Chapter 5

NAGA ECOLOGICAL SETTING

Having analysed Naga population and Naga village system, now we shall examine the

Naga ecological settings. The term "ecological settings" emphasises on ecological

parameters like village territory, land and forest as well as land use system and

ownership of land. In examining Naga ecological settings, a holistic approach is taken

into consideration in respect to traditional land use system and management.

North Eastern Region is rich in bio-diversity and contains more than one-third of

the country's total biodiversity. The diversity rests on unique climatic and topographic

conditions of the region. In the region, traditional economic activities like shifting

agriculture agro-ecosystem, wet rice sedentary terraced cultivation agro-ecosystem and j

alder tree-based agro-ecosystem constitute towards rich ecosystem diversity. All these

ecosystems are home to a large variety of indigenous wild as well as cultivated crops,

plants and animals. An estimated 33 per cent of the total biological diversity of the

region is endemic. The region is endowed with most diverse types of forest ecosystem in

the country. It ranges from tropical forest ecosystem in the flood plains to sub-tropical,

temperate and alphine forest ecosystem in the high mountains. In the North Eastern

region, 54 per cent of the total geographical area of the region is recorded as forest area

(Forest Survey of India, 1999).

For centuries, the human settlement and shifting cultivation have left their impact

on the ecosystem and the high land-human ratio has helped to conserve its natural

heritage. As Ramakishnan and Toky ( 1982) mentioned, nearly 50 per cent of its flora

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and fauna and 65 per cent of Indian forests are in the North eastern region. But

increasing population pressure and hectic engagement in extractive process of

development particularly by the State in the last decade have begun to exact a heavy toll

on the environment.

5.1 Defining Ecology

The study of the relationship between man and his environment has always been, in one

way or the other, a focal theme in human geography. Human-environment relationship

changes through time with the development of human society and economic systems.

Certainly, ecological approach is one important component to understand the nexus of

human and environment. The relationship is in fact, based on the basic principles of

ecology which is the study of mutual interactions between organisms and physical

environment and interactions among the organisms in a given ecosystem on the other

hand. Thus, man is considered as an integral part ofthe environment.

Ecology is defined, in Encyclopedia Britannica (Volume10:152), as the study of

''the relation of organisms or groups of organisms to their environment." Haeckel coined

the term "oecology' or "oeokology" (derived from two Greek words, Oikos meaning

house or dwelling as habitat and Logos meaning the study of) to understand the

relationship between organism and their environment. Now the term is known as

ecology. Ecology, however, developed as a distinct scientific discipline in which only a

small number of biologists were interested. The great biologists, Darwin (1859) and

Wallace (1876) primarily laid the foundation of modem concept of ecology. Darwin

formulated his basic ideas as the "web of life" suggesting that organisms are related to

one another in the web on the basis of struggle for existence. The three main branches of

ecology are plant, animal and human being which were developed at different time

period.

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In simple terms, ecology is a science that studies the interdependence, mutually

reactive and interconnected relationship between the organisms and the physical

environment. Haeckel further explained ecology as a body of knowledge concerning the

economy of nature, highlighting its roots in economic and evolutionary theory. He

defined ecology as the study of all those complex interrelations referred to by Darwin as

the conditions of their struggle for existence. According to Atlee (1949) ecology means

the science of interrelation between living organisms and their environment, including

both physical and the biotic environments emphasizing inter-species as well as intra-

species relationships. Odum (1959) came out with the conventional definition of ecology

on the ground that biotic and abiotic components of nature are not only interrelated in

reciprocal manner but also function as a definite system. Odum presents ecology as the

study of the structure and function of ecosystem. Mcintosh (1980) considered ecology in

another perspective as a complex interaction of natural history and physiology.

Mcintosh (1980:219) offers a snapshot of the state of ecology as it entered the second ;

half of the twentieth century, "(i)t had a large and unwieldy body of physiological and

life history information, environmental analysis and community description. It had a few

general, but not neatly circumstances entities, such as population, community, habitat

and environment and a number of key processes especially competition, predation and

succession. It had developed an increasingly quantitative and statistical methodology for

sampling and analysis and at least an incipient mathematical theory of single species

populations and two species interactions."

During the early twentieth century, ecological ideas permeated the social

sciences, on the argument that most social science involved the study of man­

environment relationships. Arguments were proposed for the study of human ecology.

For geographers like Barrows (1923) focus was on the relationships between society and

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the physical environment. For sociologists (for example McKenzie), the focus was on

man-man interrelationship. With the formal development of the new science of ecology

there were several attempts to restate fundamentals of human activity in biotic terms.

Stoddart (1966) opines that from 1910 "human ecology" was used for the study of man

and environment, not in a deterministic sense, but for man's place in a 'web of life' or

the 'economy ofnature'.

The field of human ecology and its inter-relationships has gained momentum in

the recent times. Human ecology as described by Taylor (1936:336) is the study of "all

relations ofall organisms to all their environment". Adams (1951:39) articulates human

ecology as, "(t)he general subject which deals with the relations and inter-relation

between nature in general and human nature in particular ... from the broadest possible

point of view, and with all its ramifications." On the other hand, some scholars regarded

human ecology as little more than a collection of techniques for the study of spatial

distributions or substantively as the discipline "concerned with explaining the territorial

arrangements that social activities assume", whose task is, ''to discover and explain the

regularities with appear in man's adaptation to space" (Firey, 1947:3). Many studies

labeled ecological have dealt primarily or solely with geographic distributions of social

phenomena (Caldwell, 1938 and Quinn, 1950). The provisional statement of the

concerns of human ecology have encountered strong objections from one or another

group of scientists who regard their studi~s of human as exemplifying the ecological

viewpoint. The reasons for this divergence of intellectual position would have to be

sought in the circumstances attending to the development of the ecological point of view

in the biological and its extension to discussion and research on human behaviour

(Duncan 1959).

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A most common definition of ecology is the science of interrelationship between

living organisms and their environment. That is, ecology is study of the relationship of

the living organisms (biotic elements) with the non-living materials (abiotic elements) in

the surrounding environment. Hayward (1994) however, pointed out that study of

ecology led to a much broader understanding whereby it claimed to be an intrinsically

critical science with subversive and revolutionary elements.

Indeed, the study of ecology rests on the awareness of the inter-dependence of

the bio-physical and socio-cultural domains. Also, the social nature comprises elements

like population, technological culture, and non-material culture (custom and belief) in

relation to natural resources of the habitat. Guha (1994) pointed out that the ecological

infrastructure (soil, water, forest, etc.) powerfully conditions the evolution and direction

of human economic life, political relations and social structure. At the same time, human

interventions itself re-shape the natural environment in its own image. Indeed, human

ecology system has been indicated as one consisting of interdependent relations among '

the components of population, environment, resources, social organisation and

technology.

Hawley (1950) described ecology as the study of the form of development of the

human community. Community, in this connection, is constructed as a territorially

localised system of relationship among functionally differentiated parts. Hawley further

elaborates the ecosystem as the adaptive mechanism that emerges out of the interaction

of population, organisation, and the environment. The organisation that Hawley

mentioned acts as the adaptive form that enables a population to function as a unit. The

process of the system adaptation involves members in relations to interdependence to

secure sustenance from the environment. The relationship of man with the natural

environment should be symbiotic and not exploitive and suppressive (Park, 1980).

liS

"The main problems of human ecology can be set forth in terms of four

referential concepts: population, environment, technology and organisation. The unit of

ecological analysis is a human population, more or less circumscribed territoriality"

(Hauser and Duncan, 19 59: 681 ). An actual human population exists in abeyance but in

an environment. Human beings, by mere occupancy of an environment, as well as by the

exploitation of its resources, and modifY its environment to a greater or lesser degree,

introducing environmental changes. The literature of ecology emphasis that environment

"act" upon the population but also the human activities "reacts" upon its environment,

either directly or through "coaction" with the other organism. "The 'adjustment' of a

population to its environment, therefore, is not a state of being or static equilibrium but a

continuing, dynamic process" (Hauser and Duncan, 1959:682). At the same time, for

human population, the problem of adjustment to his environment is facilitated by man's

socio- cultural system. Also the functional approach of human ecology involves a

concern not with culture as an undifferentiated totality but with aspects of culture as they

play into the process of adaptation. The human ecologist is likely to regard some aspects

of culture, especially 'social organisation' as dependent variables, that is, phenomena to

be explained within an ecological frame of reference. Other aspects of culture, notably,

'technology' in a broad sense, what is an 'explanatory factor' in one context as a

'dependent variable' in another.

"The concept of 'technology' in human ecology refers not merely to a complex

of artifacts whose patterns are invented, diffused and accumulated but to a set of

techniques employed by a population to gain sustenance from its environment and to

facilitate the organisation of sustenance-producing activity" (Hauser and Duncan,

1959:682). Besides, apparatus are not only factor enabling a population to control its

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environment, but they are part of the environment which they are incorporated into the

systems.

Social organisation, like technology, is included in the concept of culture. But

here, ecology focuses on the functional aspect ofthe organisation. "Functionally, human

social organisation bears any significant analogies to organisation at all levels of life"

(Allee, 1951 ).

5.2 Understanding Naga Ecology

A holistic understanding of the ecological setting and village ecosystem function of the

traditional societies become essentially important. In fact, many of the studies that

looked at the traditional societies have considered only specific components of the

village system, such as agriculture, animal husbandry or the domestic sector (Spedding,

1975 and Chandra, et al., 1976), but few have considered the village as a functional unit

(Reddy, 1981 a9d Mishra and Ramakrishnan, 1982).

Many of the traditional societies live in harmony with their surrounding natural

resources and environment (Ramakrishnan, 1999). They obtain a variety of resources

from the forest. They are also involved with a \\fide range of land use activities, mainly

sedentary terraced cultivation and shifting cultivation for household production and

consumption. All these agro-economic systems have closely interconnected with natural

forest ecosystems and with complex village ecology. The various land use types arising

out of livelihood activities of these traditional societies are integral components of a

landscape mosaic. The village ecology is the function of highly complexjhum system of

land use and sedentary terraced agricultural system in the village and the multi-layered

home gardens, as they link the traditional animal husbandry or domestic sub-system in

the context of the village land in which they are living.

ll7

The traditional society livelihood system manifests the intrinsic nexus of

population, culture and surrounding environment. Also, how people and their cultures

affect the environment and how the physical environment affects culture and people.

Another important aspect to be considered is their belief system and practices. As Irwin

and Chemers ( 1980: 1) notes, "( d)ifferent cultures see the physical environment in very

different ways. The Oglala Sioux Indians have a circular conception of the world and

design their homes and communities accordingly. To them the sky is around, the sun

moves in a circle, and people's lives cycle through different periods."

No doubt, ecological approach is essential to understand the economic systems

of the traditional societies. This perception has been drawn from various studies. Vadya

and Rappaport ( 1965) state that relevance of ecological studies lies on how to reasonably

regard people's cognition in respect to environmental phenomena as part of the

mechanism producing the actual physical perspective in anthropological studies which

cpuld be resolved by involving the relationship of environment, technology, population I

and other sectors of social and cultural life. Vadya ( 1973) also feels that the practices are

not as the exotic expressions of essentially inexplicable cultural values or interests but,

rather as systematic components in the culture-carriers relations with the environment

from which they draw the energy and materials upon which their lives and culture

depends. Chandra (1987) mentioned that the given ecological situation moulds the way

of life for any society living in a particular condition. That is, environmental phenomena

are responsible for the origin and development of the social and cultural behaviour of the

society. In other words, how a society will live and what code of conduct, in terms of

physical context and the social setup, will adopt a direct bearing on the environment that

envelops it. Cultural behaviour of any society can easily be viewed as leaning heavily on

the constraints that the environment forwards. Immediate surrounding ecology

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determines to a great deal the material culture of the society and also plays some role in

framing the norms and the rules for various social systems. The relation of environment

and cultural treasures of any society could be understood in two distinct ways. Firstly,

the culture itself works as 'environment' within the larger framework of culture physical

environment that surrounds the people; or culture functions as part of the whole

environmental system. Secondly, the environment has its deterministic value in shaping

cultural behaviour.

As the above definitions suggest there is no single definition that scientists agree

upon as to what constitutes ecology. Different disciplines have their own understanding

in this aspect. Ecology, especially in the context of the Nagas, is related to inter­

relationship of the Naga society with their environment and useful here for us is the

definition proposed by Hawley. In Hawley's definition ecology is seen as an interaction

·of population, organisation, environment and technology.

The traditional societies like the Nagas do not a scientific definition of ecology.

They have their own ways of understanding their environment. And this is manifested

through their daily activities for livelihood. The land and local environment are the basic

foundation of the Naga social, culture and economic systems. Generally, for the Nagas

"ecological setting" is the land and forest. For them, land is their life support system.

The Naga ecological setting almost fit with the definition given by Hawley (1950) as

"territorial localised system" of 'relationships among structure and function of nature

including mankind. In Addition to Hawley, we also apply Firey's (1947) definition of

ecology as "concerned with explaining the territorial arrangements that social activities

assume," whose task "is to discover and explain the regularities with appear in man's

adaptation to space." Considering the above statement on ecology, we construct the

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Naga ecology based on elements like population, technological, social and cultural

organisation and environment (see figure 1).

Environment Village land and forests

Organisation Social, Cultural religious institutions

Population

and

Village Community

Technology ./humming( shifting cultivation) Sedentary terraced cultivation

FIGURE 1 The Ecological Complex

We have noted the paradigm of Naga ecological analysis in the introductory

chapter. The paradigm is in the sense how the Naga society understands the various

ecological parameters. The Naga environment includes the village land and forest.

Village land and fotest is the main ecological structural parameters of the Naga village.

The village land and forest provides an important element in their livelihood systems,

also, security and sense of belongingness. The Naga historical roots arc strongly founded

with their land. The land of the Nagas is more than just a habitat or a political boundary;

it is the basis of their economic systems and culture. The various ecological interactions

operate within the given village system.

Besides, the functional aspects of the Naga socio-cultural organisation play an '

important role in the Naga ecological complex. Shifting cultivation and sedentary

terraced cultivation are the main economic activities of the Naga society. The fact is that

these two functional parameters have been sustaining the Nagas' livelihood. However,

these activities eventually get into transformation oftheir local environment. The Nagas'

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social and cultural practice manifests their close relationship with the local ecology. The

Nagas worship nature and it is well presented in their traditional folk songs and folk

dances.

The Naga Hills is one such mountainous region manifesting numerous smaller

hill ranges with considerable river valleys and streams. The prevailing topographic

situations have naturally affected social, cultural and economic systems in their own

way. Such different ecological settings demand certain adaptation of the people seeking

to wrest a livelihood from it. Within this varied ecology, different economic systems

have emerged in the Naga society. Such variety of topographic features becomes the

basic determinant of the economic systems. Within this concept, the Nagas have adapted

their culture and their livelihood to the norms of the natural environment.

Therefore, the essential parameters to be considered in understanding Naga

ecological setting are village territory, land and forest and community. Ramakrishnan

(1999) emphasises a system of close interactions with natural forest ecosystem and its

complex village ecology. The Naga villages are nearly independent systems and have

"ecological efficiency" and self-sufficiency within the village system. The villagers

pursue their economic activities within the given village lands and territory. Thus, the

villagers are one of those ecological persons who mould a landscape such that there is

harmony. As Gadgil and Guha (1995) called it, "ecosystem people" depend on the

natural environments of their locality to meet most of their material needs.

As said, ecology is the study of the structure and function of nature including

mankind. Here, first we categorise the ecological structure as village territory, land and

forest. The second is ecological functions which include the various land use systems

and in the village. The above categorisation of ecological parameters is important to

understand their inter-relationshi.ps.

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5.3 Structural Parameters: Village Territory and Land and Forest

(a) Village Territory and land

After examining Naga village system, we understand that the land is the most essential

element in the Naga society. As Malinowski (1965:319) mentioned that, "(l)and must be

conceived in a more comprehensive manner. It is the relationship of man to soil in the

widest sense .. .in so far as it is laid down in native law and customs". Jose (1986)

observes that there is a deep spiritual relationship between indigenous peoples and their

land. This relationship is the basis of their existence and their beliefs. Customs,

traditions and culture are imbedded in it. The land use system is linked with the concept

of lineage and village community land utilisation. The ownership of land rests with a

particular lineage though all villagers have the right to utilise it. The traditional

knowledge system and oral history are connected to the land they lived. Village land is

the most important ecological parameter.

The territorial orientation relates to the environment in terms of control over the i

territorial resources. The idea of territory is everywhere in human lives. "Territoriality is

such a deeply ingrained aspect of human life that we tend to assume that it is something

we have acquired during our evolution" (Morris and Marsh, 1988:27). The Naga

village land and territory are demarcated by streams, rivers, ridges or stone. The size of

the village settlement, land, territory and community varies from village to village.

Nagas seldom shift or move their village sites. For the Nagas, once settled in a place,

they are glued to it and rarely move out to a new place.

The Naga village includes settlement area, community and natural resources i.e.

land and forest within the given village territory. The Naga concept of territory is objects

and places they possess and control and is inherited and in-mutable. These ecological

components are functionally inter-linked and it cannot be understood by isolating one of

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them. Within the given village ecosystem the values, belief and cultural practices are

regulated by their social institution. The villagers nurture the ecosystem and explore the

full potentialities of their environment in order to sustain themselves within the given

village territory. In fact, it is not just exploring their potentials- the relationship can be

more explicitly explained in the complementary nature of their interaction which

enriches both.

The village territory is an important parameter because it determines the

limitation of the villagers' economic activities. One villager cannot pursue economic

activities in another village territory except hunting and fishing activities which are not

bounded by the village territory. Hodson (1911) is one of the first British political agents

who mentioned a common feature of the Naga village land. Village area is strictly

defined and occasionally delimited by artificial or natural terrain boundary marks.

Within the given areas the villagers are free to fish and hunt as well as carried out

agricultural activities. For the Nagas, traditional customary laws regulate utilisation of

village's land and forests. The village land's resources within the given territory are

accessible to the whole community of the village and to which no individual has

exclusive property right in the community land. The community properties include

forest, wasteland, watershed drainage, village ponds, tanks, river/rivulets and river beds,

etc. The village community land and forest land can be temporarily used by an

individual as a private land.

(b) Forest

The concept of ecology carries with it the notion of relationship between a biological

entity and the surrounding environment. Childyal (1982) says tribal look upon the forest

as their natural environment and start depending on it. The mode of environmental

exploitation has pervasive effects on all other aspects of culture and the socio-cultural

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milieu emerges as an inter locking system in which cause and effect are intertwined in a

manner that when one element is significantly altered, it has direct or indirect

repercussions on other parts of the system.

The forest ecology provides for their basic needs and derives its optimised uses.

It maintains a balanced productive eco-system; hunting wild life and eating roots and

fruits as and when they may be available. As Childyal (1982) points out that study of

prevailing resource utilisation patterns of tribal societies reveal that most of the animals

and plant species usefully utilised by them are either uneconomical or unwanted for

technologically advanced societies.

The UN (1973) mentioned that the tribals in general, derive either directly or

indirectly a substantial amount of their livelihood from the forest. They subsist on edible

leaves and roots, honey, wild game and fish. They build their homes with timber and

bamboo and practice cottage crafts with the help of local raw materials. They use herbs

and medicinal plants to cure their diseases and even their religions and folk-lore are

woven around the spirit of the forests. Commercial transactions are predominantly by

barter, trade being left mostly to the outsiders who are controlled by money economy.

Forest is one important biotic ecological aspect for the Nagas. Forest which is

within the given village _territory is accessible to the whole village community. The

forest and its produce plays an important role in the Nagas' livelihood as well as in their

cultural theme. The forest has been the shelter and refuge providing the essential

necessities to their livelihood. The village settlements both within and on the periphery

of the forest were located so that they could easily avail of the forest products to meet

their demand. The important forest products in the context of the Nagas are firewood,

timber, bamboo, cane, wild plants, fruits, mushroom, honey, creepers and climbers,

herbs and tube-roots (it is also known as timber and non-timber forest products).

124 .

In Naga society forest is always considered as a resource. They husbanded the

forest as a resource for fulfilling their basic needs and derived its use as a balance

productive ecosystem. Forest is a resource as well as economic asset to the Nagas.

Moreover, it is not merely in terms of fulfillment of basic needs, but also in terms of

livelihood. As Agarwal (1986:4) said, "(t)he way the tribal exploit forests has pervasive

effect on all other aspects of cultural and the socio-cultural milieu emerges as an

interlocking system in which cause and effect are interwined in a manner that when one

element is significantly altered, it has direct and indirect repercussions on other parts of

the system."

Both the structural parameters, village territory, land and forest are inter-related.

Village territory and land is rarely expanded. Now we shall examine the various land use

systems in the village system.

5.4 Functional Parameters: Land Use System and Ownership of/and

(a) Land Use System

We have mentioned earlier about the village territory and land and forest in the Naga

village. Within the given village territory and land, there are different patterns of land

use and land ownership. Land use system revolves around the basic question of how

land is used by the society and its members. One has to keep in mind that there are slight

differences in the pattern of land use in the villages that traditionally practice shifting

cultivation and villages that traditionally practice sepentary terraced cultivation. The

differences are due to the practice of difference cultivation systems. However, we have

broadly taken the considerable aspects of land use system of both villages in order to

understand the general land use system of the Naga village.

Firstly we examine the land use system in the village. Here, we use the term land

use system instead of land use pattern. In land use pattern it describes only the

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morphological arrangement of land in the village. But in land use system, it

encompasses the tenure of land as well as ownership of land in the village. The land use

system includes all the different types of land utilisation in the given village territory.

Besides, in land use system there are two way relations, that is, between the land tenure

system including ownership and the method of cultivation of land. The figure I depicts

the general land use system prevailing in a Naga village. Figure 3 shows the general land

use system in the Naga village.

I Village Land Use System I I

J ~,

_y ... ... Community land Forest/ I Village Settlement I Ownership of

and Clan's land Jhumming areas Area Land and Forest

+ t -Road -Homestead -Village Spring -Fishery pond pond -Sedentary Terraced -Church& Fields School site -Woodland/forest -Play ground -Farm -Burial site

FIGURE 3 General Description of Land Use System in Naga Village

We can broadly categorise land use system in the village into three divisions (i)

community land and clan's land, (ii) forests and (ii) village settlement area. Another type

categorisation of village land use system is given by Ruivah (1987) in Tangkhul Naga

society. According to Ruivah's classification, the village land could be categorised as:

(i) village settlement area, (ii) Woodland, the nearest forest to the village settlement

area, (iii) jhum area and (iv) public or village community land (v) sedentary terraced

paddy fields.

However, the two categorisations of land use system are similar in one way. The

five categorisations in Ruivah's classifications can be considered in terms of three

126

divisions. Ruivah's classification in category (iv) and (v) can combine in the village

community land and clan's land division. In second, Ruivah's classification woodland

and jhum areas can be clubbed as forest land (see Table 1).

TABLE 1 L d U S 'N an se ;ystem m aga V'll 1 a [!C

Author's Classification Ruivah 's Classification (i) Community land and clan's Land (iv) Public or community land

(v) Sedentary terraced paddy fields (ii) Forest land (ii) Woodland, the nearest forest to the

settlement area (iii) Jhum area

(iii) Village settlement area (i) Village settlement area

In fact, both are similar in nature though we prefer the first categorisation, as it is

simpler to understand. As in the Naga village, the three divisions have been arranged

accordingly to the importance attached to the village community. Besides, in the Naga

village, community land is considered important and all members of the village can use

this land equally. But in clan's land the usage was limited to the clan members only.

Forest, like community land is considered an important economic resource asset for the

village c,ommunity. Nevertheless, both the community and forest land are perceived

equally important. A village settlement area is the land on which the villagers live and

carry out day-to-day activities.

We explain in detail all these three divisions in the following section.

Community land and Clan's land

The village community land is called Yarui lam and clan's land as Shangnao lam in

Tangkhul Nagas. Community land consists of undivided land which belongs to the

village community. Any bonafide household is free to use such land for any agricultural

purposes and domestic consumption. Ruivah (1987) pointed out that this might be

owned by an individual household or by the lineage members in the name of the head of

the lineage temporarily. As long as the household operates the land for agricultural

pursuit either for shifting cultivation or other purposes the household has full right to

127.

build fence or ditch around the area to protect from the wild animals and cattle. Once the

household stops the agricultural operations the plot automatically reverts back to the

community land. This particularly happens in the case of shifting cultivation and crop

farming. In case of sedentary terraced cultivation, such plot eventually became private

property (the practice of shifting cultivation and sedentary cultivation will be discussed

in the next section).

In community land every bonafide household of the village has the right of use

and occupation without paying any land revenue to the village authority. Any individual

household cannot claim more land than what he can actively make use of. Household

members cannot bar any persons/member of the village from occupying or using any

vacant plot of land by claiming that it is within their occupation or has otherwise

acquired it unless there is incontrovertible evidence of his actual use of the plot.

"Whatever may be the position in the statute, shifting cultivation is frequent associated

with the tradition of communal ownership of land. Very frequently, individual

households do not have absolute ownership right over the land cultivated by them. They

can hold the land so long as they make effective use of the same. As soon as they stop

their operations, their right ceases" (Roy and Sharma, 1970:150).

There are certain customary provisions in using the village community land.

When one person operates agricultural and other related economic activities, the

occupant has the right to fence the plot or ditch surrounding the land, although the

village chief and his council lay down certain provisions about the size of the areas or

plot which one can operate. If a person vacates or does not make use of the land under

his actual occupation, the land/plot reverts to the community. In this case, there is no

proprietary, heritable or transferable right on the community land, the use and

occupation is purely of temporary nature especially seasonal agricultural cultivation 1•

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However, there are traditional rights of person to acquire ownership of the

community land, if the individual household has made permanent improvement on it by

way of construction of permanent building or cultivation of permanent crops and plants

like fruit trees or converting into sedentary terraced paddy fields or fish pond. The Naga

society evolved sedentary terraced cultivation mainly in the form of wet cultivation of

paddy in the river valleys. Moreover, this kind of cultivation relies on the gentle slope of

the river basin and slopes. Also, it needs channels to allow flowing water in the terrace

fields.

The Tangkhul Nagas practice two types of sedentary terraced cultivations. The

first one is dry terraced cultivation which is called akang lui in Tangkhul Nagas. The dry

terraced paddy field depends on the monsoon rain. For akang lui, rain water and springs

are the only source of water. So except for the rainy season the paddy fields remain dry

throughout the year. Another one is called Raiyi lui (wet terraced fields). With regard to

Raiyi lui, water is supplied either from the nearby river or streams through a small

channel. In some areas, water is channel from very long distance.

Luithui (1987:50) notes that as the terraced field, as a particular area was being

cultivated year after year and was being developed, it acquired the characteristics of

permanent ownership. "By means of long and ardous labour, a terraced field may be

built up and provided with water so that the large terrace represents the expenditure of a

vast amount of energy and farming ability as well as much practical engineering skill"

(Hodson 1911 :50).

Clan's land like community land is free to access and extract the resources but is

limited to clan members only. The Clan's land system exists only in certain Naga

villages. Many Naga villages do not have clan's land system. This type of land use is

less significant in Naga society.

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Forest land

Childyal (1982:133) mentioned that, "(b)y the very nature of their habitat and ecology,

the tribals depend heavily on forests for their survival, livelihood, occupation and

employment. The concept of ecology carries with it the notion of relationship between a

biological entity- in our instance, a tribe, with an external environment, the forest." As

said, forest is one main important natural resource for the tribals.

Forest and forest products are one indispensable economic asset for the Naga

society. The forests. situated around the village settlement areas are under active use of

the local communities. Almost all the houses in the Naga villages are made of forest

produce- the thatch roof or roofing leaves, the posts and the walling made of timber and

bamboos, the ·tying canes and creepers. Firewood used for domestic fuel is directly

obtained from the forests. Many household utensils are made up of forest produce. The

household also obtain their housing materials such as timbers, bamboo, cane, thatch and

grasses for the animals from the forests. However, the extraction of forest products is

limited to the household consumption. Immediately after the village settlement area

there is village forest. In some villages, some portion of the village forest land and

woodland or farm are owned by individual household and is called Thingkham (this will

be discussed in the next section of this chapter).

However, in recent times, the use of forest is extended for commercial purposes.

The skilled craftsmen in wood work, basket making and cane work are getting new

avenues for engaging themselves gainfully. But, unfortunately, with the introduction of

Saw Mills, the Nagas were lured into this business where they became the suppliers of

timber to the cities. The logging led to rampant cutting down of primary forest in large

areas. Such activities drastically shrink the space for shifting cultivation area. Moreover,

. they destroy the habitat of wild fauna and flora. The increasing need for cash is a major

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drive for the community to resort to logging. The logged area falls within the community

land. Dutta (1986: 1 02) also mentioned that, "external factors like contacts with outside

markets and the increasing pace of monetisation opened up a new set of calculation of

economic loss and gains. The sale of forest produce through commercial channels

offered more attractive dividends and possibly further influenced the motivation to own

and control forest by households." This also clearly indicates an eroding influence on the

customary management of forests.

In the last decade, the Naga villages experienced enormous increase in household

numbers and population. The pressure on land leads to encroachment of forest land for

extension of settlements and cultivation activities. At the same time, improvement in

living standards have given rise to diversified demands for a large variety of forest

produce also, created new stresses due to heavy pressure on the forest land.

Village settlement area

Generally, Naga village settlement areas are often situated on the hill-top. The reason for '

selection of hill-tops has been mentioned in chap~er 3. The Naga village settlement is

either compact, shapeless-nucleated or of lineated form. The houses are aligned along

one or more paths, that is, align with the main road or foot-paths. The house pattern is

generally expressive of their socio-cultural level. Each house has a kitchen garden

attached to it and also space provided for keeping swine and fowl.

The village settlement area is called Khalung in Tangkhul Nagas. In Khalung

the land use system can be divided into the following types: (a) homestead, (b) home

gardens or kitchen garden, (c) public open ground, (d) roads and footpaths, (e) village

spring ponds, (d) site for public places like school, community hall and church and (f)

burial ground. In village settlement area in each household has got its own homestead,

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kitchen garden and compound. The size ofthe village settlement area varies from village

to village.

Homestead and kitchen garden are individually owned by household whereas,

other lands like roads, footpaths and public ground belongs to the village community. In

the village, every household has its own homestead land called Shimphung and a small

open space adjoining the homestead called Kayang. In this shimphung, a small area of

land is utilised for home garden called Yamgui. The average size of shimphung and

Yamgui is around 0.5 to 1.0 ha. A variety of crops and vegetables like maize, mustard,

pumpkin, cabbage, and potato are commonly grown in yamgui. The third land use in the

village site is open public ground. In open public ground, activities like village public

meetings, festivals, as well as playing (space for the children) take place. The village

main road is maintained by the village community but footpaths are taken care of by the

· individual households. Public places like school, church, community hall, etc, are built

in public land Private persons donate land for public utilities. Usually the burial ground

is located at the outskirts of the village.

(b) Ownership of Land and Forest~

The term "ownership" encompasses such questions as to who has the rights to use a

particular plot of land, who exercises control and who has legal claims to certain

portions of village land and forests. Broadly, there are two types of ownership of land in

the Naga village and these are closely linked up with the social system. The rights over

land are of two types: those that belong to individual households and those that belong to

the community. In fact, these two types of ownership are intrinsically linked with the

two systems of cultivation. Generally, in the case of shifting cultivation land is

collectively owned, but in terraced cultivation, the land is owned by the individual

households. As per Hungyo (1982) and Ruivah (1987), each Naga village headman

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(village chief) has his own definite village territory. In other words, the village chief is

the nominal owner of the whole village land. Theoretically, the headman of the village

owns the land in his name. But in practice, land is held by the village community as

whole. The village headman, as a nominal owner of the village land can never portion

out any part of the village land to anybody. For the Nagas land tenure system embodies

certain customary laws and under such rules and procedures the individual household

has the rights in the use of basic resources of land and water in the community land and

forests.

Julian (1990) describes four different kinds of land in the Naga society. Most of

the households owned land and worke~ on the family land. A second kind of land is

operational holding i.e., leased land from other families. In addition a household works

on the land owned by the clan or the village. A fourth type of land is one where a

household manages land owned by the village. The land owned by households is

managed at different levels. For instance, sedentary terraced agricultural fields are '

generally owned by individual households and considered as private property with

ownership entitlement.

As stated in the chapter 4, Naga society is a patriarchal form of social system and

the father is the head of the household. The prevailing Naga social system does not

permit the immovable property especially agricultural land and house to pass down to

women. Such properties have to be handed over only to the males.

Land ownership is an important economic component of the Naga society. Land

ownership is also as old as Naga history. In olden days, the wealth of the household was

measured in terms of landed and domestic properties, that is, how much the individual

household owned the land and domestic animals (cattle and Mithun). Broadly, we can

categorise individual household owned land as ancestral land and acquired land.

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Ancestral land, as the name suggests, the land is passed down to the male line from

generation to generation. Acquired land on the other hand, is land obtained by

purchasing or barters3 by an individual. In the process land can be re-classified as

ancestral land when it is passed down to the children ofthe one who has acquired it.

The villagers often acquired land due to the long period of operation on the same

particular plot of land. This is a case when a family uses community land for a long

period of time and intends to make permanent use of it for agriculture. Such kind of

lands can be described as "acquired" and later on it become families' ancestral land.

Every member of the village community keeps complete personal proprietary right over

the land he has inherited from the parents. With respect to inheritance of land, the

community follows a rigid patriarchal form of social system.

Forest (Woodland/Farm) Ownership

. "The tribals accordingly treat forests as their natural habitat and consider any denial of

freedom to them for its user as an encroachment on or curtailment of their legitimate

right" (Childyal 1982: 13 7). Forest land ownership by the individual household exists in

many villages. As Dutta pointed out, "(i)n the traditional pattern, management of forest

is determined by the nature of ownership and its peculiarly low-level technology." As

noted, in some villages, a plot of forest land near the periphery of the village settlement

area is owned by individual households. And such forest is called Thingkham or

Thinglui.

In thingkham zone, the forest area is divided into a number of plots and each plot

is owned by the individual household. Such an area is considered as family reserved

forest. Thingkham area is one of the important sources of supply of raw material for

domestic uses like fuel wood, housing materials and furniture. In this household reserve

. forest no one is allowed to encroach and no one is allowed to set fire or collect any

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material for domestic use. These forests are often found to be pine or teak forests with

high market value for its products. The owner is free to manage and use the forest as he

or she desires. And each of thingkham is taken care of by owners.

Like the homestead and sedentary terraced fields thingkham is also one important

immovable property for the household. The household can sell or mortgage this type of

forest at any time. It is because of the selling and buying system that the number of

holdings differ from household to household.

The ownership, control and management of forest land is solely under the control

of village authority, that is, under the traditional institution and individual household. No

part or portion of village land and forest land is under the direct control of state

government. There are few plots of land and forest which are under the authority of the

government like schools, offices and other developmental project areas.

Inheritance and Transfer of Household Owned Land

The land use system and its customary practices are transmitted from generation to

generation. The inheritance tradition described here is the general rule of the Tangkhul

Nagas. However, there is slight variation in the custom of inheritance but the general

principle is the same. In Tangkhul Naga society, only males can permanently inherit the

landed properties. The same general rule of inheritance persists in other Naga groups

(Hutton, 1921 and Ngajokpa, 2000). If a man leaves no sons, the inherited properties

will go to his brother or to the nearest cousin.

The three main important household properties are homestead, terraced paddy

field,jhum areas and household's thingkham. The importance of land ownership in the

society is apparent, as for Nagas their lives directly depend on it. Private or individually

acquired land and property can be transferred from generation to generation. Such old

practices have been sustaining since they first settled in the village site. Such land

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becomes family ancestral property. At the same time, private ownership as noted by

Dutta ( 1987) is a kind of practice that would mean possession of land with rights to use

it or dispose it in any manner according to the customary practices of the village.

Land transfers or sale of land is possible within the prescribed limits and require

certain social and customary sanctions. No land is to be sold, mortgaged, leased,

bartered and gifted or otherwise transferred by the Nagas to any non-Nagas. Although

privately owned land is sold according to individual's consent, there is the inevitable

customary sanction that one has to follow as per village traditions. The selling should be

done within the village; they cannot even sell it to residents of other villages except the

people in the village itself.

The land selling or transfer follows four stages. In the first stage of selling or

mortgage or barter of land is to be conducted among the nearest family members. In case

the immediate family members cannot purchase the land, a seller scouts among the

members of the clan for prospective buyers. If the seller fails to identify any member of

the clan who wishes to obtain the land, the village community is approached for the

willingness to buy the land. A person can sell the land within the three layers of the

community just described. However, a person can resort to selling to outsiders only after

the three stages have been exhausted. Selling of land to outsiders is not a simple task. An

important stipulation of selling of land to outsiders is that the buyers of the land have to

become bonafide members of the village and must permanently settle down in the

village.

According to the customs the sons must inherit the family landed properties at

the time of their marriages. The property is divided and allotted among the sons, while

the eldest son gets slightly more than the equal share. The traditional patrilineal family

system is dominated by virilocal marriage and patrilocal residence after marriage. The

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sons have the exclusive right of property inheritance and the obligation to support

parents in their old age.

When the eldest son of a family marries the parents are obliged to leave their

house with the reminder of their family. The son who has married takes two-third ofthe

parents' properties. This includes house, cattle and his father's paddy field. The same

process is repeated on the marriage of another son and may be again and again if the

couple has many sons. The ageing parents are taken care by the eldest son or daughter.

When the couple has large family of sons who marry in succession, the family is

reduced to poverty. Not only the parents but some of the sons do not get enough

property especially paddy field to sustain their livelihood.

Earlier we mentioned that the Nagas followed patriarchal system where women

do not inherit family ancestral land, either agricultural land or homestead. But Naga

women are taken care of by either the father, brothers or husband. Naga women never

complain about the lack of land security, for an unmarried daughter(s) is often taken care

by the brother(s) when their parents are dead. At the time of marriage the parents often

give certain gifts to their daughter like paddy, buffalo and cow. It is the husband's duty

to take care of his wife and children.

5.5 Changes in the Land Use System

The community land as well as ownership ofland and its relation to the community have

undergone changes in course of time. The changes have occurred for many reasons.

First, let us understand the traditional institutional control of Naga village land.

Traditionally, the Naga community managed their village land and forest in the

following order. (i) Village authority headed by village chief (Awunga also read as

nominal owner of village land) managed the village territory and land. Any inter-viiiage

land dispute and intra-village land dispute are take care by the village authority. (ii) All

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the bonafide households of the village have the right to use community land for

agricultural purposes, expand or make it permanent for cultivation. (iii) The one who

clears the virgin forest for the cultivation purposes will be recognised as a "holder" of

the field at least till it is left fallow. This fallow land will revert back as community land.

In recent times, the land use system and tenure system face inevitable threat

especially the village community land and forest. Broadly, the changes could be

attributed to the socio-economic transition and population pressure. Ironically,

introduction of education appears to be an important contributing factor in the transition.

Education facilities inculcated changes such as of elite households and appearance of

money economy in the village, which is, slowly replacing traditional barter system.

Transfer of money takes place now a days when ownership of land changes. Another

inevitable change in the Naga village is influence of exogenous forces and internal

transformation in the household economic system. Dutta (1987:94) notes, "(t)he tribal

society that is supposed to be traditionally egalitarian where community ownership is the

rule, there is a large scale encroachment in the community land by a powerful section of

the community."

The emergence of so-called "elite class" in the village has contributed much to

the changes in the land use system in the village. This emergence can be traced back to

the colonial period. "The introduction of currency value by the British had led to the

alteration of the local standard of wealth, power and influence to some extent. The

British introduced Western system of education which is assisted by the Christian

missionaries to bring the Nagas in touch with modern civilisation and use educated class

as a link between the rulers and ruled" (Luithui, 1987:58). With the rise of new elite

class - the preacher, pastors, educated class - who work for the British administrators the

position of the traditional power (traditional institution) holders seemed to have

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weakened to some extent. The conversion to Christianity in fact resulted in the erosion

of traditional belief systems as well as traditional institutions. At the same time, this led

to the gradual transformation in value systems, catalysed by the increasing influence of

market forces.

Luithui (1987) further emphasised that power and status attached to the land was

directly affected as 'land' as the most important factor gaining status and influence in

the society was challenged by the introduction of currency and education. The two

factors, education and newly fond wealth based on currency put pressure for modifying

the traditional land ownership system. The money economy had multiple roles as an

agent of change. With this regard, owned lands are available as commodity in which sale

and purchase is possible. Eventually the best part of the terraced fields was under the

ownership ofthe rich households.

The other intervention that has to the change in the land use is in-appropriate

developmental schemes mainly from the state mechanisms. No doubt many economic

developmental schemes have been promoted in the region but this has been taken up

without considering the ecological parameters of the region. The villagers have readily

accepted income-generation schemes introduced by the various governmental agencies,

especially those related to horticulture, cash crop promotion or afforestation. As

Chaudhury (1998:444) clearly mentioned that the "efforts of these agencies have met

with limited success in cash flow enhancement. The reasons for failure are not due to the I

lack of effort by the villager, but because of the near absence or poor quality of back up

services (especially technical, storage and product processing, transportation and market

linkages)." Moreover, the promotion of income-generation schemes affecting a change

in land use patterns has also resulted in a competition for land resources. For instance,

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more and more commercial plantations and tertiary shifting cultivation activities operate

in the community land.

We have noted earlier that among the households, major portion of the family

property goes to the eldest son. The remaining is divided among the remaining sons

accordingly. This division of land went on with the passing of each generation and the

increase of household numbers and population. In order to meet the shortage of land

each household started to make use ofthe community land.

In the village, land and forest have existed as community property. The village

land becomes the bond which tied the members of the village community. Traditionally,

in Naga society, land use system and tenure are not codified in written basis but it is

based on oral tradition. This could have made an easy target for the individual household

to extend land and claim as private ownership. Nongbri (1987) pointed out that if a

particular plot of land is operated by one individual household in the village community

land and it make permanent improvement on it and continues to occupy it, that land in

course of time is recognised as its private property. This goes to show the increasing

tendency of privatisation of land by the individual. This eventually shrinks the village

community land.in the long run. Another possible factor of shrinking village community

land is certain developmental activities or projects for instance, the state sponsored

project like "Water-Shed" project and Mini-hydro Project which in fact systematically

impinges on the village community land. Such initiatives pave the way and encourage

the state machinery to control the village community land. This kind of activity affects

the local village ecosystem and traditional economic systems. Even though there is a

clear-cut demarcation between privately owned land and community land in reality the

village community lands are often usurped and turned into private land. Such processes

become the inevitable situation for the Naga society.

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To sum up the various ecological parameters in the context of the Nagas, the

ecological structure parameters defined the boundary limits of the village territory and

land as well as economic activities. It is not possible to increase the territory because the

boundary of one village forms another villages' boundary. Thus, many villages have

common boundaries. As said, the boundaries are often demarcated by rivers, rivulets,

ridges and streams. On the other hand, ecological functional parameters provide us an

understanding of the land use and ownership of land and management. A major

distinction of structural and functional parameters is that, the structural parameters are

unchanging and static. But the functional parameters have a dynamic role depending on

human activities and social and economic changes.

Notes

1 Jodha (1990:261) in his study of Common Property Resources (CPRs) in India (based on micro-level evidence) said that, "rural CPRs are broadly defined as resources to which all members of an identifiable community have inalienable use rights. In the Indian context CPRs include community pastures, community forests, waste lands, common dumping and threshing grounds, watershed, drainages, village ponds and rivers and rivulets as well as their bank and beds. The first three resources are particularly important because of their large area and their contributions to people's sustenance. Jodha (1990:246) further elaborate that "CPRs contribute to employment, income and asset accumulation. They are an important component of people's self-provisioning systems.

We also have mentioned about the importance of community land and forest in the Naga village. It is the main life support system of the Naga. In other words, land and forest sustains their livelihood system. Land is also the foundation of their socio-cultural practices. The Naga village common property includes; (i) village land and forests, (ii) streams, rivulets, and rivers (these are often share with the neighbouring villages), (iii) village settlement area and (iv) village ponds, roads, footpaths, and burial ground (v) public open ground. The comparison between Indian CPRs and Naga common properties is given endnotes table I.

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T bl 1 N a e f aga s common proper 1es an d I d. CPRs n Ian Nag(J common properties Indian CPRs (i) village land and forests (i) community pastures (ii) streams, rivulets, and rivers (these are often (ii) community forests share with the neighbouring villages) (iii) waste lands (iii) village settlement area (iv) common dumping and threshing grounds (iv) village ponds, roads, footpaths and burial (v) watershed, drainages, village ponds and ground rivers and rivulets as well as their bank and (v) public open ground beds

2 The government ofManipur accepts that all the land and forest of hill areas belong to the state. However, the hill peoples assert that they are the owners of the land. This hiatus in perception persists due to historical reasons. The state's land laws requiring the payment of land revenues have not been introduced in the hill areas (see appendix IV). Only house tax is introduced. Due to the absence of the authorized record of right to the land, no patta system exists in the hill areas. Therefore, there is no revenue village in the hill areas ofManipur.

3 Barter system was the only mode of economic exchange in the Naga society before the colonist introduced currency values. However, traditional barter system is still practice in many Naga villages even today.

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