Bamboo implements of the Birhor tribe of Jharkhand, like this one, embody the essence of indigenous innovations and traditional knowledge systems. This longish stick made from bamboo is very important in their daily life, in that it is one instrument to make fire-a vital skill of survival inseparably tied with an almost mystical relationship with nature. The thinner end on one side and the other end blackened by what seems to be frictional heat from its use in repeated fire-making. Birhor are forest-dwelling people traditionally known for nomadism and a lure for these natural resources. Fire is an important substance for them: cooking, warmth, lighting, and in rituals. The Birhor have always used bamboo by traditional ways to cater to these basic needs without modern tools and technology. Their fire-making method usually consists of rubbing a certain kind of bamboo stick against another or drilling one bamboo stick using a dry one as a drill with leaves and twigs as tinder from which heat and spark will light a fire.
This bamboo device is not simply an example of utility; it stands for sustainable lifestyles and ecological knowledge, not quite resigned in the face of forest stress. Behind its simplicity, this has passed through the centuries as a practical object possessing cultural wisdom and experience, transmitted down generations. Today, as such skills have become endangered with the introduction of modernity, this bamboo fire stick is a witness to the indigenous people's standalone art and craftsmanship.