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You are at : Home >> Tradition >> Ethinic Tradition >> Mishing
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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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