Community Resources and Partnerships/India Rapid Project/Educational Documentation of Deori Cultural Practices through Wikimedia Commons
Applicant
[edit]- Main Wikimedia username. (required)
Medhi jyoti
- Organization
N/A
- If you are a group or organization leader, board member, president, executive director, or staff member at any Wikimedia group, affiliate, or Wikimedia Foundation, you are required to self-identify and present all roles. (required)
Other
- Describe all relevant roles with the name of the group or organization and description of the role. (required)
I am the Executive Director at Boli Cheto Foundation
Project
[edit]- 1. Please state the title of your proposal. This will also be the Meta-Wiki page title.
Educational Documentation of Deori Cultural Practices through Wikimedia Commons
- 2. and 3. Proposed start and end dates for the proposal.
2025-08-01 - 2025-12-31
- 4. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required)
India
- 5. Are your activities part of a Wikimedia movement campaign, project, or event? If so, please select the relevant project or campaign. (required)
Not applicable
- 6. What is the change you are trying to bring? What are the main challenges or problems you are trying to solve? Describe this change or challenges, as well as main approaches to achieve it. (required)
Deori, an Indigenous community in Northeast India, has a rich cultural heritage, especially in ritualistic practices.. However, much of this cultural knowledge remains undocumented or is fading as younger generations move away from traditional practices. These rituals are deeply tied to the community’s identity, but with limited representation online and within the wider world, this heritage is at risk of disappearing.
The main challenges we are focusing on:
- Lack of documentation and access to Deori people’s cultural knowledge.
- Limited representation of Deori culture on Wikimedia platforms, especially on Wikimedia Commons & Wikipedia.
This project aims to document the Deori community’s rituals and traditions through Wikimedia Commons. By documenting these practices through photos, videos, and audio recordings, we can create an online archive that anyone can access and learn from. The project will also focus on educating the local youth to participate in this documentation effort, building their capacity to contribute to Wikimedia Commons.
Our approach includes:
- Collaborating with the community to ensure accurate and respectful documentation
- Using Wikimedia Commons and Wikipedia to make the information freely accessible to the world
- Providing training workshops for community members to learn how to document and share their knowledge online
- Ensuring ethical and respectful documentation, with informed consent and community control over what gets shared
This project will help preserve Deori cultural practices for future generations and contribute to the wider goal of increasing the representation of Indigenous knowledge on Open knowledge.
- 7. What are the planned activities? (required) Please provide a list of main activities. You can also add a link to the public page for your project where details about your project can be found. Alternatively, you can upload a timeline document. When the activities include partnerships, include details about your partners and planned partnerships.
Planned Activities
[edit]1)Field Visits & Documentation
Travel to Deori region in North Lokhimpur district area, community interaction, and preparation for the Community Workshop.
2)Community Workshop
Conduct a one day workshop for Deori youth and elders to train them in digital documentation methods. Participants will learn how to upload multimedia content to Wikimedia Commons.
Content Sharing & Outreach
Upload the documented media to Wikimedia Commons and create or expand Wikipedia articles in English and other relevant languages about the Deori people's rituals and cultural practices.
Project Timeline (August 1 – December 31)
[edit]1)Field Visits & Documentation
(August – October)
- Travel to Deori regions & Community Interactions.
- Community Workshop.
- Capture photos, videos, and audio of rituals, oral traditions, and ceremonies.
2)Content Sharing & Outreach
(November – December)
- Upload media to Wikimedia Commons
- Create or expand Wikipedia articles about Deori culture
- Share project outcomes and finalize reporting
- 8. Describe your team. Please provide their roles, Wikimedia Usernames and other details. (required) Include more details of the team, including their roles, usernames, Wikimedia group, and whether they are salaried, volunteers, consultants/contractors, etc.
1) Dr. Palash Kumar Nath - Project Mentor/Advisor - User: Palash2025
Dr. Nath has worked with several minority language communities in Northeast India in the field of language documentation, archiving and multilingual education. His field of expertise include language documentation, revitalization, collaborative and Mother tongue based Multilingual education through community based approach.
2) Jyoti Devi Medhi - Project Lead - User: Medhi jyoti
Jyoti Devi Medhi (myself), I am the Executive Director at Boli Cheto Foundation - a Wikimedia Affiliate in India. I closely work with several Indian Wikimedia project communities. I also contribute to Wikimedia Commons and Wikipedia.
- 9. Who are the target participants and from which community? How will you engage participants before and during the activities? How will you follow up with participants after the activities? (required)
The project will involve Deori community youth and elders. We will engage them through discussions, field visits, and a training workshop. Elders will share knowledge, and youth will help document it. After the project, we will stay in touch and guide them to continue using Wikimedia platforms.
- 9.1. If your project includes in-person activities, are there any international participants travelling to India for them? (required)
- No
- 9.1.1. List all countries of participation. (required)
- 9.2. Will the project be transferring funds to any international participants? (required)
- No
- 9.2.1. List all international participants receiving funding and their countries. (required)
N/A
- 10. Does your project involve work with children or youth? (required)
- Yes
- 10.1. Please provide a link to your Youth Safety Policy. (required) If the proposal indicates direct contact with children or youth, you are required to outline compliance with international and local laws for working with children and youth, and provide a youth safety policy aligned with these laws. Read more here.
We will follow the Wikimedia Foundation's Youth Safety Policy.
- 11. How did you discuss the idea of your project with your community members and/or any relevant groups? Please describe steps taken and provide links to any on-wiki community discussion(s) about the proposal. (required) You need to inform the community and/or group, discuss the project with them, and involve them in planning this proposal. You also need to align the activities with other projects happening in the planned area of implementation to ensure collaboration within the community.
Dr Nath and I have discussed the idea with the Deori community and shared the importance of open knowledge in the educational documentation of their culture and language.
- 12. Does your proposal aim to work to bridge any of the content knowledge gaps (Knowledge Inequity)? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)
Cultural background, ethnicity, religion, racial
- 13. Does your proposal include any of these areas or thematic focus? Select one option that most applies to your work. (required)
Culture, heritage or GLAM
- 14. Will your work focus on involving participants from any underrepresented communities? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)
Ethnic/racial/religious or cultural background
- 15. In what ways do you think your proposal most contributes to the Movement Strategy 2030 recommendations. Select one that most applies. (required)
Increase the Sustainability of Our Movement
Metrics
[edit]- 17. What do you hope to learn from your work in this project or proposal? (required)
We hope to learn how community-led documentation can help preserve and share Indigenous knowledge from Northeast India on open platforms. We also want to understand how youth and elders from the Deori community can work together using Wikimedia tools to keep their culture alive and make it accessible to the world.
- 18. What are your Wikimedia project targets in numbers (metrics)? (required)
| Other Metrics | Target | Optional description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 60 | |
| Number of editors | 10 | |
| Number of organizers | 6 |
| Wikimedia project | Number of content created or improved |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | |
| Wikimedia Commons | |
| Wikidata | |
| Wiktionary | |
| Wikisource | |
| Wikimedia Incubator | |
| Translatewiki | |
| MediaWiki | |
| Wikiquote | |
| Wikivoyage | |
| Wikibooks | |
| Wikiversity | |
| Wikinews | |
| Wikispecies | |
| Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia |
- Optional description for content contributions.
N/A
- 19. Do you have any other project targets in numbers (metrics)? (optional)
Yes
| Main Open Metrics | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| WIkimedia Commons | Photos- 85
Videos-5 Audios -10 |
100 |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
- 20. What tools would you use to measure each metrics? Please refer to the guide for a list of tools. You can also write that you are not sure and need support. (required)
We will use Outreach Dashboard for event management and user editing tracking.
Budget
[edit]- 21. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it. (required)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jVLrlD4AKtUEL9R7s23yQPdghyi6Vtlnba7HCqCbxwg/edit?usp=sharing
- 22. What is the amount you are requesting for this proposal? Please provide the amount in Indian Rupees. (required)
423500 INR
- 22.1. Convert the amount requested into USD using the Oanda converter. This is done to help you assess the USD equivalent of the requested amount. Your request should be between 500 - 5,000 USD. (required)
4951 USD
- By submitting this proposal request you agree with the Institutional Partner Privacy Policy, Application Privacy Statements, WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.
Yes
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