MKS assists project officials
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, July 15 2013:
The Maram Students' Union (MKS) collaborated the project officials of NEC Don Bosco Project in the documentation of traditional, customary and cultural practices of Maram tribe.
The project was carried out under the aegis of Don Bosco Community Information Centre, Museum, Shillong.
According to a press release, aged-old traditions of the community were gathered with the help of competant village elders and it was recorded on monograph, auditory device and videotapes.
The historic Willong stone 'Monoliths' was also part of the initiative.
The series of interviews dwelled on several aspects including traditional dress and ornaments and significances, food habits, family and social structure, mythical story of origin; composition of clan/lineages/surnames/titles, customary practices of marriage, death, birth rituals and different stages of life cycle, puberty rites, traditional festivals, songs and dances, relationship with other communities, traditional institute of learning; primary occupation and tools used, landownership system, indigenous religious belief and supreme duty, political set up of village republic besides other hosts of ancestral insights and how they have changed today.
Saying that Don Bosco Centre for Indigenous Culture (DBCIC) is an anthropological and cultural museum, the press release said that the NEC Don Bosco Project is being taken up under the Department of Arts and Culture, Meghalaya.
The Shillong based museum was inaugurated by AICC president Sonia Gandhi on March 5, 2010 with to preserve, promote people's culture and display different cultural artefacts thereby providing an overview of the whole of Northeast India under one roof.