Traditional knowledge system in hunting method among the Zeliangrong of Manipur
- Part 1 -

Budha Kamei *

A Scene from 'The Zeliangrongs' :: Provided by Director - Ronel Haobam

Manipur, one of the eight north-eastern states is bounded by Nagaland in the north, by Myanmar in the east and south, by Mizoram in the south-west and by Assam in the west. Three major ethnic groups, namely the Naga and Kuki tribes in the Hills and the Meiteis in the valley occupy the State. The people irrespective of caste, creed and religion belong to the same Mongoloid racial stock and their languages are the Tibeto-Burman dialects. The inhabitants of Manipur are commonly known as Manipuris. The tribal people including the Zeliangrong dwell in the hills of Manipur, this hilly region including the valley had thick forests which provided the home of various animals.

Even today, a floating island at a place called Keibul Lamjao in the south of the Loktak Lake, it having a deep forest of only reeds and other aquatic plants, is still the only home of the famous brow-altered deer (Sangai) which has become extinct in the rest of the world. These favourable ecological conditions did encourage the hill people and the Meiteis of the valley to adopt hunting wild game as the supplementary means of their livelihood.

Like the compatriots in the hills, the Meiteis, too, before their conversion into the Hinduism much relished animal meats. The Manipuris took interest not only for material consumption, but also for social and cultural needs. Thus, success in hunting was actually prized and thus it had much cultural values.

Materials and Method: The data is based on primary and secondary sources. For collection of primary data, about twenty knowledgeable persons from five Zeliangrong villages inhabiting in the hills area are selected as samples. The selected key informants are interviewed through structured and unstructured enquiries at the study site(s)/village(s) to get the supportive response. The response of the informants is recorded. Secondary data are collected from available books, journal, electronic and non-electronic sources.

Man has always hunted. The greatest change in hunting since primitive man has been the gradual shift from hunting for survival to hunting for sport. This change was influenced by basic developments in the history of mankind. These included the domestication of animals and the shift to an agrarian economy, both of which reduced man's need to pursue wild animals for food. Greater stability in man's daily life caused him to turn to sources other than hunted game for food.

A Safari, from a Swahli word meaning a long journey, especially in Africa, is defined as an overland journey. Safari as a distinctive way of hunting was popularised by the US author Ernest Hemingway and President Theodore Roosevelt. A Safari may consist of a several days with camping in the jungle, while pursuing big game. Nowadays, it is often used to describe tours through Africa national parks to watch or hunt wildlife.

In India, the antiquity of hunting gathering way of life goes back to the middle Pleistocene. By the beginning of the Holocene, hunter-gatherers of Stone Age did expand their settlement in all parts of India.

However, hunting continues to have its important role in the socio-cultural life of the Zeliangrong. Like other Naga tribes, the Zeliangrong, too, have the practice of hanging the skull of hunting animals and birds on the front wall of their houses. This cultural practice adopted is to show the achievement of the house owner. A successful hunter is an honour person and occupies a high status, privilege and prestige in traditional Zeliangrong society. With the high status obtained out of success in hunting those individuals get opportunities for entry into the esteemed, high offices of their tribal village politic. It was the dream of every young man to achieve such position Shulaingameipu in their lifetime.

The main influencing factors of continual of hunting culture among the Zeliangrongs are personal taste, expertise and various other aspects. It is still found as embedded culture because there can be no other better ways for hunter in welcoming his guest with the hunted game. To meet the need of the family, they sell the hunting animal is another reason. They also hunt animals and birds to stop from destroying their agricultural crops since they depend mainly on agriculture. In addition, sticking to the intrinsic value of transferring traditional technique of hunting method of its application, are some of the main reasons for the continual of this culture.

They perform hunting activities on both far and close proximity and in different time and places according to the taste of a hunter. Hunting for a day return plan and more than a day halting in the deep jungle are of two kinds found among the Zeliangrong. Hunting with close friends is common when it does engage for more than a day. In the distance past, persistence hunting with dog and spear from an individual to community level was the common form of hunting. "A better and larger team of hunters can track much faster than an individual on his own. The difficult task, however, for the tiring hunter is to keep on the right track of the animal since its tracks must be distinguished from those of the other animals.

When the animal is still running strongly, this can be difficult, but when it starts to show signs of tiring, it becomes easier to distinguish its tracks." In fact, it was a test of persistence and physical endurance of the hunter. The com- monly hunted animals are boar, barking deer, jungle cat, sambar ( Chakhang ), mongoose, etc. Birds consists of such as green pigeon, jungle fowl, spotted dove, owl etc. All the animals and birds are commonly hunted through the use of traditional hunting techniques and devices. Calling is a method of hunting.

This is stimulating the natural voice of a species so that instinct brings the game closer; it is also imitating the sound of distress of a species on which the hunted game preys. In the first instance, the desired game comes to one of its kind; thus the technique is most effective during the mating season. In the second, the desired species comes because of hunger to the distress call of its natural quarry. Deer, elk and moose can be called by first method. Foxes, bobcats, and coyotes coming to the artificial distress call of rabbits exemplify the second method.

Hunting with animals is another method hunters have used for centuries. Trained dogs provide indispensible aid in many kinds of hunting activity. "Some hunting dogs are used mainly to track their quarry by sniffing its scent on the ground or in the air; others dig holes in the ground to flush wood chucks and other burrowing animals." The main types of hunting dogs include the hound, pointer, retriever, setter, terrier, and spaniel. In hunting big game for instance, hounds track the black bear and course stags; cheetahs course antelope, impala, and blackbuck.

Among the Zeliangrongs, local trained dogs ( Shulaimei Shi ) are usually employed in hunting the boar, deer, wild pig, fox, reptiles etc. The dogs will start giving tongue as soon as they sense the presence of animals. They will follow the animal, yapping stridently; while the owners of the dogs cheer them on from behind with a deep call almost like a laud in order to encourage them to continue or not to stop the hunt. Yapping of dog notifies the hunter of the whereabouts of the game and the direction it is taking, for the thick forest prevents anything from being seen.

Among the Eskimos, Sled dogs are used in hunting the polar bears. In the west, specially trained gun dogs are used in game bird hunting. Some hunters train hawks and peregrine falcons to capture flying game birds and hold them. Among the Angami Nagas, when hunting dogs die are buried with a cloth in recognition of their services. Indeed, a man who kills a hunting dog has to leave the village for five days and on the day of his departure and again on the day of his return the whole village observes Penna.

Among the Lhotas, no hunting takes place on the day on which anyone has died in the village, not apparently from any idea of showing respect to the dead, but because it is considered that luck will be bad that day. Sometimes game must be forced to move through cover or out in the open toward a hunter who waits where the game naturally passes. Men on foot or with dogs move game by striking or thrashing the ground or cover. This method is known as driving or beating.

Spear (Bui) was an important tool of hunting before the invention of modern weapons. The Zeliangrong people used spear made of wood as it can not only pierce through the body, but also can poison animals to death gradually when they get pierced by it. Iron spear is of later invention, which they use till today for different purposes. J H. Hutton wrote, if animal comes within "a range of twenty yards of the spears, the hunt for that particular deer at an end, for a running deer at twenty yard is a fair target for a Naga spear." African native hunters use spears where cover is heavy or where quarry is treed. A long, barbed, spear like projectile, or harpoon, is used in hunting large sea animals, such as whales.

To be continued..