Paper short abstract:

The paper studies the social discourse between spirits and human as portrayed in the land rituals to understand the interdependence between humans and nature, and subsequently land and identity relationship in the Kuki Society. It will contribute to the study of culture ecology.

Paper long abstract:

The Kuki society of Manipur was predominantly an agricultural as well as a hunter-gatherer society with ownership of land as a collective enterprise. Consequently, their attitude and reverence for land is reflected in the sacred space and institution it occupies in the society and the various rituals attributed to it. Discourses and interdependence between humankind and ecology, palpable in day-to-day habits of most tribal societies usually become ingrained in their customary practices. Besides the agricultural rituals, the primeval religion before the advent of Christianity, mythologies and legends reflects their worldview and close sentiments towards nature in general. There were social institutions that were set up to mediate or handle land as a part of the ecological structure like the Chieftainship system and Thempu system (priestly role). Colonialism or the colonial intervention, especially in the form of religious ideologies and practise affected the Weltanschauung of the Kuki society. The change brought about by the colonial missionary widened the gap between land and man as they interpret the relationship between them through their own lens, made stipulations accordingly and gradually reduced land to an alien entity. Therefore, the paper explores the question—how does the ecological relation influence the institutions in the society and how does the social structure in turn influence the conceptualization of the ecological relations? What kind of power relation and meanings does the social discourse between humans and spirits portray? What does it reflect about the man-land relationships, and therefore, land and identity relationships in the society?