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Abstract
JenuKurumbas are primitive tribal groups living in the States of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka. JenuKurumbas have retained their own traditions and differ from other tribal people of the area in their language, social system, customs, and habits.The songs and dance forms of the Jenu Kurumba tribe are a reflection of their culture and heritage. Their songs and dances deal with themes relating to agriculture, marriage, myths, and religious beliefs. This project intends to archive nine songs and one dance form of the Jenu Kurumba tribe as an attempt to preserve the language of the community that they use to articulate their collective consciousness. This preservation of language leads to the attribution of respect for the ‘world view’ of the tribe. The digital archive not only creates a repository of information about the Jenu Kurumba tribe but also allows the rest of the world to see without compromising the uniqueness of the rich culture of the Jenu Kurumba tribe. This project adopts an ethnopoetics framework and will be focusing on the performance of songs and dance of the Jenu Kurumba tribe. To analyse the politics of archiving songs and dance videos of the Jenu Kurumba tribe, G.N. Devy’s ideas of cultural and structural aphasia will be used. This archival project draws attention to the need of preserving the language and culture of the Jenu Kurumba tribe as they are victims of cultural aphasia due to the structural oppression faced by the community from the hegemonic power structures of the state in which they are residing.