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A
Study on way of life and Culture of Mishing Tribe :
contd..
Village
House and Organisations :
Generally the Mishings are live on the bank
of river. They live in 'Chang ghar' i.e. house with raised platform.
The construction of the Mishing house is featured by pouring rain,
river side habitat, flood, earthquake etc.
A
'Mil bong' (Male) is entrusted with the right of maintaining and
managing the Mishing family. The husband keeps close watch or his
wife's acts in matters of rearing and feeding the children. The
wife also serves her husband sincerely. In the Mishing family preference
goes to son not to daughter. Generally, Mishing villages stand separate
from one another by paddy field, jungle, river and rivulet etc.
Social
Life and Organisation:
In Mishing society marital relation and blood
relation play the most significant role. Every family exerts its
control over their family members which helps in strengthening social
system. Widow can remarry there is no child marriage. One of the
main bases of the Mishing social Organization is "gu-min"
(Gutra). Marital relation within the persons of the same 'gu-min'
is prohibited.
The very arresting feature of the Mishing social system is the co-operative
system. 'Rig bo', 'Daglek' are the main co-operative institutions.
The Mishing social life is women in democracy, 'Kebang' being the
apex administrative unit. The chief of the 'Kebang' is called 'Gam'.
The work-load carried by a Mishing woman in her daily routine in
general over weights that of a Mishing man. Of course, in the matters
of merriment a woman can take equal part with a man.
Marriage System:
The Mishing marriage system is full of its
own features and interesting rites and rituals. Boys or girls attaining
maturity are considered fit for marriage. Marriage is prohibited
within the same 'Gumin', 'Magbo-dugnam' i.e. rendering service in
the house of the would be bride by the would be bridegroom by staying
there for a week or more is prevalent among the Mishing society.
Marriage makes everything festive. Young and old man and woman,
boys and girls wear new and beautiful dresses. Songs and dance play
a major part in a Mishing Marriage. Divorce is rare in the Mishing
society. If divorce is affected, whatever be the reason, the male
can marry other woman and the female can also be married to other
person, after her return to her parent's home.
Child-birth and Purification:
The Mishings believe that man and other creatures
take birth as a result of 'Rune:Pine' (God's) blessings. From the
time of conception the Mishing woman take utmost care, follow many
do’s and don'ts. When the labour pain begins 'cho-Iak', a cotton
rope is hanged from a purlin to help the woman holding the rope.
The experienced woman server as doctors or nurses in the Mishing
society. As soon as the baby is born a special food item 'jal' cooked
with chicken, 'Rukji', ‘Takuk tajig` etc. After birth purified water
is made to be sprinkled by the 'Satula' (Priest). Until drinking
such purified water, even the father is debarred to go beyond the
boundaries of the village, to cross over rivers, to go to forest
to go for hunting etc.
Death. Funeral and Obsequies:
The Mishings keep the dying in side the house
until his/her death. Water or 'Apong' is poured into the mouth of
the dying through a conical leaf-found at the time of death. The
dead is wrapped up with a cloth first and then with a mat carried
to the graveyard and buried. They have common burrial ground, situated
at a distance from the village, called 'Ago-golung'. Until undergoing
purification the family members of the deceased observe certain
religious practices. They observe 'Usi' or 'Uram-Apin' 'Dodgang'
as special purification. They wail in a sad tune at one's death
to get solace. This weeping (Kabnam's) beautiful descriptions full
of similars are marked with poetry and are essential for the Mising
folk literature.
Food and Economic Life:
In the past the Mishings hunted for meat,
Edibles were dug out of ground. In the course of time rice together
with fish and meat and fruits have became their main food. They
depend on forest herbs, vegetables 'namsing' (dried and grinded
fish), they rear pig, her, duck, goat etc. and eat their meat. They
use ‘Apong’) Kind of drink made of rice) regularly and also use
in receiving guests, in observing festivals, worships, obsequies,
wedding etc.
The
population living in villages depends mainly on agriculture. They
cultivate mailing paddy, mustard seeds, and black gram pulse. The
activities on which the Mishing economy depends are - agriculture
animal husbandry, hunting and fishing.
Attire,
Kneating, weavina and Folk-Art:
The
Mishing dresses have their own feature. They wear 'Galuk' 'Ege',
'Gachar', and also attires of different colours such as 'lake-Ege',
'Yambo', 'Gero', 'Ribi', 'Gaseng' etc. They wear dresses made of
by themselves. Almost all Mishing women are expert weavers. The
weave clothes in handloom. Gadu is a rare asset of the Mishings.
What marks most is the colour choice, their composition and use
of space of the Mishing weavers. Various handicrafts and folk-art-crafts
reflect the love for fine art by the Mishings. The symbolic figure
of 'Do-ni-Polo' is found on the Mishing clothes and dresses. The
Mishing house-building has some certain art features. There is an
art in weeping by the Mishings.
Folk-Festival.
Dance and Musical Instruments:
The main festival of the Mishings is "Ali-ai-ligang",
observed in the beginning of their cultivation work in the month
of 'Phagun' to worship the mother earth (Sitti-Kede) so that production
of crops in plenty. The villagers feel a great pleasure in this
festival and wear 'Mibo-galuk', 'Gonro-Ugon', 'Ribi-gaseng', 'Leke-Ege.'Porag'
is their another festival generally celebrated after harvesting
crops where 'Mibo-Dagnam' is held in the 'Murang' which is the core
of the Mishing culture.
The exhibition of the Mishing dance in different festivals and functions
is a noteworthy activity. The Mishing dances are performed only
in tune of the Musical instrument and some are performed with songs
and instruments. 'So-man', 'Gumrag', 'Mibu-dugnam' and 'Ligang-sonam'
are some of the typical Mishing dance forms.
There
are a variety of musical instruments of the Mishings namely 'Dum
Dum',’ejuk Tapung’, 'Gunggang', 'Dendun',Le-nang’,Marbang,’Jekring
tapung,Tu:tok Tapung etc.
Folk-literature and Language:
The background of the Mishing folk literature
is their folk-life. Though the Mishing language is not self-dependant
for modem literature at present it is entirely self-dependant in
creating fold-literature. The Mishing folk literature is based mainly
on their 'Solok' (riddle), 'Luse-Iukor' (proverb) 'Do-ying' (fable),
'Nitom' (various folk songs).
The Mishings have their own language, which, however, does not possess
its own scripts. The Mishings belong to the Tibeto-Barman Language
speaking group of the great Mongoloid. They now use Roman scripts
to cultivate instruction to the students and to produce literature.
 
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