Tribes of North East India: Orality, Migration and Epistemology

Contents: Introduction: Orality, Migration and Epistemology of Tribes in North East India/K. Kokho, Athikho Kaisu and Daili Neli. Part I : Text and Context. 1. Indigenous Epistemology and Literature/H.S. Chandalia. 2. Methodology of Being: In Reading Folklore of North East India/Dev N. Pathak. 3. Ethnic Identity and Language: Articulation and Contestations of Ethnic Identity among the Misings of Assam/Partha Pratim Borah. 4. Oral Tradition: A Critical Appraisal of Makhelian Perspective/Xavier Pfokrehrii Mao. Part II : Origin, Migration and Settlement. 5. Makhel and Beyond: Revisiting Migrations and Antiquity of the Nagas in North East India/Rammathot Khongreiwo. 6. The Oral-Tradition of the Muklom Tangsa of Arunachal Pradesh/Sunumi Changmi. 7. Origin, Migration and Beyond: Tracing the Lotha Folktales/Nzanmongi Jasmine Patton. 8. Situating Nature and Culture in Inpui Naga Society: A Brief Analysis/Sachoiba Inkah. 9. The Identity Conundrum as We See: The Mongmi Nagas’ Experience/Singlai Thouman and Daili Neli. Part III : Oral Literature: Narratives and Reflections. 10. Relooking Oral: Orality in the Age of Print Culture in North East Tribal Society/Athikho Kaisu. 11. Folk Oral Narratives, A Living Lore: New Compositions in Print, Inspired by Oral Traditions/Achingliu Kamei. 12. Traditional Society, Oral Knowledge and Power: A Study of Nature and Function of Ao-Naga Oral Narratives/Walunir. 13. Oral Literature: Locating the Maola/K. Nipuni Mao. 14. Collocating the Traditional Tenyimi’s Understanding of Ecology with Christian Materialistic Views: A Conceptual Analysis/Saheni Loli.

This edited volume entitled Tribes of North East India: Orality, Migration and Epistemology is an exploration of divergent perspectives on the intriguingly diverse tribal communities in North East India, departing from the traditional or mainstream approaches. Attempts are made to reposition the approach through the natives’ perspectives on orality, migration and epistemology. Critiquing the existing methods of enquiry related to orality and oral literature by locating the textures and contexts unique to the region within the larger framework of re-telling the folktales, folk songs, myths, legends and re-enacting the folk dances of the tribes indigenous to the region by themselves. It is part of the efforts to contribute to the larger discourse of the tribals to build a narrative independent of the overwhelming mainstream narratives and in contravention to the approaches adopted by the ‘outsiders’ or the non-indigenous writers, ethnographers, anthropologists and colonial administrators.