Material culture and subsistence practices of Monsang Naga society: Continuity and change
- Part 1 -

Waanglar Somie *

Monsang : Ethnic Doll at Mutua Museum's Cultural Heritage Complex :: 2008

The paper is an attempt to highlight the ethno-history of one lesser known tribe, namely the Monsang Nagas vis-a-vis their landscapes, material culture and subsistence practices. The river and the forest around Monsang village landscapes are sources for sustaining their livelihood. Agriculture is the mainstay of the Monsang economy. They practised both shifting and wet-rice cultivation. Hunting, fishing, food gathering and the making of traditional baskets are other subsistence practices continued in the Monsang Naga society even to this day.

The Monsang Nagas belong to the Mongoloid stock, speaking Tibeto-Burman dialects of the Sino-Tibetan linguistic family widely spoken in Northeast India. The Monsang Nagas are settled in Chandel district, in the south-eastern part of Manipur which is about 64 Km away from capital Imphal. They are considered as one of the minority within the minority tribes of Northeast India. The Monsang Naga population which is less than five thousand is distributed in seven villages in the mainland Chandel district.

The seven villages are namely, Changning, Changnhe, Ethar Meeleen, Sarai, Japhou Bazar, Japhou and Paentha Khuwphuw. They lived in close proximity with their neighbouring sister tribes namely the Moyon, Anal and Lamkang Nagas. The proximity in language, culture, history, and material artifacts of the above sibling tribes suggests their closeness and affinity since the ancient past though each of them have evolved to maintain their respective unique cultural heritages. The present paper tries to project the landscapes, material culture and the subsistence practices of the Monsang Naga society by using ethno-historica! tool as a methodology.

Agriculture

Shifting Cultivation and Wet-Rice Cultivation

Since the remote past the Monsang Nagas practised shifting cultivation which is locally known as Raamthing liih. The agricultural calendar of shifting cultivation commences by the end of Thaluwrbuw, i.e. January. During this period, the villagers selected a particular forest site and cut trees with the help of hrii (axe) and chimpu (big dao).

The burning of trees and branches to mark the beginning of slash and bum cultivation in Monsang society was known as ‘Hmitu’, The preparation for jhutnming cultivation was led by a village shaman called ‘Khurpu Khurpu basically was a chosen leader from the village to perform agricultural rituals and rites to appease the agricultural spirits believe to reside in different landscapes such as forests, lakes, streams, rivers, hillocks, etc. The spirits/deities had no particular names but were generally identifies as ‘Leh’ according to different locations or terrains.

And most of them were considered as malevolent spirits. According to Monsang pre-Christian religious belief, Khurpu was to undergo a number of rituals to appease the spirits and deities. The first rite was called Shachii Inshi. in which some quantity of local rice-beer and meat were offered to the spirits/ deities. Then, the village Khurpu would decide the date, time and the site that were to be taken up for jhum cultivation for that year.

The other rites were ‘ Wang Incha’ and ‘Khohrong Itha' meaning the harvesting rites and cleaning of the village post-harvest . Apart from all these rituals, the village Khurpu was to undergo taboos including his food habits. He was supposed to avoid eating decayed meat, dried fish and animals killed with poisoned arrows, until the crop was harvested. All these taboos, if not maintained, were believed to pollute his ritual purity and the season’s good harvest would thereby be destroyed.

The offering of wine, food, meat etc, was to appease the spirits and persuade them not to harm or destroy the crops. It was basically done out of fear so that the ambition to get bountiful harvest is not jeopardized. All the above practices are gradually discontinued in Monsang villages from the late 1970s. This shows that the pre-Christian religious belief and practices were continued for many years despite Monsang conversion to Christianity from the 1920s and 30s.

The forest as a whole is considered a collective property. As such, selling or mortgaging of jhum fields are not allowed according to Monsang customs. Shifting cultivation has been discontinued in most of the Monsang villages. For example Japhou, Ethar Meeleen, Changnhe and Changning villages have discontinued shifting cultivation since the 1980s as the forest resources around the village became scarce.

Moreover, with the adoption of wet-rice cultivation on permanent basis, jhum fields were lately utilized for growing seasonal vegetables. But in Paentha Khuphuw and Sarei villages, shifting cultivation is still practised as the village forests are comparatively bigger coupled with the scarcity of wet-fields and other subsistence practices.

Wet Rice Cultivation

In the context of Monsang society the early twentieth century marked a significant shift from shifting cultivation to-wet-rice cultivation community. The shift also brought changes in the settlement of the people from the hill tops to the foot-hill regions. The availability of wet lands and open spaces drew the Monsang Nagas from the forests to the foot-hill belts. The early twentieth century also marks the fluidity of movement which was hitherto difficult considering the past cultural practices of head-hunting which was common amongst the tribal belts in the hills.

However, the availability of wet-fields and rivers were considered important factors while choosing the sites for permanent settlement. In fact, all the present Monsang villages are situated on the banks of the two major perennial rivers ie the Maha River and the Chakpi River in Chandel district. As such, two types of cultivation i.e. shifting and wet-rice cultivation, continued to go hand in hand for quite a long time in all the Monsang villages. As mentioned before, it was only in the last few decades that some Monsang villages gave up shifting cultivation on permanent basis and started giving more importance to wet-rice cultivation and other subsistence occupations.

Other Subsistence Practices

Hunting

Hunting was an important subsistence practice of the Monsang Naga society in the past. The forests surrounding the villages are the ground for hunting purposes. Wild animals like the deer, bear, jackal, monkey and boar are commonly hunted. Birds are also hunted. Hunting was carried out only by men. It was carried out in two ways i.e. individual and group. In either case, what was interesting was the tradition of sharing and distributing the parts of the animal killed from hunting.

For instance, if an animal like the deer was killed by a hunter, according to the custom of the Monsang tribe, the thigh parts of the animal was given to the hunter’s sisters. If any big animal is killed during group hunting, the person who kills the animal enjoys certain parts of the animal which include the head, parts of the hip and one front thigh.

The neck part of the animal was given to the grandfather and the portion of the hip was reserved for his best friend or otherwise bosom friendship in the village. It is a customary for the Monsang society to have a best and closest friend in the village and the nature of this relationship is to help one another in good and in difficult times.

This is a customary practice since the olden time. The rest of the animal parts were divided among the hunters. If the weapon or gun was borrowed from some other family then the family from which it was borrowed was also given a fair amount of meat, depending upon the size of the animal killed. According to Monsang tradition, this was a symbolic way of expressing love and concern for dear and near ones. It was also a way of feasting together with close relatives.

The other implication of this practice was that this constituted proof or testimony to the kind of animal killed by the individual or groups. This was necessary because, in case any type of allegations of stealing an animal was levied by other villagers, the close relatives, or for that matter the entire village, would stand as a witness to the fact of the matter. And accordingly justice would be enforced. Nowadays, hunting has ceased to become a regular venture in Monsang villages because of awareness of the impact of environmental degradation through education and other media’s.

Fishing

Fishing is one of the most important subsistence practices in Monsang villages. The fact that all the Monsang villages are Situated on the banks of the two important major perennial rivers i.e. the Chakpi and the Maha Rivers in Chandel district provides an ample opportunity to depend on this subsistence practices. Fishing is carried out both by males as well as females.

It is mostly geared towards consumption at home. Otherwise, it is taken for sale to Japhou Bazaar, which is the main market in the district. There are different tools and techniques for catching fish in the river. Some tools are associated with males while others are associated with females. However, in most cases, the tools are usable by both sexes.

The Chakpi River which is the major river in Chandel district is the most sought after place for fishing. There are different methods used in catching fish from this river. A unique local system of collecting fish is by piling the river stones on both sides of the running water which is known as ‘Eeruw Eduw’ in local dialect.

This is one of the most common methods of collecting fish particularly during the winter/ dry season. The other method of collecting fish is by using a larger hollow bamboo and branches of trees and shrubs. Hollow bamboos are used in different ways. The branches of the trees and shrubs in huge quantity are tied together and kept inside the water.

By doing so, small fish like prawns, crabs and others are collected from the river. These methods of catching fish are practised by Japhou and especially by Paentha Khuwphuw village in Chakpi river. This is because the river is bigger compared to Maha river and such method is common and practice by other neighbouring tribes in the area. Chakpi River, Eduw Eduw practice at Paentha Khuwphuw village, Chandel District, Manipur.

Food Gathering

In Monsang villages, food gathering especially by women folks is still a living tradition. The hills and forests surrounding the villages abound in many types of wild fruits and plants. Apart from the hills and forests, the river banks and the surrounding wet fields in the plain are other source of collecting little plants.

Many types of wild fruits from the forests which include banana, mango, plum, fig, walnut, etc are collected according to season. Some of the wild plants from the forest constitute an important food of the local people. Wild plants such as bamboo shoots and mushrooms are very common.

A small plant known as Sevin (Indian Penniwort), found in the wet fields is also very popular because of its medicinal qualities. The collections of such plants are done by Monsang women folk for consumption as well as for sale in the market.

To be continued.....