Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences. 9(3): July- September, 2018 593 ISSN 0975-6795 (Print) 2321-5828 (Online) DOI: 10.5958/2321-5828.2018.00100.6 Vol. 09| Issue-03| July- September 2018 Available online at www.anvpublication.org Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Home page www.rjhssonline.com RESEARCH ARTICLE Indigenous Knowledge from Livelihood Perspectives in Rural Households of Sikkim: An Analysis Santosh Sharma 1 , Rajendra Mistri 2 , Abhijit Chettri 3 , Binod Bhattarai 4 , Manesh Choubey 5 1 Assistant Professor, Sikkim Government College, Tadong Gangtok. 2 Assistant Professor, Government Degree College, Gorubathan, West Bengal. 3 Research Scholar, Sikkim University. 4 Assistant Professor, Sikkim University. 5 Professor, Sikkim University. *Corresponding Author Email: sssantoshsharma936@gmail.com ABSTRACT: The idea of making a living is closely associated to the development process the society has passed through. Literatures reveal that indigenous knowledge is practiced locally in different parts of the world to meet several pursuits. In context of Indian Society, indigenous knowledge has played an important role in several aspects of people’s life. Especially when it comes to the context of people’s livelihoods in Sikkim a state which very recently got transited from a Feudal to Democratic Federation in India, locally produced knowledge in many forms has been seen to be of great importance. Even though, Sikkim has undergone profound social, economic and technological change after merger, yet indigenous knowledge has shaped people’s life through food cultures, basic healing methods, and conservation of natural resources through worshiping nature. Practice of the locally developed knowledge has collectively directed the way in which a living is made of the people in rural areas. Using random samples from 200 rural households, this paper complements and extends understandings of how indigenous knowledge is transmitted in practice to attain different objectives like management and conservation of resource, making of food, human survival and well being in rural Sikkim. KEYWORDS: Livelihood; indigenous knowledge; feudal; healing; democratic federation; ecotourism; biodiversity INTRODUCTION: Indigenous knowledge is generally understood as that knowledge which has emerged through experience and practice (Kolawole, 2015; Singh, Pretty, and Sarah, 2010; Weiss, Hamann, and Marsh, 2013). It comprises of all values which are originated and adapted locally in different parts of world for survival (Kotze, 2002) and have developed within various societies before the advent of the modern scientific knowledge system (Tharakan, 2015). Received on 10.06.2018 Modified on 15.07.2018 Accepted on 08.08.2018 ©A&V Publications All right reserved Res. J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 2018; 9(3): 593-597. DOI: 10.5958/2321-5828.2018.00100.6 Thus it has also been termed as “experience based knowledge” and “informal knowledge” (Brook and McLachlan, 2008) as it is unique to particular culture and society (WorldBank, 1998). Indigenous knowledge plays a vital role for making a livelihood of people in several parts of the world and on the other hand indigenous knowledge has emerged from people’s livelihood through experience (S. C. Ellis, 2004). Livelihood is a much discussed and debated issue in modern day development studies as it raises questions about how “different people in different places live”(F. Ellis, 2000). At the heart of its study lies the issue of people’s assets, activity and income to gain a living (Barett, Reardon, and Webb, 2001; Scoones, 1998).Thus in economic parlance and livelihood frame, knowledge