The marginalized, Christian Gawda Tribe of South Goa: Impact of Covid-19 and survival strategies

Abstract

The Goan society has a high standard of living along with few other states of India, but the tribes in the state still struggle for the necessities of life and work hard every single day to earn a living for their families. One such tribe of Goa is the marginalized minority, the Christian Gawdas of South Goa. They are the Scheduled Tribes of Goa, among others being the Kunbis and the Velips. These tribes are exploited and marginalized in the Goan Society. The COVID-19 pandemic pushed them further to the margins of society, where they found themselves even more marginalized. This paper tries to bring to the mainstream discourse the impact of Covid 19 on the social life of tribes, especially the Christian Gawdas. The worst effect was on their livelihood. Despite these impacts, the tribal people used their survival strategies to deal with the pandemic. For this qualitative research, narratives were used for data collection, and narrative analysis was used to interpret data. The researcher, an insider from the tribal community, provides valuable insights into this sociological research.