Verrier Elwin came to India as a Christian preacher but took up anthropology as a primary interest. He was an ethnographer and in 1932 began to work among the Baiga tribe of Madhya Pradesh. This was later published as The Baiga in 1939. This was introduced by Hutton. While conducting fieldwork among the Baigas, he found that the Baigas were being destroyed by the landlords and the missionaries. Thus, he suggested that the State should prevent or control their interaction with outsiders. He proposed that tribals should be left alone instead of being acculturated. This gave him the reputation of being a person who advocated separate ‘reserved national parks’ for tribals. Such national parks he also called ‘Tribal Reserve Area.’
Verrier Elwin has always been associated with the issue of the integration of tribal societies with the greater Indian society. Such an integrationist stance was initially opposed by him, when he proposed that tribals should be left alone instead of being constantly interfered with and acculturated. This gave him the reputation of being a person who advocated separate ‘reserved national parks’ for tribals. Such national parks he also called ‘Tribal Reserve Area.’ Such a stance was also being used at the time by the United States government.
After this, Elwin went on to study the Murias of the Bastar region. He devoted one book to the study of the youth dormitories among the Murias there. A ghotul or youth dormitory is a spacious tribal hut surrounded by earthen or wooden walls. It is an integral part of Gond tribal life in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh.
The ghotul is central to social and religious life in Gond society. According to Elwin, it is a place for youths, an independent and autonomous “children’s republic“. Lingo, the supreme deity and the heroic ancestor of the tribe, was the founder of the first ghotul, and is at the centre of the ghotul’s culture. It has an elder facilitator with young, unmarried boys and girls as its members. Girl members of the ghotul are called motiaris, while boy members are called cheliks; their leaders are called the belosa and siredar respectively. The members are taught lessons of cleanliness, discipline, and hard work. They are also taught the idea of public service. No major social activity could happen without anticipation of ghotul members. The boys act as acolytes at festivals, the girls as bridesmaids at weddings. This participation continues until death ceremonies in the society. The ghotul is a place embedded in and nurtured by the larger socio-religious landscape of the Gond society—a sacred place where no wrongs can be committed. The Madia Gond ghotuls are different from the Bastar ghotuls in that boys and girls return to their homes to sleep. It was responsible for training the youth in various social activities and for initiating them into sexual activities. Elwin went on to publish many more works on tribal life and their cultures. He published one on the religion of the tribes and their folklore.
He went on to publish many more works on tribal and other cultures. He published one on the religion of the tribes, their folklore, myths of origin, etc. In a study of the Borneo highlanders he again supported isolationism. This was criticized by several nationalist leaders and pro-assimilation anthropologists.
Finally, when Elwin wrote A Philosophy For NEFA he propagated a more assimilationistic stance in collaboration with the Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. In his integrationist model of the tribe, he propagated the idea, following Nehru’s panchsheel that the tribes should be allowed to develop according to their own dictates.
Elwin went on to become a member of several committees on tribal affairs and also an editor of Man in India. Many of the photographs that he took now adorn the walls of the Museum and Department of Anthropology, NEHU, Shillong.