interviewed an educational worker who is running more than 100 schools and literacy programmes among tribals in West Singhbhum and adjacent districts. He stated that the Bhumij people in the area
speak Bengali language as their mother tongue. Children who go to school are studying in Bengali medium, as the parents desired their children to learn in Bengali though this area is in Bihar, Bengali is
the LWC and medium of education. The team also talked with several Bhumij people from surrounding villages who were at his office for meetings. They all stated that their families and respective villages are
not speaking Bhumij, but Bengali, and that is the language being passed along to the children.
3.1.2 Language use in Orissa
The use of the Bhumij language appeared to be strong in Dighinuasahi. In this site, the main language assistant for the questionnaire stated he uses Bhumij with members of the family, with fellow villagers,
and for private prayer and religious discussions. The researchers believe that the language assistant’s viewpoint also extended to the rest of the village.
In the northern part of Mayurbhanj district, a different and somewhat surprising situation was encountered. In an area approximately 30 kilometres south of Rairangpur, the team talked briefly with a
Bhumij man who related that he speaks Oriya in his home and it is the language spoken within his village. He also mentioned that people in the village have changed their titles to Nayak, an Oriya caste
title.
The survey team then met Bhumij people at a brick-making factory. Most of the people working there were from Podadiha village, around four kilometres away. A young man of about 25 said he speaks
Oriya in the home with his parents as well as inside the village. He said they have always spoken Oriya, though it is a local version of Oriya – not a pure or standard variety. Another man remarked that he does
not know any area where Bhumij people are speaking their original language. Another individual commented that though they still consider themselves a tribe, they have adopted the Nayak caste title.
What is interesting is that information collected on the Mayurbhanj and Ho surveys Varenkamp 1989, 1990 found the presence of Bhumij speakers in this area. A Bhumij wordlist was collected from
Podadiha. Dumadie village, the origin of a Bhumij RTT story, appears from maps in Varenkamp’s reports to be only a short distance from Podadiha. Field notes about Dumadie record that the people claim to
speak a mixture of Ho, Bhumij, and Oriya and are losing their language. However, no one with whom the team spoke had heard of the village nor of a nearby town, so it was not possible to visit the site to
assess the actual situation.
3.1.3 Language use in West Bengal
