During the period 1920-1950, an intense debate surrounded the ‘Tribal Question’, the issue of the future of tribal communities in the emergent Indian nation. This paper seeks to situate the debate historically, analysing in particular the arguments made by certain key figures involved in this discourse especially J.H. Hutton, A.V. Thakkar, B.R. Ambedkar and Verrier Elwin. In order to map the ideological landscape of this late colonial discourse, the work and opinions of this set of ideologues and protagonists must be engaged with, based as they are on different vantage points.