Tribes as indigenous people of India

Defining 'tribe' has conceptual as well as' empirical problems for the academician. But this term of administrative convenience has now been. adopted by the tribals themselves to mean the dispossessed, deprived people of a region. There is no claim to being the original inhabitants of that region, but a prior claim to the natural resources is asserted vis-a-vis the outsiders and the dominant caste. The tribal identity now gives the marginalised peoples self-esteem and pride.