Generations in the grove: the Dongria Kondh's ecological kinship and intergenerational resilience

This article repositions the family as a central yet overlooked institution in environmental governance by examining the Dongria Kondh of the Niyamgiri hills in India. Moving beyond dominant policy narratives that treat families as passive beneficiaries of sustainability frameworks, the paper argues that indigenous households function as sites where ecological knowledge, legal agency, and intergenerational solidarity converge to produce enduring forms of environmental stewardship. Drawing on a critical interpretive review of statutory law, constitutional jurisprudence, ethnographic accounts, and policy documents, the study develops the concept of familial ecological sovereignty to capture how kin-based institutions sustain ecological continuity through everyday practices of care, ritual, and decision-making. The analysis situates Dongria Kondh familial practices within India's plural legal landscape, particularly the Forest Rights Act, 2006, and relevant Supreme Court jurisprudence, including the landmark Niyamgiri case. It demonstrates that legal consciousness is not solely generated in courts or formal institutions but is cultivated within domestic spaces through intergenerational transmission of norms, values, and ecological understanding. At the same time, the paper critically engages with internal tensions within families, including gendered authority, migration, and intra-community inequalities, cautioning against idealized portrayals of indigenous governance. By integrating insights from legal pluralism, relational sociology, and traditional ecological knowledge, the study advances a conceptual triad linking legal agency, ecological knowledge, and intergenerational solidarity as mutually reinforcing processes. It argues that sustainability in indigenous contexts is not merely a matter of resource management but a relational practice rooted in kinship and moral obligation across generations. The paper concludes by proposing a shift in environmental governance from technocratic and centralized models toward relational frameworks that recognize families as co-governors of ecological systems. It outlines modest but actionable legal and policy reforms within existing statutory structures to better accommodate familial forms of knowledge and authority. In doing so, the study contributes to broader debates on decolonizing sustainability and foregrounds the role of intergenerational solidarity in shaping resilient ecological futures.