A segment of our society has been called tribal, backward, aborigines, heathens and Pagans. These derogatory terms are dishonest and misus fsed for these honest and simple people cultured in their own way. Keeping with their inseparable continuity of geo-political and cultural existence with rest of the country, it's more appropriate to call them Vanavasis (Forest Dwellers).

During British rule, the then colonial administration tried to wean away the Vanavasi section of Indian population from the national mainstream as a part of its "divide and rule" policy. In that nefarious scheme the foreign Christian missionaries became active and collaborated with the British rulers. From among the missionaries some individuals donned the grab of researchers and produced misleading theories about the separate ethno-cultural identity of Vanavasis. Other missionaries made use of spurious research and tried to convert the unsuspecting Vanavasis to Christianity.