Najil Konnara

The concept of ethnoscience serves as a fundamental analytical framework in the article The Cultural Dimension of Environment: Ethnoscientific Study on Santhal Community in Eastern India by Koustab Majumdar and Dipankar Chatterjee. It illustrates a comprehensive understanding of how the Santhal community’s interaction with the natural environment is mediated by a culturally grounded system of knowledge. Within the context of a specialised branch of anthropology, ethnoscience is principally focused on examining how diverse indigenous communities conceptualise, classify and transmit knowledge about the world around them. It critiques the dominance of Western scientific epistemology by asserting that these systems should not be regarded as primitive or unscientific. Instead, they constitute equally valid, rational and internally structured systems within their respective cultural contexts. In the case of the Santhal community, the ethnoscientific approach reveals that their environmental observation is not based solely on empirical evidence. It is also deeply embedded in social practices, cultural significance and sacred beliefs. The article persuasively illustrates that the environment is not merely a collection of external resources to be exploited or dominated. Rather, it is an integral part of a living and highly interconnected system in which humans, fauna, flora and supernatural elements coexist through interdependent relationships. Land is not only an economic resource for agricultural development, but also a cultural and spiritual element associated with genealogy, identity and spiritual practices. Similarly, the forest is understood not merely as a source of food and resources, but as a sacred space imbued with spiritual forces. Human contact with these resources is regulated in ways that promote balanced ecological harmony.