Redefining Totemism: A Study on Totemic Belief among
the Rongmeis
David
Jiangamlung Kamei,
Ph.D. Research
Scholar,
Department of
English,
Dhanamanjuri
University, Imphal,
Manipur, India.
Abstract: Totemism
can be delineated as belief in kinship of a group or clanwith the spirited
beings or natural object like plants, animals. James George Frazer (1887)
stated totemism as a mixture of religious and a social system. The religious
aspect of totemism explains man’s relations of mutual respect with his totem.
While relation of the clansmen to each other and to men of other clans
manifests the social aspect of totemism. According to Emile Durkheim, totemism
is one of the earliest forms of religion based on the belief that groups of
people or clans in the tribal societies have special relationships with a
sacred object, animal or plant that stands as their collective identity. It
fosters the sense of identity consciousness in the contemporary tribal society
and establishes a sacred affinity between people and the natural world.
Totemism has been practiced by the Rongmei people since the days of their
ancestors. Henceforth, despite Christian influences, totemic belief alongside
certain indigenous practices is prevalent in the present Rongmei society. With
cultural resurgence, the Rongmei traditional beliefs, customs and practices are
being revived. The paper attempts to explorethe origin and prevalence of
totemism among Rongmeis and examines how it fosters collective identity and
solidarity within the clan members.
Keywords: Totemism, Belief, Origin, Practice, Sacred, Rongmei
Introduction
The Northeastern
region of India is inhabited by diverse tribes and communities. Among these,
Rongmei is one of the major tribes of the region. As stated by G. Makuga, “the
Rongmei tribe is one of the oldest indigenous tribes of the Nagas inhabiting in
the Northeast of India i.e. Assam, Manipur and Nagaland from time immemorial”
(1).Though the Rongmeis are scattered in the three aforesaid states of the
region, much of the population is found in the two districts of Tamenglong and
Noney of Manipur with a good number of the populace residing also in the Imphal
valley and the adjoining foothills. According to the oral tradition, the
Rongmei together with the kindred tribes of the Zeliangrong Nagas namely,
Liangmai and Zeme “lived at a place called Makuilongdi” (Gangmei 2). “Over
time, they dispersed in different directions to establish separate settlements.
Consequently, these people came to be known by different names based on their geographical
dispersion: Rongmei (settled in the south), Zeme (in the west), and Liangmai
(who remained in and around Makuilongdi)” (Gangmei 2). As stated by G. Makuga
in his book, “Introduction to the Rongmei Nagas”, ‘Rongmei’ is derived out of
‘Maruongmei’. Here ‘Rong’ literally means ‘the south Direction’ and ‘Mei’ means
‘people’. So, the term ‘Rongmei’ means ‘the people of the South Country or
Southerners’ (54).
As in the case
of other Naga tribes, the Rongmei people are culturally endowed with invaluable
traditional practices and customs. Its culture is enriched by the beautiful
songs, rhythmic dances, colourful festivals, well-embroidered attires and
varied ancestral practices. “Among the
Nagas, Rongmei has a very rich heritage of custom and culture. We the Rongmeis
have varied and unique custom as well as the culture which provide the sources
of joy and happiness in life” (Makuga 103-04). They have inherited rich
cultural heritages and oral traditions from their descendants. These traditions
and practices hold significant places in their social life. Proverbs, tales,
songs, dances are indispensable part of their cultural life. “The Rongmei
people have their own histories which are rich in cultural heritage and
religion through myths, folktales, folksongs, legends etc. which are orally
passed down through generations” (Gangmei and B. Sharma 2). The paper aims at
exploring the origin of totemism among the Rongmeis and examines the practice
and prevalence of totemic belief in the contemporary Rongmei society. It
further investigate show totemism fosters the collective identity of the group
and acts as symbol of solidarity within the clan members. The researcher used
both primary and secondary sources including personal interviews with selected
informants of the community while researching on the topic of the paper.
Theoretical
Framework
Totemism has
been practiced in varied forms throughout history though its origin is unclear.
It has been an integral part of many indigenous cultures. “The institution of
totemism was first observed and described by Europeans among the Indian tribes
of North America and it is known to have prevailed widely, though by no means
universally, among them” (Frazer 17). “Derived from the term “ototeman” in the
Ojibwe language, meaning “brother-sister kin,” totemism is an aspect of
religious belief centred upon the veneration of sacred objects called totems”
(“Totemism”). Totemism as a theoretical concept is a synthesis of various
thinkers and theories. For Frazer, “totemism is thus both a religious and a
social system” (3).According to Emile Durkheim, a French Social Scientist,
“totemism reflects the collective consciousness of clans and believe it to be
one of the earliest religious forms of humanity. He views totemism as the simplest,
most primitive form of religion” (Ritzer 91) and further explores it as the
elementary form of religion that provides profound insights into the
foundations of religious life and collective consciousness. Durkheim studies to
see how totemism reflects societal values and fosters social cohesion.
According to George Ritzer, “Durkheim delineates totemism as a religious system
in which certain things, particularly animals and plants, come to be regarded
as sacred and as an emblem of the clan” (91).
The belief that
groups of people, typically in tribal societies, have a special relationship
with a totem—a sacred object, animal, or plant—that represents their
collective identity is defined as totemism. “Each clan has a totem,
usually an animal or a plant. The totem is a symbol. It is the emblem of the
clan, ‘It is its flag; the sign by which each clan distinguishes itself from
all others’. However, the totem is more than this, it is a sacred symbol”
(Haralambos and RM Heald 456). “Considered in relation to men, totems are of at
least three kinds:- (1) the clan totem, common to a whole clan, and passing by
inheritance from generation to generation; (2) the sex totem, common either to
all the males or to all the females of a tribe, to the exclusion in either case
of the other sex; (3) the individual totem, belonging to a single individual
and not passing to his descendants” (Frazer 2). He concludes that the clan
totem is the most important of all (1).
James George
Frazer explains totemism as “both a religious and a social system. In its
religious aspect it consists of the relations of mutual respect and protection
between a man and his totem; in its social aspect it consists of the relations
of the clansmen to each other and to men of other clans (3). Golden Weiser, in
the introduction of his dissertation on Totemism, an Analytical Study
expounds the essential characteristics of totemism which he calls ‘Symptomatic
of Totemism’. Two of these features of totemism he mentions are: “a religious
attitude towards the totem; as a "friend," "brother,"
"protector," etc.” and “taboos, or restrictions against the killing,
eating (sometimes touching and seeing), of the totem” (182-83).Among others,
Frazer’s insights into the social and cultural significance of totemic belief
continue to inform contemporary discourses on totemism.
The Origin of
Totemism
The origin of
totemism in general is obscure though it is believed to have been originated in
the ancient times when humans were in proximity with the natural world.
However, the origin of totemism being practiced among the Rongmeiscan be traced
to the folktales or the clan stories that are believed and accepted down the
ages to be the sources of the belief in totems.To the question, how the various
clans came to have their totems, there are myths and legends that explains its
origin. Mention may be made of two of
such stories that delineate the origin of the clans’ totems.
Meiringmei Kaikhuang
Gaai (Kaagai) Naimei Pari (Story of Meiringmei Clan’s Totem). The story is
believed to be the source of the Meiringmei clan’s totem. The story is told of
how two children of a family, who were orphans, encountered their father who
died months ago working for them in their field at night. Finding that it was
the father who worked in the field for them, the children pleaded the father
not to leave them anymore. He agreed to be with them but on one condition that
the children should stay awake the night with the father. They too agreed to be
awake with him. But, holding onto their beloved father, the two slept off for a
moment. While waking up, they found themselves holding onto a tree. Still, the
two considered the tree as their father. This tree was called Thang Bang. This
is how the Meiringmei clan came to have Thang Bang as their totem.
The story is
culturally significant as it explains how the Meiringmei clan, one of the
Rongmei clans came to have its totem. Through the story, members of the clan
are informed of how they came to possess the tree as their totem. This symbol
(the tree) act as the centre of solidarity and cohesion within the clan. From
time immemorial, the story has been orally passed on from generation to
generation; clan members to clan members. Even today, the story is being
narrated by Rongmei elders to the younger generation with the aim of keeping
the story and its cultural importance alive. Likewise, there are stories that
tells of how various clans of the Rongmeis came to own the totemic symbols.
A similar story
is told of how the Kamei Clan, one of the major clans of the Rongmei people,
came to have its totem. Kamei Kaikhuang Gaai (Kagaai) Tuang Pari (The
Story of Kamei Clan’s Totem). A story is told of a Kamei family where the
eldest daughter would prepare the dinner daily. One day, the mother left for
work forgetting to instruct the daughter what to cook for the dinner. Realising
this only when she reached the village’s fortress called Raeng in
Rongmei, the mother, at the top of her voice, called out to the girl and
instructed that the pumpkin kept under the bed be cooked for that evening’s
meal. But, the girl, unable to understand her mother’s instruction, cut the
head of his younger brother instead of the pumpkin and prepared it for dinner.
Warned by the neighbours for this crime and for fear of the penalty from the
mother while returning from the field, the girl transformed herself into a
green pigeon and flew away into the nearby forest unheeding to the mother’s
loving call to come back. From this story, the green pigeon is revered as totem
of the Kamei clan and few other clans that were sub divided from Kamei clan.
The above story
carries profound cultural weight. It is well known among the Rongmeis
particularly with members of the Kamei clan and those of the sub clans under
it. The story is accepted to be the idea behind the Kamei clan revering Ruaihuina
(also called Ahuina), the wild green pigeon as its totem. For
generations, the story continues to inform members of the clan as to why the
bird is sacred and taboo to be killed and eaten. The sacredness of their totems
is observed by the various clans of the Rongmei people. They do not kill and
consume them but regard them. For the kamei clan, the bird becomes the centre
of unity and symbol of identity. Stories of old as this cautions and reminds
the people to have special regard and admiration for the things considered
sacred as their totems.
The plants,
animals or objects revered as totems by the clans are ordinary things which are
mundane and they are not drawn from the grand, awe-inspiring forces of nature
like the sun or stars. These ordinary things become sacred and are prohibited
from killing or cutting if plants as they represent the clan itself and becomes
the symbolic representations of the groups or the clans. According to Durkheim,
“Sacred things are things protected and isolated by prohibition” (38). The
members of the clans or groups are then united under the canopy of the same
totemic symbols and beliefs. “The members of a single clan are joined to one
another by neither common residence nor common blood, since they are not
necessarily consanguineous and are often scattered throughout the tribal
territory. Their unity arises solely from having the same name and the same
emblem, from believing they have the same relations with the same categories of
things, and from practicing the same rites—in other words, from the fact that
they commune in the same totemic cult” (Durkheim 169).
Totemic Belief
among the Rongmeis
Totemism is an
integral part of most of the indigenous cultures around the world. According to
Goswami (2018), India is the home to large number of indigenous people and the
tribal people in the country have their own physical, cultural, religious and
spiritual identity. Thus, most of the tribes living in India believe in the
concept and practice of totem (1). The totemic belief is often association of
clans or families with specific animals, plants or natural objects which serves
as symbols of identity and protection. In the book, “Totemism”, Claude
Levi-Strauss defines totemism as “association of an animal species with a human
clan” (11). Similarly, totems of the Rongmei clans are mostly animals or birds.
There is a close affinity between these totemic symbols and the clans in the
Rongmei society. Though, due to modernisation influences, the younger
generation may not be giving the due reverence to these totems, the elders and
right-thinking clan members still revere them as sacred. Henceforth, totemism
is prevalent among the Rongmeis. The totemic belief, which has been inherited
from their ancestors, is practiced till the present time. This belief is
integral to their social structure and cultural identity.
Clans and their
Totems
As in the case
of other Naga tribes, the Rongmei people have the clan system. Also, frazer, in
his book “Totemism and Exogamy” makes a mention of the Ojibways whose society
was divided into “a large number of totemic clans” (64). “There are three
principal clans in the society of Rongmei, namely Kaamei clan, Golmei clan and
Gaangmei clan and under each clan there are few sub-clans” (Makuga 23). As
pointed out by Dichamang Pamei, there are many sub clans, but all those clans
are within any of the main clans (36). Dwelling on the many clans found among
the Zemes, Liangmeis and Rongmeis, Pamei says: “There are certain clans who are
known by different names but observe the same customs” (27). “Each clan has a
totem which is originally a symbol or emblem of a clan based on some distant
incidents” Account of Zeliangrong Nagas 29.In the opening lines of his
book, “Totemism”, James George Frazer states “A totem is a class of material
objects which a savage regards with superstitious respect, believing that there
exists between him and every member of the class an intimate and altogether
special relation” (1). Kamang (Tiger) is the totem of the Gangmei clan
while the bird Ndaou (Bulbul) is that of the Gonmei clan. Similarly,
other Rongmei clans have their symbols or objects as their totems. “Each
totemic group is clearly differentiated from the other groups by its own unique
totemic symbol” (Murugesan 22). “Totem” which is called Gaai in Rongmei act
as a symbol of unity among members of the clans and further upholds identity
consciousness and social cohesion. “These clans have a common totem, which is a
binding force, irrespective of the tribes they belong to. For example, for the
pamei clan, the wild green pigeon is their totem and it is taboo to eat the
meat” (Pamei 28). According to Emile Durkheim, the great social scientist,
totems are not just divine or spiritual forces but much more, they represent
the collective identity and unity of the group. In the light of this idea, it
is vital to mark that totemism is prevalent in the Rongmei society wherein each
clan has its own totem which act as the central figure of identity and social
cohesion. Except for some, particularly few youngsters of this day, the clans’
members revere and respect their totems. With awe and admiration, these totems
are loved and viewed as their own. Frazer is of the view that the relations
between social groups and species of natural objects in totemism are of
friendship (Hodson 199b)
There is a
belief among the Rongmeis that if one disrespect its totem, for instance, a
bird; kill and consume it, the one who disregard the sacred belief suffers from
bleeding of the nose or from any other ill consequences such as falling of
teeth or results in infirmed birth of children etc. Thus, it is taboo for
anyone to kill and eat or desecrate its totem. “Dishonouring such a totem by
way of consuming or any other form of denigration is a taboo for that clan” (Account
of Zeliangrong Nagas 29). There is an age-old traditional practice among
the Rongmei people wherein elders of the clans caution the clans’ members
especially those young not to consume or disregard their concerned totems or
else the consequences will be severe upon those who disregard the belief. This customary
belief, which has been transmitted through generations, is still prevalent in
the contemporary Rongmei society. Such customary practices and others are being
revived and upheld for future generations.
Cultural
Resilience alongside Resurgence
With the
emergence of globalisation alongside multicultural lifestyle, some of the
ancestral practices have been neglected and given up. Still, some other
traditions and customs are sustained and practiced till the present time. For
instance, the belief and the practice concerning totemism is observed by the
various Rongmei clans. “Despite colonialism, Christian influences, and
modernization, the Rongmei community remains resilient in preserving their
traditions. Scholars have feared the erosion of oral traditions, but the
Rongmei people maintain their values as a shield against external forces”
(Gonmei and Singh 595). While interviewing somewell-informed Rongmei elders
concerning the existence of totemism in the Rongmei society, they believed that
totemism is still in practice amongst Rongmeis. They opined that though some of
the age-old traditional practices have been neglected and forgotten, some still
withstands against the forces and influences of modernisation. One of the
informants (Gonmei) said:
“With the coming of Christianity, the traditional practices were
considered paganistic and continuations of these customary practices were
discouraged. But, in the real life, people have not abandoned them completely
rather they are being revived and practiced. For instance, when the bride is
sent off from her home, she is asked to step out of the room with the right leg
first. Likewise, the belief in totem is observed and its sacredness is revered
by members of different clans till this day.”
Till now, elders
are heard teaching and warning the younger generation of the clans to revere
the sacred object, plant or animal which have been considered sacred down the
ages by their forefathers. The elders themselves value this sacred observation
and urgesthe younger ones to do the same.
Cultural
resurgence is the new normal in today’s tribal societies. There is a paradigm
shift from oral transmission of the cultural heritages to print and digital
transmission. The emergence of Christianity in the Zeliangrong Inpui inhibited
areas in the early part of the 20th century eroded the rich cultural heritages
of the cognate Zeliangrong Inpui tribes. With the conversion of Mr. Namrijinang
Maipak in 1914 to Christianity (Pamei 61), the new religion found its way
through the age-old traditions and customs of the Zeliangrong Npui people. With
the advent of the foreign religion, the Rongmeis too were losing their unique
culture while slowly embracing the newfound faith. The indigenous practices
were considered paganistic and abandoned. However, in the recent past, cultural
resurgence is witnessed among people of the Rongmei community. Today, villages,
Churches and individuals are waking up to the call for revival of the ancient
values, traditions and invaluable cultural heritages. In the light of this
cultural rebirth, cultural dances are performed; folksongs are sung and
cultural attires are worn during cultural and Christian festivals. Likewise, clan
wise gatherings under the names such as Gangmei Kaikhuang Kariumei
(Gangmei Clan’s Get-Together), Meiringmei Kaikhuang Ngai (Meiringmei
Clan’s Festival),and Gonmei Kaikhuang Ngai (Gonmei Clan’s Celebration) centering
around their totemic belief and symbols are organised from time to time with
the aim of upholding shared identity and cohesion within the clans.In such
events, the elders of the clans educate younger members of the clans on the
origin and sacredness of its totems; the religious and social significance of
the totemic belief thereby imparting cultural values and knowledge to the
younger ones. This strengthens collective identity and social cohesion among
members of the clans. Similarly, Goswami (2018), looking from the sociological
perspective, states that the totem animals keep the tribal people in bonds of
unity and brotherhood. It brings social and community consciousness among the tribal
people.
Conclusion
One way of
asserting one’s identity and upholding the same in this modernised world where
identity loss becomes a matter of discourse is to get back to one’s root and
indigeneity. Cultural sustainability through promotion and preservation of the
priceless customs, traditions and cultural heritages is crucial at this
juncture. Knowing fully well that holding on to the ancestral practices is the
need of the time, Rongmei people, Christians and non-Christians alike, are waking
up to revitalise their cultural heritages. At present, efforts are being made
to revive and strengthen the traditional way of living, the olden days’
practices of singing the folksongs while working and during celebrations,
adorning themselves with colourful traditional attires alongside valuable
ornaments on important occasions, using of the traditional musical instruments
while singing and dancing and inclusion of cultural dances during festivals and
occasions of importance are ways and means to preserve and promote the rich
lores of the past for the present and future years. One such practice sustained
till this present generation is that of totemism. The taboo imposed on
consumption and desecration of the totems is taken with utmost reverence and
seriousness by the Rongmei people. This has been there since the very
beginning. Thus, it is pertinent for the younger generation of the community to
regard totemism as a vital cultural practice and revere those other sacred
practices and beliefs passed on by the ancestors down the ages. Totemic belief
among the Rongmeis reflects their deep connection to the natural world and the
ancestral heritage. Totemism, still in practice, highlights cultural continuity
among the Rongmei people. For culture to
survive, when it is confronted by the devastating forces of modernisation,
continuousness of traditional practices such as totemism is crucial.
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