Our engagement with the Katkari about village sites began in March 2005 when several Katkari women from Malegavwadi in Karjat taluka told a member of the research team that a barbed wire fence had been erected around their hamlet. A religious trust had recently purchased several properties to establish an ashram. The sale included title to land settled some 80 years earlier by about 20 Katkari families. The barbed wire fence was placed tightly around the irregular perimeter of the hamlet, within a few feet of each house. A single small gate was left for people to enter and leave the site. Inhabitants said they felt like prisoners in a space they considered the sacred home of their ancestors. Strife within the community grew as the new owner pressured some families to convince others to dismantle their houses and shift to another location. The trust offered the inhabitants an alternative site some 3 km away. Villagers were conflicted over what to do and some sought the advice and assistance of a member of the research team with whom they had a longstanding relationship.

This chapter describes initial Katkari responses to the threat of eviction, including efforts that our research team supported, such as developing and submitting petitions for assistance from village authorities and government officials. As this chapter will show, work on the various activities and objectives of the Katkari encountered many unexpected problems. These problems challenged our entire approach to planning the research and engaging with the Katkari. But before delving into these dilemmas, the following narrative, reconstructed from several conversations in the hamlet of Malegavwadi, reveals the strong emotions stirred up by the threat of eviction.