Land is a major economic asset. The STs depend on natural resources to fulfill their subsistence needs; hunting, fishing and gathering of forest products form the basis of their livelihood. Customary Laws and the Historical Perspective Attempts towards erosion of tribals’ customary laws date back to colonial rule with the introduction of universal laws against which there was agitation from the tribals. This ultimately resulted to the British providing concessions and autonomy to and recognition of the customs of the tribals. The history of land grab in India dates back to the 17th century with the introduction of the Zamindari1 system, abolishing the then prevailing Jajmani2 relationship by the Permanent Settlement Act of 1793. Probably, the first legal recognition by the colonizers of the indigenous people of the country was provided through the Scheduled District Act of 1874. Over two centuries of colonial rule enabled concentration of power with a few, thus creating a feudal system that emerged as a great challenge in the post-independence period. Later, in the northeast, the Assam General Clauses Act of 1915 protected tribal customs and practices by restricting the application of provincial laws in the hill areas. The Montague-Chelmsford Reforms of 1919 also made similar provisions. The 1930 Indian Statutory (Simon) Commission One of the major land revenue systems introduced by British rule where a single landlord is recognized as the owner of a land and provided with rights to collect taxes and rents to peasants on behalf of the British treasury. They are also entitled to give, buy, and sell the revenue collection rights, hence, are granted with secured property of land rights (Sarwar, 2012; Rashid, et. al., 2014). 2 A social caste system in India where landowners pay their laborers with grain and straw after harvest (Srinivas, 2002). 1 48 recommended the protection of tribal customary rights. The Government of India Act of 1935 accepted it and divided the hill areas into Excluded and Partially Excluded parts and stipulated that no Act of the Central or Provincial Legislature would apply to them unless the Governor in his discretion so decided in view of peace and good governance. After independence, the fate of tribals rested largely on the framers of the Constitution. The Bordoloi3 Committee was formed during that time to provide inputs to the Constitution from the perspective of the tribals of the northeast region of the country. The sub-committee observed that the people of the region were sensitive towards their land, forest, lifestyle and traditional systems of justice, and thus needed safeguards and protections so as to preserve their way of life. The Bardoloi Committee also made provision for a Regional Council for the tribes other than the main tribe and sought to build up autonomous administration so that the tribal people could manage their affairs in their own traditional ways. Since colonial rule, it was clear that two regions of the country required different governance structures because of the level of exclusion between the indigenous peoples and the rest of the population. It was for this distinction and following the demand of autonomy by tribal peoples that some special rights were granted for management of natural resources by indigenous peoples. The Uttarakhand Forest Act, 1935; the Santhal Pargana Tenacy Act and the autonomy provided to the north eastern states were some of the examples where colonial rulers provided space to accede to the pressure of rights of the indigenous peoples over the natural resources. An advisory committee on Fundamental Rights of Minorities in the Tribal Areas was constituted in May 1946 by the Constituent Assembly of India. 3 Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC)