On the Khasi people of Northeastern India.

All life forms on earth are complementary to each other; the existence and survival of one depend on the existence of another, and vice versa. However, no life forms are more dependent on others than human beings. Humans’ very survival is conditioned by the existence of the natural environment and the living things within it. One aspect of this interaction is the central and inescapable role played by human culture in defining the human-nature relationship. This book emphasises that environmental conservation is a matter of moral and cultural ethics. It stresses the fact that existing environmental conservation methods need to accommodate traditional environmental knowledge and practices of different indigenous cultures in order to re-build and restore the bond between humans and nature.

The Khasi religion, at the levels of both belief and practice (rites and rituals), traditionally, was neither codified nor elaborated uniformly across the Khasi Hills. The Khasi religion is neither church-based nor does it have an established priesthood. This means that, traditionally, it was not an organised religion that could give uniform and standardised rituals to society. Life-cycle events were marked by the performance of rites by an individual’s mother’s brothers. Their absence presents a situation of crisis. The book explains the ways in which such situations of crisis have been resolved. There are events other than life-cycle events that threaten an individual’s life. The book explains the rites performed to thwart evil influences on individuals. The book also highlights the role of the Ka Seng Khasi in preserving and perpetuating the Khasi belief and rites, and the historical conditions leading to its formation.

Study based on the tribal communities of Meghalaya, India.

Traditional institutions in the Khasi-Jaintia society are “living organisms” which have existed for centuries and internally evolved from one phase to another. Despite having come into contact with newer and more modern forms of administration, they continue to exist, backed by local public opinion that has called for their continuity amidst diminishing responsibility and utility. This collection of papers explores the landscapes of traditional institutions that exist in the present Khasi and Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya, India. The chapters blend oral tradition with historical records and available sources from secondary literature. They examine the interplay of power and functions between the constitutional authorities, such as the state government, and the Autonomous District Councils and traditional authorities represented by the traditional institutions.

The state of Meghalaya, formed on 21 January 1972, is a state of fascinating socio-cultural significance. Its heritage can be traced from the prehistoric times of Stone Age up to the present. Though comprising mainly of the matrilineal Khasi, Garo, and Jaintia tribes – the state also houses many other lesser known communities such as the Hajong,Sakachep, Biate, Koch, Dalu, Margnar and the Nepali. All these communities find voice in this volume. This book looks at the state of Meghalaya exhaustively from the perspective of heritage documentation and maintenance. The 38 chapters written by anthropologists and independent researchers, present the rich traditions found in the region. This volume will be of great help to academicians, researchers, students, and laymen interested in a comprehensive study of the region. Please note: This title is co-published with Manohar Publishers, New Delhi. Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in South Asia.

This book is about the entanglements of colonial law, space, and place, in regions defined as frontiers in British India.

Decolonizing Ecotheology: Indigenous and Subaltern Challenges is a pioneering attempt to contest the politics of conquest, commodification, and homogenization in mainstream ecotheology, informed by the voices of Indigenous and subaltern communities from around the world. The book marshals a robust polyphony of reportage, wonder, analysis, and acumen seeking to open the door to a different prospect for a planet under grave duress and a different self-assessment for our own species in the mix. At the heart of that prospect is an embrace of soils and waters as commons and a privileging of subaltern experience and marginalized witness as the bellwethers of greatest import. Of course, decolonization finds its ultimate test in the actual return of land and waters to precontact Indigenous who yet have feet on the ground or paddles in the waves, and who conjure dignity and vision in the manifold of their relations, in spite of ceaseless onslaught and dismissal. Their courage is the haunt these pages hallow like an Abel never entirely erased from the history. May the moaning stop and the re-creation begin!

Climate change knows no boundaries and its cost must be borne by all earthlings. While the technologically advanced and developed countries are better prepared for responding to climate change, it is the developing countries that are the most vulnerable to climate change impacts because they have fewer resources to adapt politically, socially, technologically and financially. Climate change is, thus, a matter of moral and cultural ethics. Climate change adaptation methods need to accommodate traditional environmental knowledge and practices of different indigenous cultures. This book explores the ability to concerted global action and mechanisms to enable developing countries to adapt to the effects of climate change that are happening now and which will worsen in the future.

Study based on Kongthong village in Meghalaya, India.