It is said that the indigenous economy is non-materialistic, non-accumulative, non-competitive, reciprocal and subsistence oriented. Subsistence is also considered as one of the principal cultural traits in order to get state recognition of indigenous people. It needs conventional documentation for receiving protection which is of a vital sign of indigeneity. But what do we mean by subsistence? What constitutes everyday understanding of subsistence practices? In academic perception, subsistence economy means bare survival. Terms like vernacular and subsistence have some pre-conceived connotation like hunting-gathering pauperish mode of existence which has no connection with the market. It is difficult to discover the point where subsistence ended and capitalism began. It also raises curiosity about the term commoditised or anti-subsistence and non-commoditised or subsistence. One thing is clear that, all capitalist enterprise is about commodity production but not all commodities are produced through capitalist mode. Subsistence based communities do sell some of their gathered stuff or homemade products in the market in order to purchase essential things, but this sale and purchase are characteristically different from that of capitalism. It is believed that commodity production and labour force for wages make people capable of earning a livelihood. It will be surprising for them who believed in this way that the aboriginal subsistence economy often brings affluence, rather than poverty. But indigenous people who mostly depend on garden cultivation, subsistence farming, fishing, hunting and gathering of wild foods livelihood is becoming a grave matter of concern. Due to the development intervention, many non-capitalist subsistence-based communities have been compelled to struggle for an indigenous economic space. With the growing tension of ecological degradation, however, the relationship between man and nature has garnered attention from all corners of the world economic giants. In this situation, subsistence economy plays a crucial role in making people aware of the economic constraints and the role of the local indigenous forms of livelihood for the survival of the humanity. The moral subsistence practices are key to a synchronised environment friendly economy which ensures an unbreakable tradition of survival and sustainability. But that does not mean we should go back to self-provisioning, commons and communal ownership; rather it gives us an alternative means of livelihood under capitalism. According to the popular perception, subsistence means production for self-consumption and not for sale in the market which no doubt is a wrong perception because there is no conflict between subsistence and exchange per se. The border between the market and non-market has falsely been created; it is not unchangeable or uncontested. When new and potential sectors of economy is introduced which was previously not a part of the market economy, it got inducted in the national economy. Subsistence communities were once perceived as egalitarian and non-economic. But it has been found from our discussion that they do possess property, have social hierarchy, produce surplus and have complex social organisations. So, egalitarianism is not an important hallmark of indigeneity. Subsistence simply speaks against the motive of profit maximisation. Community-based subsistence practices are based on rural household which relies on a set of collective as well as individual rights to access the resources. The vernacular domain of subsistence economy protects the indigenous communities from food insecurities and uncertainties of the global capitalist economy and becomes their life support.