Indian Tribal Jewellery as an Indigenous Cultural Practice: Preserving
Community Knowledge

Abstract
The Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) acknowledge that knowledge is created, sustained and transmitted
not only through textual traditions but also through lived practices, craftsmanship, oral traditions and
material culture. One such indigenous cultural practice is Indian tribal jewellery which represents
generations of cultural knowledge, artistic skills, social values and cultural continuity. Tribal jewellery
is a form of personal ornamentation but it also embodies traditional craftsmanship, material knowledge
learned in local contexts, customary practices, collective memory and is an integral part of India’s
living cultural heritage. However, the existing scholarship on tribal jewellery has been largely been
approached from anthropological, ethnographic and craft perspective with relatively lesser focus on
the significance of tribal jewellery as a medium of preservation of indigenous knowledge of the
community in the larger context of Indian Knowledge Systems. This paper explores Indian tribal
jewellery as an indigenous cultural practice that sustains and transmits community knowledge across
generations. It adopts a qualitative and interdisciplinary approach, drawing on scholarly literature,
material culture studies, policy documents, and primary field observations conducted among the Paroja
community in Koraput district, Odisha. The study examines how tribal jewellery embodies inherited
knowledge through craftsmanship, material selection, ritual associations, customary practices, and
intergenerational transmission. It argues that the processes of designing, making, preserving, and
wearing jewellery are not only artistic or decorative practices but important cultural processes through
which indigenous communities preserve their knowledge, identity, and traditions. The paper further
highlights the significance of tribal jewellery as a part of intangible cultural heritage that aids the
survival of indigenous knowledge in the modern society. The study situates tribal jewellery within the
discourse of Indian Knowledge Systems and expands the understanding of traditional arts and crafts
as dynamic carriers of knowledge rather than cultural object. It also emphasizes the need for systematic
documentation, preservation, and deeper scholarly engagement with these living traditions to support
their continuity amid ongoing social and cultural change.