An ethnographic expose of Mithun-human interrelationship among the Kuki community of Northeast India

Title

An ethnographic expose of Mithun-human interrelationship among the Kuki community of Northeast India

Creator

Haokip P.L.; Maya M.; Haokip D.B.

Description

Unrestrained consumption and a lack of a proper breeding ecosystem have depleted the variety and species count of mithun (Bos frontalis). Indigenous Kuki tribes have a unique relationship with mithun, reared in the semi-domestic countryside. For the Kuki community, a mithun is used during community festivals, as a bride price in marriages, to settle disputes, in land-deed covenants, and at death ceremonies. Mithun-human interrelationship lessens poverty, empowers community survival, guarantees the completion of critical cultural obligations, and maintains marital bonds in the Kuki community. The head of a mithun signifies solemnity and celebration in many cultural underpinnings. A white cock, a dog, a goat, a pig, and a mithun were sacrificial elements to appease the unseen spirits for good health and prosperity. While some Indigenous practices have faded with the arrival of Christianity, the cultural involvement of mithun persists to this date. 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Source

Asian Ethnicity, Vol-25, No. 3, pp. 403-416.

Date

2024-01-01

Publisher

Routledge

Subject

bride price; culture; Kuki; mithun; Mithun-human interrelationship

Coverage

Haokip P.L., Department of Sociology & Social Work, Christ University, Karnataka, Bangalore, India; Maya M., Department of Sociology & Social Work, Christ University, Karnataka, Bangalore, India; Haokip D.B., University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

Rights

Restricted Access

Relation

ISSN: 14631369

Format

Online

Language

English

Type

Article

Identifier

https://doi.org/10.1080/14631369.2023.2275588

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