Abstract
The cultural identity of indigenous tribes is inseparable from their rituals, ecological knowledge, and oral traditions, yet these identities are continually reshaped by historical encounters and modern pressures. The Adi tribe of Arunachal Pradesh, long associated with ecological harmony and a spiritual practice, underwent profound changes through colonial interventions such as missionary education, land policies, and cultural assimilation and continues to negotiate changes under globalization and modernization. This study undertakes a qualitative textual analysis of Mamang Dai’s The Black Hill to trace these evolving paradigms such as linguistic, spiritual, political and cultural of Adi identity. Drawing on Stuart Hall’s theory of cultural identity and supported by postcolonial and indigenous studies, the paper shows how identity is shaped not only by continuity and rupture but also by discursive negotiations of power, hybridity and subaltern representation. Dai’s narrative strategies, including the use of myth, oral storytelling, and layered temporality, further illuminate how literature becomes a site for reconstructing indigenous worldviews. The findings suggest that Adi identity emerges as dynamic and resilient, forged in the tension between colonial disruption and cultural survival. By situating Dai’s novel within both historical context and theoretical debate, the study challenges conventional portrayals of tribes in Indian English fiction and contributes to global postcolonial discourse on indigeneity and cultural resilience.
Keywords: Colonisation, Cultural Identity, Evolution, Globalization, Indigeneity, Modernization.