Parishodh Journal ISSN NO:2347-6648 Identification of the Indigenous Knowledge for Sustainable Development practiced by the Chakma Community in North-East India Laxmiram Gope1, Dr. Santosh Kumar Behera2 & Prof. Rajarshi Roy3 1 Assistant Professor, Department of Education, Sidho-Kanho-Birsha University, Ranchi Road, P.O. Sainik School, Dist-Purulia, West Bengal, India, Email: [email protected] 2 Associate Professor, Department of Education, Kazi Nazrul University, Asonsol, Paschim Bardhaman, West Bengal, India, Email: [email protected] 3 Professor, Department of Education, Vinaya Bhavana, Visva Bharati, Santiniketan, West Bengal, India, Email: [email protected] Abstract: Indigenous knowledge is a form of knowledge which inherent within the community practices and this knowledge is very much tactic and situational in nature. In the present juncture of time indigenous knowledge became common practices among the indigenous communities, which are strongly associated to their entire life style and they live with the help of such survival strategies as known as indigenous knowledge. According to UNESCO (2012), Indigenous or local knowledge refers to the cumulative and complex body of knowledge, know-how, practices and representations that are maintained and developed by local communities, who have long histories of interaction with the natural environment. Indigenous knowledge became the alternative ways of knowing and living to the present world. This knowledge considered as a community centric because every community possesses deep indigenous practices and these indigenous practices have much helpful for the fulfillment of the basic requirements. These indigenous practices transfer by many means such as oral, sculpture, doing of content, perceiving the situation, judging the things, personal experiences, learning by doing as well as trial and error method. Indigenous knowledge has much utilization in many dimensions such as sustainable development, poverty alleviation, needs based education or meaningful education, need based curriculum construction and so on. In this backdrop sustainability became common phenomena in all dimensions whether it‘s environmental, economical and social. Therefore researchers Volume IX, Issue III, March/2020 Page No:4911 Parishodh Journal ISSN NO:2347-6648 through this paper explore the indigenous knowledge practiced by the Chakma community for sustainable development. Through the help of participatory observational method – cum discussion researchers revealed that even today Chakma community has vast authority of indigenous knowledge and this knowledge is very much helpful for the sustainable development. Keywords: Knowledge, Indigenous Knowledge, Development, Sustainable Development, the Chakma Community. Introduction: Now we are living in a global era. In this era, we are too much talking about the western knowledge and also blindly accept western / euro-centric knowledge, basically which is growing in Europe. But we have our own traditional spirit from the long time which has situational value and cultural implication, which give us our own identity. This is much crucial for sustain ourselves and helps to transfer our old heritage from generation to generation. The term indigenous mean which is associated with the particular land, locality, or situation which grown and nurtured by a particular community from the thousand years. This knowledge is considered as an indigenous because this knowledge has authentication association to the particular land or situation. This indigenous knowledge developed by trial and error and self experimental methods by the community members. Indigenous knowledge refers to the unique, traditional, local knowledge existing within and developed around the specific conditions of women and men indigenous to a particular geographic area (Grenier, 1998). The development of indigenous knowledge systems, covering all aspects of life including management of natural resources, has been a matter of survival to the people who generated these systems. Such knowledge systems are growing, representing generations of experience and trial and error experiments. Indigenous knowledge is stored in people‘s ‗memories and activities‘ and its expressed in the form of stories, songs, folklore, proverbs, dances, myths, cultural values, believes, rituals, community laws, local language and taxonomy, agricultural practices, equipments, materials, plant species and animals breeds. Indigenous knowledge is shared and communicated orally by specific example and through culture (Kumarimanimuthu Veeral et al., 2019). Indigenous forms of communication and organization are vital to local –level decision-making process and to the preservation, development and spread of IK. Indigenous knowledge is the alternative ways of knowing and looking to the world, this knowledge has many beneficiary aspects in many Volume IX, Issue III, March/2020 Page No:4912 Parishodh Journal ISSN NO:2347-6648 dimensions such as natural resource protection, healthcare, land management, agriculture, animal husbandry, indigenous food preparation, child rearing and so on. Development of the concept of Indigenous Knowledge: Indigenous Local / Solution by Indigenous community with Situational Innovation / Knowledge specific field (like Problems Experiences using Community farming community) Local Material Indigenous Community: Indigenous community are those whose livelihood and lifestyle are tied up with the land in a system of mutual reinforcement as a moral contact where social living and negotiation with human, on human and animate being are basically attained to the sonic and sensual rhythms of the earth (Krishna,1988). Each indigenous community has distinctive way of living and looking to the world, they have unique pattern of life style and unique way of judging the things around them. In this perspective Chakma has many unique practices that deviates them from another community. Through the help of participatory observation researchers constructed very unique perception regarding Chakmas and their life struggle and how they live and sustained their life with the help of local / situational knowledge. The Chakmas are the largest ethnic group in Bangladesh. Though their name is written as Chakma in Bangla, they never use the term while introducing themselves to their fellow people-they call themselves Changma. But the Burmese and the Rakhaines or Arakanians call the Chakmas ‗sak‘thak or thek. In the view of anthropologists, the Chakmas are mongoloid people. According to H.H. Risely, the Chakmas bear 84.5% Mongolian characteristics on their bodily feature. They are round-faced and thin- lipped. Their hair is straight and black, eye-ball black and moustache and beard sparse. Their bodies are almost hairless and of medium build. The average height of a Chakma male is 5‘-6‘ and that of a female 5‘-4‘. Volume IX, Issue III, March/2020 Page No:4913 Parishodh Journal ISSN NO:2347-6648 (Chakma Community Member) (A Chakma boy introduced the Medicinal Plants) (Chakma Female Members with Musical Instrument) Chattogong Hills Tract commonly known as C.H.T, This is the native place of the Chakma community and they live in this place at present but in the recent time the Chakmas have also spread to the neighboring countries outside the greater hill tracts of Chittagong. Since ancient times, the Chakmas has lived in Tripura and Mizoram (in Lusai Hills) in India. There is a Council in Mizoram called Chakma Autonomous District Council, which was named after the Chakma. In the 1960s, many Chakmas spread over to the Indian state of Mizoram and to the district of Karbi in Assam. Objectives of the study: The followings are the main objectives of the study. 1. To explore the Characteristics of Chakma as an Indigenous Community. 2. To find out the Indigenous Knowledge practiced by the Chakmas. 3. To investigate the Indigenous Knowledge Components practiced by the Chakmas for the Sustainable Development. Volume IX, Issue III, March/2020 Page No:4914 Parishodh Journal ISSN NO:2347-6648 Delimitations of the study: 1. This study is confined only the Chakma community and their indigenous practices. 2. This study is restricted only on the Tripura, north Tripura. 3. This study is conducted on the indigenous practice of Chakmas which helps to achieving the sustainable development goals. Methodology of the study: i) Study areas: This study conducted on the north Tripura of north eastern state of India. ii) Nature of the study: By nature this study was ethnographic and researchers collected data through the helps of open-ended questionnaire and the participatory observational techniques. iii) Data: Qualitative data were collected by the researchers and interpreted the data on the basis of the table forms and researchers interlinked the indigenous knowledge with the sustainable development. iv) Population of the study: The entire Chakma community members were considered as population of the study, in Tripura approx 79.500 Chakmas lived in Tripura (Census Report 2011). v) Sample of the study: From the entire population researchers were selected 200 Chakma community members as representative sample of the whole population. vi) Sampling procedure: Researchers selected sample on the basis of purposively and later researchers classified the sample on the basis of age, sex etc. Objectives wise findings were given below: Objectives- 1: The Characteristics of Chakma as an Indigenous Community. Origin The word ‗Chakma‘ or ‗Chukma‘ (as spelt by some British