Contributed articles.

This book is an exhaustive study of the health status and medical beliefs and practices of tribes of Kerala in relation to their ecological and socio- cultural determinants. It covers the present health care practices of seven tribes of Kerala in terms of the pluralistic medical facilities available.

This book explores the discipline of social-cultural anthropology through an extensive study of the Nicobarese people in one of the remotest human settlements of the Indian Ocean. It examines the social, cultural, economic, political and magico-religious beliefs of the Nicobarese, and traces their ritualistic upbringing from conception till after death. The book also discusses the nature-man-spirit complex observed in the life of the Nicobarese. The author further utilises this study to examine the complex role of anthropologists in maintaining objectivity and authenticity in ethnographic accounts, and discusses several critical epistemological issues concerning social-cultural anthropology as a field of study today. Based upon extensive field research by the author conducted over four decades, this volume will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of sociology and social-cultural anthropology, human geography, social sciences, minority studies, as well as South Asian studies.

Contributed articles honoring the Indian anthropologist Lalita Prasad Vidyarthi.

l. Introduction 2. Ethnography of the People 3. The Environment and Natural Resources 4. The Consumption of Non - Timber Forest Produce (NTFP) at Household Level 5. Cultural Construction of Forest and Traditional Knowledge 6. Institutional Dimensions in Resource Utilization 7. Summary and Conclusions Appendices Bibliography Photos Index

Anthropological study of Northeastern India.