Traditional Knowledge, Cultural Resilience, and Sustainable Livelihoods: A Study of Indigenous Tribal Communities in Ladakh

Abstract

The total population recorded for Ladakh as per Census 2011 was 274289 people. Out of these, 140802 formed the population of Kargil district. Out of these, 122336 constituted the Scheduled Tribes population. The Scheduled Tribes made up almost 79.54 % of the total tribal population of Ladakh. Secondary literature indicates a drop in this figure compared to the tribal share of 85.2 % recorded in 2001. Ladakh emerged as a separate Union Territory in 2019. The findings of ethnobotany surveys are available, highlighting wide-scale utilisation of wild plants for therapeutic and nourishing purposes. Sources confirm the use of Sowa Rigpa in addition to Ayurveda and Unani medicine systems. There is literature mentioning pastoral pursuits within the Changpa tribe involving rearing of pashmina goats and yaks. The official sources confirm research institutions on tribes highlighting their cultural traditions and welfare requirements. Review of the literature reveals that migration and modernisation are posing threats to the way of life of such tribes. The current study would adopt the secondary research approach to study the tribes of Ladakh. There is additional information regarding sex ratio and decrease in population size amongst the pastoralists through secondary sources from the region as well. This essay will combine all the results found here into a larger discussion about the resilience practices within the various tribes. The key is to understand the discrepancy between the intended effect of the policy and its real-world implementation at the ground level. Sustainable livelihood requires documenting and institutionalising the indigenous ecological knowledge, which is evident from the findings of this paper. Community-level governance also improves resilience to economic shocks. The present secondary study presents an analysis of the indigenous knowledge system of the tribe