The effect of British colonialism was far-reaching in the Adivasi societies of central India belt. Supposedly closed and isolated, the societies experienced brisk intrusion of colonial forces, best represented by migrant landlords, who uprooted and displaced the Adivasis massively from their cultural habitat. A large chunk of the displaced Adivasis reached Assam tea plantation industry for sheer livelihood since the mid-nineteenth century. Moving out with their Adivasi cultural roots, the migrants made Assam their home since the early twentieth century, reviving their inherited cultural life. Disregarding their contribution to the economy and society of Assam, the Adivasi settlers were treated as unwanted second class citizens. On the eve of independence, the bias came not only from British colonialism, but equally from Indian nationalist ranks. As British handed over governance to the Indian nation, nothing new ushered in for the Assam Adivasis. Denied the new constitutional Scheduled Tribe status due to them, the Adivasis were instead lumped under the category of ‘backward class.’ The chapter shows from a discourse on the subject between 1930 and 1965 that both colonial and nationalist attitudes on Assam Adivasis were highly prejudiced. The reason was rooted in the concept of tribe. Lokur Committee (1965), which deliberated on the subject focussedly, unravelled the combined colonial and national prejudices, leaving the issue still.