Essays on Primordial Religion

Contents: Preface. 1. The primordial religion: defining the tribal religion. 2. Four indigenous faiths of other lands. 3. Indigenous faiths reform movements in North East India. 4. The primordial religion: a case study of the Zeliangrong religion. Appendix: the Names of the indigenous religions and cultural organizations of the North-East India. Bibliography. Index.

"The anthropologists and the Christian missionaries have written on the religious beliefs and practices of the indigenous tribal people with bias and prejudice.

Prof. Gangmumei Kamei\'s essays on primordial religion exposed the fallacy and inaccuracy of Tylor\'s animism. He discusses Dr. Harnold Turner\'s proposal of primal religion to define the tribal religious belief. However Prof. Gangmumei Kamei opines that the term primordial religion which means existing since the beginning of time is a more accurate definition of tribal religion which is an ancient and eternal belief. Prof. Kamei also thinks that the Sanskrit term Sanatan Dharma meaning ancient and eternal religion expresses the tenets of tribal religion.

The other three essays deal with the indigenous belief of Maori people of New Zealand, Zulus of South Africa, the Cherokees of North America and Sankyo of Korea. There is another essay on Tribal Religious Reform Movement of Northeast India, the Seng Khasi Movement of Meghalaya, the Zeliangrong Religion revivalism of Northeastern India and Donyi-Polo of Arunachal Pradesh. Prof. Kamei devotes an essay on the Zeliangrong religion as a case study of primordial religion.

The work of Prof. Kamei is a brief but a thought provoking exposition on philosophy of tribal religion which will be of interest to anybody who is interested in tribal study." (jacket)