Social ecology and demographic structure of Bhotias : discourses and narratives

Generally it is considered that tribal communities inhabit the inhospitable, difficult and isolated areas. Unlike non-tribal communities, they have a direct and perfect symbiotic relationship with their environment. The overwhelming concentration of tribes in the hilly, rugged and peripheral areas of a country like India also proves that tribal way of life in difficult terrain and the inhospitable environment conditions have become synonymous. Their life is a saga of constant adjustment to such environment. The harsh and unpredictable environment throws ever-increasing challenges before the tribes, which they have responded to in adapting and adjusting to their environment through modification of their institutional, technological and biological attributes in a given environment. This book tries to interrogate the interrelations between the impacts of altitude and the demographic structure of the Bhotia tribal society in Kumaon Himalaya of Uttaranchal. This issue can be approached through various angles. However, the approach of social ecology is preferred over others, as it places equal emphasis on the attributes of environment and human response in an interdependent and interactive framework.