Indigenous Beliefs and Practices for Sustainability Among the Mao Nagas

Title

Indigenous Beliefs and Practices for Sustainability Among the Mao Nagas

Creator

Kaje B.K.; Thomas K.A.

Description

The present society of Mao Nagas is sandwiched between trends to modernity and tendencies to be rooted in the cultural past. Prior to the arrival of Christianity, the Maos were considered animists; the sway of the one Supreme Being, and human relations with nature permeated the social, cultural, and spiritual realm. When the sky represented the father, and the earth, the mother; exploitation becomes inconsequential. Despite the odds of having limited ancestral land, the Maos have proven themselves self-sustainable within the place of habitation. The fact that there are no beggars among the Maos proves that certain aspects of the SDGs are ingrained in the beliefs. The Feast of Merit prevented extreme riches in society. With education, the Mao Nagas learned the harmful effects of shifting cultivation and abandoned its entirety. This paper tries to conceptually prove that if ancient beliefs and practices are tempered with scientific knowledge, life is sustainable. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024.

Source

New Approaches to the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol-15, pp. 121-132.

Date

2024-01-01

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media B.V.

Subject

Feast of merit; Natural resources; SDGs; Shifting cultivation; Spiritual realms

Coverage

Kaje B.K., School of Education, Christ (Deemed to be University), Bangalore, India; Thomas K.A., Centre for Education Beyond Curriculum, Christ (Deemed to be University), Bangalore, India

Rights

Restricted Access

Relation

ISSN: 23673494

Format

Online

Language

English

Type

Book chapter

Identifier

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-67360-3_11

https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85204958283&doi=10.1007%2f978-3-031-67360-3_11&partnerID=40&md5=94b474f49f33ed16ff5d18f6861e548f