Tribal Handicraft

Indian Handicraft

Handicrafts are mostly defined as "Items made by hand, often with the use of simple tools, and are generally artistic and/or traditional in nature. They are also objects of utility and objects of decoration." The Indian handicrafts are known the world over for their rich variety, grace, elegance and skilled. Excavations conducted in different parts of India prove that India in various periods had unmemorable handicrafts. The ruins and remains unearthed from Mohan-Jo-Daro prove the high skill of craftsmanship of the inhabitants of this region. Household utensils plain and painted pottery brought about by the rhythmic turning of the wheel, terracotas, weapons and implements, ornaments, were some of the artistic and valuable things found there. Varieties of handicrafts are produced over time in all parts of the country including tribal areas. Thus handicrafts of any given time and space reflect and preserve in them the results of centuries of patient experiments of man under varying circumstances. Like art craft treasures also reflect the taste of human society through the individual and give collective mind of the community.

Crafts not only satisfy economic wants but also the aesthetic yearning of man.

According to Export Promotion Council of Handicraft (EPCH), the share of Indian handicrafts is only 0.08% in the world market while China in just 5 years has cornered 56% of the export market.

Classification of Handicraft

Handicrafts can be broadly classified in three categories

Consumer goods: Artisan prepare such utilitarian goods for self consumption or for exchange such baskets for keeping domestic articles, smoking pipes, footwear, hunting arrows, combs, storing, wooden and stone plates for use ,textile items like shawls, coats, jackets.

Processing industries: such as minor forest products for self consumption and for exchange at weekly hatt on barter age system or sell them for money to purchase other items for self consumption

Decorative items: include jewellery, and ornaments, earrings, anlklebells, necklaces,

head gears, head dresses, In addition other decorative items such as wall paintings,

deities either wood or stone, artifacets. These handicrafts for decoration are for self use

or sell /exchange them in the weekly market for money

Designing in Handicraft

Designing is a very vast subject and has different meanings for item to item, source to source and product for academic and practical purpose separately. The designing can be categorized in five types viz.: Natural design, Decorative & Stylish Design, Structural Design, Geometrical Design, Abstract Design

*In Natural design the ideas and motives are taken from nature flora and fauna. Natural design are generally used in children room to aquiant them with nature and surrounding. These designs should not be tinkered to preserve the esthetic beauty and essence of the design.

*The source of decorative and stylish designs is also nature and its elements, which are reproduced with simplification and imagination and are meant for general customers.

*In structural design the structure is the main theme of the design.

*In geometrical designs the motive are incorporated from the geometrical patterns.

*In abstract design the theme is hidden in the design itself and the creator is the only person to express its theme, meaning and beauty.

Tribal Handicraft as Livelihood option

The tribal economy is also equally distinctive since it is closed and undifferentiated characterized by adoption of primitive technology in economic pursuits. The tribal people

earn in their livelihood by undertaking many occupations such as forestry and food gathering, shifting cultivation, settled agriculture, and industrial labour, animal husbandry, fishing, traditional commerce of which household industry including handicrafts is of prime importance There is substantial gap in the level of development between the scheduled tribes and the rest of the population. The work force among the scheduled tribes constituted 58 percent of the total tribal population. Among them about 55 percent of them are cultivators who are mostly marginal and small farmers. Handicrafts and handlooms are part of their activities but not their main occupation inherited from their forefathers. A majority of the tribals, irrespective of their occupation is living below the poverty line. Their poverty levels are reflected in their low levels of incomes and expenditures as well as their standard of living. Lack of basic facilities and infrastructure along with secluded life cut off from the rest of the country further characterize the tribal life in the country. Tribal have been producing different handicrafts both utilitarian and decorative over centuries. Tribal economy in the earlier days was a barter system through mutual help. Lending, if any, between different members of the community is also governed by customs and interest has not been applied. Thus self sufficient economy of the tribal does not have substantial surpluses to warrant establishment of regular markets nor knew their potentialities for their handicrafts. Slowly market economies began to appear around religious festivals and demands for new items started increasing, this lead to weekly markets. Traders or middle men came on the scene and slowly these tribal artisans who display their skill, acquired through tradition, used to sell their products to these traders or middleman, unfortunately these artisans are being exploited and are paid paltry amounts. Even these systems are getting eroded due to poor marketing facilities and are unable to with stand competition from manufacturing industries. Studies have shown that there is continuous depletion of their numbers over time and, many of them have become a large body of landless agriculture labor. Their pride place in traditional craftsmanship which provided an outlet to the innate artistic talents by manifesting itself in full range of variegated shapes size and designs is at present in the state of total disarray. They gradually are moving towards extinction and the official help to market them is tardy. In order to overcome the problems of unemployment and poverty and a higher incidence of migration of