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The indigenous people of the world are present in seventy two countries of the world. They have their own culture which is distinct from the culture of the mainstream population. Living in difficult topographical terrains they lead a life seclusion and dependence on the flora and fauna available in the nature around them. They have their dialects, their belief system and knowledge which they pass on verbally from one generation to another. This Oral mode of communication is pretty rich in not just literary content but also in the field of science, political organization, meteorology, mythology, medicine and cultural manifestations. The indigenous people in India have been constitutionally recognized as scheduled tribes. In brief they are called the tribal people. It is a difficult task to define the tribes as there are innumerable definitions of the indigenous people that they themselves are competent to their community. However, anthropologists and sociologists have tride to give a working definition in terms of their isolation, shyness from the non-tribal population, dependence in hunting-gathering for their food and relative rootedness in the land they inhabit. The tribes constitute nearly eight percent of the population of India. These people are marginalized and have suffered historically the oppression of the erstwhile feudal rulers, the British and in the post - independence era the ruling class Indian population. The feudal lords pushed them back into jungles occupying the territory which was under the command of the tribal people and set up their own small kingdoms. The British for the first time made laws which tried to regulate the rights on forest land and the forest produce. The government of independent and more stringent laws relating to the forest land and the forest produce imposing many restrictions on the tribes. The forest guards and the police became the prime antagonists of the tribal people. The political leadership and the corporate joined together to oust the tribes from their habitats to excavate the resources hidden below the surface of the earth on which the tribal people lives.