Wisdom of Tribal Healers: A Journey in India's Heartlands

India lives in its villages, and so does its traditional wisdom. Though modern healthcare has proliferated widely across our indigenous lands, many communities are still rooted to their traditional practices, and a sense of skepticism prevails against other systems of medicine. To explore this from public health perspective, GRAAM is conducting a cross-sectional, mixed methods study in the Tribal districts of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra. This supremely interesting study is expected to reveal insights into the attitude and knowledge of tribal healers towards the health system and other systems of medicine. Patterns in the diagnostic and curative practices of healers are also expected to be revealed.

We are collecting quantitative data with our local partners, using a knowledge attitude survey of traditional tribal healers and an observation based checklist related to healing practices. Qualitative data is being collected using in-depth interviews with tribal healers and ethnographic observations of a small number of healers in different states. Community Focus Group Discussions are also proposed to understand community attitudes toward healers.

In the past few months, GRAAM’s team has gone to Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, MP to pilot the tools. The local partners completed the line-listing by the end of July. On 27th July, GRAAM and Piramal team conducted an orientation to the supervisors from all the states. On 7th and 8th August, an extensive elaborate two days training on Data collection was conducted with the supervisors and field enumerator. Currently, the field team is working on completing a portion of qualitative data i.e focused grouped discussions, knowledge attitude surveys and ethnographies. The team has had interesting insights observing the rituals practiced by the healers, who believe in exitence of supernatural entities and spirits.

One of our most interesting projects, this study would help in identifying the range of diseases diagnosed, managed, treated, and referred to health facilities by the traditional healers in the selected states. It would be crucial in determining the knowledge and attitude of traditional healers on other systems of medicine. As this study continues to unfold, it provides us an opportunity of not just preserving the cultural heritage of tribal healing but also integrate this knowledge into modern healthcare systems, ultimately working towards the overarching goal of healthier, more resilient communities.

Stay tuned for more updates on this remarkable journey into the heart of India's tribal healing traditions.