The Tribals are now mostly known as Adivasi, “aboriginal”, a pseudo-classical missionary coinage about 100 years old. Contrary to the message this term implies, the non-Tribals are on average just as aboriginal. The hunting-ground par excellence of soul harvesters, they are often misrepresented as non-Hindu “natural Monotheists” already close to Christianity. Yet in terms of theology and social practice they are clearly an outlying part of Hindu society, just as Pagan and “hell-bound”. We highlight the significant features of some of their religious traditions, particularly the Sarna in India’s “near east (Jharkhand/Odisha), and what attitude these require from Vedic Hindus.
