Snigdha Naskar, PhD[icon name=”orcid” prefix=”fab”]
Assistant Professor, Department of Library & Information Science, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, India.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21659/jsae/v3n1/v3n114
[Article History: Received: 15 April 2026. Accepted: 12 August 2026. Published: 24 September 2026]
Abstract
This paper explores post-custodial archival models for preserving indigenous knowledge in West Bengal. Unlike custodial systems that place records under institutional control, post-custodial approaches retain community stewardship and cultural authority. This is especially important because indigenous knowledge is relational, ecological, sacred, performative, and governed by customary protocols. With forty recognized Scheduled Tribe communities comprising about 5.8% of the state’s population, West Bengal provides a significant context for this study. While the Santals are the largest tribal community, groups such as the Toto, Birhor, and Lodha remain particularly vulnerable. Drawing on post-custodial archives, participatory archiving, indigenous data sovereignty, and digital heritage platforms, this paper examines tools such as Mukurtu CMS and Traditional Knowledge Labels alongside India’s Traditional Knowledge Digital Library. It argues that although TKDL supports defensive intellectual property protection, it inadequately addresses community control, sacred protocols, oral transmission, and the lived nature of indigenous knowledge. Community-led, post-custodial models are therefore more appropriate for traditions such as Santal sacred groves, Oraon medicinal practices, Birhor forest knowledge, and Toto oral heritage. The paper proposes a West Bengal framework based on community authority, culturally responsive metadata, layered access, distributed infrastructure, and benefit-sharing. It treats indigenous archives as living systems connected to land, ritual, memory, and ecological stewardship. Such a model can support cultural continuity, intergenerational transmission, and resistance to extractive archival practices. The paper recommends pilot initiatives in Purulia, Bankura, Jhargram, and Alipurduar, together with legal recognition of indigenous knowledge sovereignty in India.
Keywords: post-custodial archiving, community-centered preservation, indigenous knowledge archives, Mukurtu CMS, Traditional Knowledge Digital Library, West Bengal
