on indigenous languages. She says, “The word [tribal] troubles me too.” But there has been a semantic shift in the word tribal. “When we were growing up, its use was considered derogatory… it erroneously implied unsophisticated, junglee. Today the word is appealing, and represents authenticity.” 

She is right. With amped-up efforts at acknowledging diversity, inclusivity and culture, fashion retailers and designers have understood the advantage of endorsing the term. From Amazon India, Myntra to Nykaa Fashion, Ajio and Aza Fashions, just about every fashion and lifestyle e-commerce retailer is selling products under sub-category: Tribal. As an adjectival synonym, the word is used casually to describe clothing, accessories or home décor that involve graphic prints, striking bead work or embroideries and a bright colour palette.  “This results in a subtle casting of indigenous cultures as ‘other’ or ‘exotic’. The otherness sets up a contrast between fashion as something that’s urban against ethnic societies, that’s perceived as something outside modernity,” thinks Dr Bipin Jojo, professor at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in Mumbai. His comprehensive research on land, policies, education and migration and how these impact tribal communities, has been integral to tribal studies in India.

Priti Rao

So, what is it about the word “tribal” that is grating and generic? For starters, it’s a lazy shorthand to refer to India’s diverse indigenous communities, each with different histories, influences and ideologies. Jojo explains: “Broad categories of ‘tribal’ or ‘ethnic’ generalise multiple indigenous cultures like they are one homogenous entity.” Fashion brands must realise that it’s not enough to tick the box of diversity. It’s about how you represent the identity across product, promotion and fashion. “Taking a colour or pattern without permission from a community it is endemic to, or giving due credit and compensation is technically illegal. The ministries along with communities could do well to put certain guidelines in place,” he suggests. Abbi says that for a designer to choose a clothing style or technique, print or embroidery synonymous with an indigenous community, is all right and can be denoted as tribal “as long as the story behind it is correctly contextualised”.

That’s not always the case. Instead of hosting the ethnic specificity of an inspiration and informing the buyer about the backstory, mainstream fashion seems to be on a mission to play with clichés. Most times, designs employ a blatant copy-and-paste job with blithe disregard and creative entitlement. Others come up with inventive ways to close the cultural gap by using terms such as, “tribal streaks”; patchwork”, “tribal people embroidery”. 

Inspired by Mumbai, this Warli artwork by the Vayeda Brothers speaks about the downside of extreme urbanisation in metros like Mumbai

Mayur Vayeda and his brother Tushar are Warli artists, and natives of Devgaon pada of Ganjad in Palghar district, a three-hour drive from Mumbai. With Vayeda Brothers, which is a part of their initiative, they are reviving an interest in a cultural art form that dates back to 2,500 BC through influences and ingredients found in nature. Recently, a US brand approached them to collaborate on a range of undergarments. “It [wearing Warli art on underwear] violates the moral and cultural sentiments of the Warli people,” Mayur explains, referencing nature symbols found in their work that they revere as divine. 

The siblings regularly get offers from clothing brands to translate Warli art on to sarees, kurtas and dresses. They have said a polite no each time. “I am disappointed when I see our art form on mass produced T-shirts. You’re not only hurting a people’s emotions but also reducing a culture to caricatures,” Mayur reasons, explaining how every symbol painted—line, circle or triangle—holds enormous spiritual, ethical and emotional meaning. In a triangle, the two corners beside each other indicate nature and human beings who connect to the crown-point corner signifying a balance between the two. A circle often denotes the sun and the moon. The Warli tribe speaks Varli, a boli without a script. Their drawings then become their language, and are used to share knowledge and pass down tradition, rituals and culture. “Which is why we often say, we are not Warli painters, but Warli writers.”

Mayur Vayeda, Warli artist

While Warli art is often reduced to a string of dancing stick figures, cultures from the Northeast of India are depicted as exotic, bold, flamboyant. “The larger perception continues to be that they are hunter-gatherers. Our objective was to tell contemporary stories, while disrupting a few stereotypes too,” says Priti Rao in an introduction to Northeast Edit. The project, launched in March this year by Rao and Samya Deb, functions as part gallery space, part cultural journal, part creative collective. 

Often, the tribes from the eight Northeastern states are referred to as one collective group, but an insider will tell you that they stand distinctly apart. Fashion brands need to realise that consumers today seek clothing with values and purpose. “If they get a sense of the place [of origin of clothing or accessory] and its cultural significance, it will only make it so much more interesting to them, nudging them to buy and wear it with pride. The Myntras of the world would only benefit from taking a bit of effort,” Rao believes. 

Dr Bipin Jojo and Anvita ABBI

As part of the Northeast Edit, the sartorial content and selections touch on materials, colour schemes, past and present history as testaments to the talent and beauty of multiplicity of voices. Meghalaya-based designer Iba Mallai is one such unique voice. Her new work, titled Cocoon, is made with hand-woven eri silk, also known as Ahimsa silk as silkworms are not destroyed in the process of fibre extraction. The simplicity of the textile gets a perfectly measured boost from a local weaving technique known as khnong. The clean, minimal aesthetic finds a gentle balance in bespoke materials and muted colours as if to challenge viewers to see Meghalaya with new eyes.

Patricia Zadeng, a young designer from Mizoram, similarly has been informing a hybrid aesthetic by referencing puans (traditional textile of the Lusei tribe from Mizoram) with contemporary clothing necessities. “This is the Northeast that nobody is talking about,” says Rao.

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