Current Science

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Attachment to Shifting Cultivation among Konyak Naga Tribe in Eastern Himalaya:Choice or Compulsion?


Affiliations
1 Central Agricultural University (I), Pasighat 791 102, India
2 Krishi Anusandhan Bhavan-I, Pusa, New Delhi 110 012, India
3 ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Bhubaneswar 751 002, India
 

Community attachment to places or practices and the cultural contexts of tribes are subjects of long traditions of research. A few studies, however, have extended these traditions into increasingly marginalized areas located beyond historically deprived upland communities. This study addresses issues related to the sentiments of attachment and constructions of place among the low-income Konyak Naga tribe in Nagaland, situated on the outer fringes of the Eastern Himalaya. Using four-dimensional model proposed by Raymond et al., with factor analysis, the study revealed that in addition to socio-economic factors that affect such connection to land and landscape, place dependence construct (lack of alternate livelihood) is observed to be the most important driver of attachment to the practice of shifting cultivation. This was followed by strong connections with the natural environment or nature bonding of Konyak Naga to the forest. Contribution of economic and traditional institution- bonding with the practice was found among the tribe as a means of livelihood. Sensing that such debate of the socio-spatial environment might be perceived as inconsistent, ill-informed and negative, we discuss implications in relation to cultural diversity and broader concerns about evolving rural poverty.

Keywords

Factorial Analysis, Place Attachment Model, Shifting Cultivation, Tribal Communities.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Pradheep, K., Pandey, A. and Bhatt, K. C., Wild edible plants used by Konyak tribe in Mon district of Nagaland: survey and inventorisation. Indian J. Nat. Prod. Resour., 2016, 7(1), 74–81.

  • Kuotsuo, R. U., Chatterjee, D. I., Deka, B. C., Kumar, R.A. A. O. M. and Vikramjeet, K. O., Shifting cultivation: an ‘organic like’ farming in Nagaland. Indian J. Hill Farming, 2014, 27, 23–28.

  • Karmaker, R., Nagaland loses soil heavily due to ‘jhum’, 2018; https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-otherstates/nagaland-loses-soil-heavily-due-to-jhum/article23552211.ece (accessed on 13 September 2018).

  • Pant, R. M., Tiwari, B. K. and Choudhury, D., Report of Working Group III, shifting cultivation: towards a transformational approach. NITI Aayog, New Delhi, 2018.

  • Fox, J., Castella, J. C. and Ziegler, A. D., Swidden, rubber and carbon: Can REDD+ work for people and the environment in Montane Mainland Southeast Asia? Global Environ. Change, 2014, 29, 318–326.

  • Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact Foundation and Indigenous Knowledge and Peoples Network, Who we are: Indigenous Peoples in Asia, Briefing Paper, Chiang Mai, AIPP Printing Press, 2010.

  • Rao, M. G., Mukherjee, C., Bhasin, A., Barua, A., Anand, M., Pandey, R. and Srinivasan, R., Vision document for the State of Meghalaya 2030. Nat. Institute of Public Finance and Policy, 2011; http://www.megplanning.gov.in/report/vision2030/ (accessed on 16 September 2018).

  • Erni, C., Shifting cultivation, livelihood and food security: new and old challenges for indigenous peoples in Asia. In Shifting Cultivation, Livelihood and Food Security, 2015, vol. 3.

  • Mertz, O. and Bruun, T. B., Shifting cultivation policies in Southeast Asia – does criminalizing traditional farming practices make them go away? In Shifting Cultivation Policy: Trying to Get it Right (ed. Cairns, M.), Earthscan Routledge Press, Oxon, UK, 2016.

  • Dressler, W. H., Wilson, D., Clendenning, J., Cramb, R., Keenan, R., Mahanty, S. and Lasco, R. D., The impact of swidden decline on livelihoods and ecosystem services in Southeast Asia: a review of the evidence from 1990 to 2015. Ambio, 2017, 46(3), 291–310.

  • Alawadi, K., Place attachment as a motivation for community preservation: the demise of an old, bustling, Dubai community. Urban Stud., 2017, 54(13), 2973–2997.

  • Anton, C. E. and Lawrence, C., The relationship between place attachment, the theory of planned behaviour and residents’ response to place change. J. Environ. Psychol., 2016, 47, 145– 154.

  • Brown, G. and Raymond, C., The relationship between place attachment and landscape values: toward mapping place attachment. Appl. Geogr., 2007, 27(2), 89–111.

  • Raymond, C. M., Brown, G. and Weber, D., The measurement of place attachment: personal, community, and environmental connections. J. Environ. Psychol., 2010, 30(4), 422–434.

  • Pearson, Karl, On lines and planes of closest fit to systems of points in space. Philos. Mag., 1901, 2(11), 559–572.

  • Hammitt, W. E., Backlund, E. A. and Bixler, R. D., Place bonding for recreation places: Conceptual and empirical development. Leisure Stud., 2006, 25(1), 17–41.

  • Pant, M., Nagaland State Human Development Report 2016, Department of Planning and Coordination, Government of Nagaland, 2016 (accessed on 29 October 2018).

  • Tynsong, H., Tiwari, B. K. and Dkhar, M., Contribution of NTFPs to cash income of the War Khasi community of southern Meghalaya, North-East India. For. Stud. China, 2012, 14(1), 47–54.

  • Padoch, C., Coffey, K., Mertz, O., Leisz, S. J., Fox, J. and Wadley, R. L., The demise of swidden in Southeast Asia? Local realities and regional ambiguities. Geogr. Tidsskr.-Dan. J. Geogr., 2007, 107(1), 29–41.

  • Mishra, S., Mazumdar, S. and Suar, D., Place attachment and flood preparedness. J. Environ. Psychol., 2010, 30(2), 187–197.

  • Fernandes, W., Look (act) East policy: with or through the Northeast. In Mainstreaming the Northeast in India’s Look and Act East Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore, 2018, pp. 233–251.

  • Tripathi, P., Tribes and forest: a critical appraisal of the tribal forest right in India. Res. J. Soc. Sci. Manage., 2016, 6(6), 1–8.

  • Singh, B. P., Biodiversity, tribal knowledge and life in India. Environ. Soc. Psychol., 2017, 2(1), 1–10.

  • Chaudhry, P., Dollo, M., Bagra, K. and Yakang, B., Traditional biodiversity conservation and natural resource management system of some tribes of Arunachal Pradesh, India. Interdiscip. Environ. Rev., 2011, 12(4), 338–348.

  • Das, S., and Das, M., Shifting cultivation in Tripura – a critical analysis. J. Agric. Life Sci., 2014, 1(1), 48–54.

  • Lombi, P., People’s perception about shifting cultivation – with special reference to the Galo tribe of West Siang District, Arunachal Pradesh (India). Int. J. Sci. Res. Publ., 2016, 6(7), 454–459.

  • Sangma, R. C., Festivals and ceremonies of Garo. Garo J., 2018; https://garojournal.com/festivals-ceremonies-garos/ (accessed on 23 October 2018).

  • Teegalapalli, K. and Datta, A., Shifting to settled cultivation: changing practices among the Adis in central Arunachal Pradesh. North-East India. Ambio, 2016, 45(5), 602–612.

  • Chapin III, F. S. (eds). Arctic Ecosystems in a Changing Climate: An Ecophysiological Perspective, Academic Press, San Diego, California, 2012.

  • Raymond, C. M. et al., Ecosystem services and beyond: using multiple metaphors to understand human–environment relationships. BioScience, 2013, 63(7), 536–546.


Abstract Views: 354

PDF Views: 146




  • Attachment to Shifting Cultivation among Konyak Naga Tribe in Eastern Himalaya:Choice or Compulsion?

Abstract Views: 354  |  PDF Views: 146

Authors

D. K. Pandey
Central Agricultural University (I), Pasighat 791 102, India
P. Adhiguru
Krishi Anusandhan Bhavan-I, Pusa, New Delhi 110 012, India
H. K. De
ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Bhubaneswar 751 002, India

Abstract


Community attachment to places or practices and the cultural contexts of tribes are subjects of long traditions of research. A few studies, however, have extended these traditions into increasingly marginalized areas located beyond historically deprived upland communities. This study addresses issues related to the sentiments of attachment and constructions of place among the low-income Konyak Naga tribe in Nagaland, situated on the outer fringes of the Eastern Himalaya. Using four-dimensional model proposed by Raymond et al., with factor analysis, the study revealed that in addition to socio-economic factors that affect such connection to land and landscape, place dependence construct (lack of alternate livelihood) is observed to be the most important driver of attachment to the practice of shifting cultivation. This was followed by strong connections with the natural environment or nature bonding of Konyak Naga to the forest. Contribution of economic and traditional institution- bonding with the practice was found among the tribe as a means of livelihood. Sensing that such debate of the socio-spatial environment might be perceived as inconsistent, ill-informed and negative, we discuss implications in relation to cultural diversity and broader concerns about evolving rural poverty.

Keywords


Factorial Analysis, Place Attachment Model, Shifting Cultivation, Tribal Communities.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv116%2Fi8%2F1387-1391