These people are called indigenous Indians. Meaning, Indians who originated in India and still live there. They owned the lands even before the Aryan Invasion. Of course, the Aryan Invasion theory is still under debate. But the ethnicity and origination of these tribal people is proven. They have their own religions. Hinduism has seeped into most of their religions and many worship both their gods and some hindu gods.

When Hinduism began spreading, many of original Indians converted or merged with them, including the Dravidians - the telugu, tamil, kannada and malayalam peoples. Only some of non-hindu groups protested. And slowly a new law came into effect in their own religions; anybody who deserts his tribe and goes away is a traitor and a blasphemer of religion. This rule was placed because some youngsters were prone to be tempted by the elated status the caste system of Hinduism presented. After converting, these youths would come back and begin to convert their own families and others. Everyone of us know two such men - Krishna Dvaipana and Ratnakara. Identify them? No? When they were converted into Hindus they were rechristened as Veda Vyasa and Valmiki. Ah! Now you identify them!

When the government began to form and national laws were put in place, land became government property and anyone wishing to buy it should do so under the supervision of a registrar. Of course, since the non-hindu tribes cut themselves off from the outside world, they did not know of these new laws. Thus, when strangers came and settled in the places they lived, they were confused. They protested and were driven out. Some took to life of crime, while most retreated into forest areas. Of course, as forests are felled today, these people retreat more and more and their numbers dwindle. During the British rule there was even a law called the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871 which identified those who took to the life of crime and then made it compulsory for their entire tribes to register themselves at the nearest police station, failing which they would be arrested and prosecuted. Of course, after we got our 'independence' our government repealed this act. Only, in its place came a new law called the 'Habitual Offenders Act, 1959'.

Every year some members of the ethnic groups took daring steps and entered into the unknown world; and there they became educated. There are many such people today who strive to bring their groups forward, but we hardly know their names.

Today these people are all herded under the group Scheduled Tribes. There are many such groups, probably more than a hundred. Only a very few among these are educated people while the rest live on the fringes of urban areas or in remote hilly or forest regions. In AP these groups are varied and they are called Bhils, Gonds, Bagata, Jatapus, Konda Dhoras, , Koya, Banjara, Lambada, Malis, Nayaks, Yerukulas, Yenadis, and the list goes on. Many groups underwent mass conversions as Hindus because that way they would get somewhat better previleges under Scheduled Caste.

We call our nation a Secular Country. Yet our government reservation system is based on Hindu caste system.The indians who were in this subcontinent for thousands of years have the least rights. There are many of us who talk about how Europeans discriminated against the 'Red Indians', the indigenous Americans; but we hardly know what is happening in our country. There is nothing to be ashamed of about this. How are we supposed to know of all these things. Do we find lessons about them in schools? Can we earn good salaries by gaining this knowledge in our MBA's? Are there government pamphlets being distributed among us to educate us about this state of affairs?

We must remeber that most of the South Indians are converted people. We had our own religions before our great great ancestors were converted by the another group of people called Aryans. So the least we can do to these non-converts, the so called ST people, is give them the respect and the place in society they deserve. We can stop discriminating people on the basis of their caste and religion. The next time you see any Lambada or a Banjara selling broomsticks near your house, remember this. She is more Indian than you are!