Imphal, June 01 2009: By producing Yangkok which is used in every homesteads of the state, Khoibu tribes residing in Chandel district has expressed proud of serving the entire populace of not only the state but also in the neighbouring state of Nagaland.

With proud, chief of the Bijang village Naiphon said in an exclusive interaction with Hueiyen Lanpao said people of this tribe whose main occupation is cultivation said that making of yangkok is done by those who could not employment to earn their livelihood.

Khoibus are settling at the villages of Saikot, Khoibu, Pheljang, Bijang and Jangtholchang located some 116 km away from Imphal in Chandel district.

The total head of the villages is around 3000.People of all ranges aged above 10 year could make yangkok.

Children and women are well experience in preparing paya (pieces of bamboo) for making yangkok but they have less experience with knitting the paya in the process of making yangkok.

Every woman from other tribes or community married to men of this tribe also learns to make this thing.

The art of making yangkok is seems to be inherent talent of the khoibu tribe and it has a custom for the people of this tribe.

Khoibu tribe of Manipur proud of producing yangkok which use at every household in Manipur and Nagaland, he claimed with proud of enabling to reach their product to homestead of these two states. The main occupation of the people of this tribe is cultivation and yankok making is done at the off season from the early period but now unemployed men of these villages have started making yangkok as profession for earning livelihood this day.

H Angsen, a villager engaged in the making of the item said from very start of preparing paya from the bamboo to making a yangkok, it takes three days.

While searching bamboo and cane from the forest, it takes one day, on another day they prepare paya and on the third day they do the knitting and finishing the product.

If paya and cane are kept ready, a man could make three yangkok in a day, he added.

As cane is now rarely available in the forest of their village, they now buy it from other places.

They could sell at Rs 80 per yangkok.

Even though no project or scheme so far taken for mass production of the appliance from the government or NGO sides, a man engaged in this work could earn livelihood easily and run the family, H Decha, another man engaged in making yangkok said.

As the same product is make by other tribe, they could not compete with the yangkok made Khoibu as like that of shangpai (another bamboo product use as for rice container) made by Maring (another tribe residing mostly in Chandel district.

As people across the state Manipur and Nagaland use the product as one essential part of daily household need and produced by khoibu is unique, they face no problem at the time of selling the item in the market.

Only the problem they face is unable to meet the demand, villagers revealed.

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