Roderick Wijunamai

This project examines how indigenous geographies affect, and are affected by, the building of a national economy. India is the world’s largest importer of edible oil. To contain its increasing demand, the Government of India launched the National Mission on Edible Oils–Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) in 2015. Production, however, is concentrated in India’s Northeast. The region is geographically and politically marginal and is home to constitutionally designated “tribal” communities. Grounded in over eighteen months of ethnographic fieldwork (2024–2025) in Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, this study traces how the policy is implemented and experienced on the ground. Using participant observation, in-depth interviews, as well as conversational engagements, the research explores the confluence of a national economy and indigenous-tribal futures in India’s Northeast through the lens of oil palm development. Specifically, I consider the expectations, aspirations, and ambivalences of indigenous-tribal farmers, as well as those of the Indian state. I examine the ways in which oil palm expansion encounters local customs, traditions, and ways of life. This study contributes to critical agrarian studies, economic anthropology, and the anthropology of indigenous sovereignties.