Community Well-Being and The ‘invisible’ Subjectivities of Indigenous People: A Focus on The Irulas of The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, Tamil Nadu, India

Barring a few advantages, human development index renders subjective characteristics experiences, and requirements of indigenous communities rather mute. In this article, we aim to highlight the relevance of community well-being as an appropriate tool to measure ‘development’ and highlight the nuances specific to indigenous communities, focusing on the Irulas of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve in Tamil Nadu. Overall, we found that individual well-being is an outcome of collective well-being, wherein social cohesiveness, traditional practices and cultural identity, all become paramount. These findings also align with the goals of progressive missions like the National Mission on Biodiversity and Human Wellbeing, pertinent in terms of reconciling the erstwhile disregard for development initiatives to indigenous concerns.