A Study on the Ethnic Games of the Dimasas in Assam

Abstract

Games and sports are an essential part of human life. It can be considered as an intangible cultural heritage of a community. The field of sport and culture refers to the values, ceremonies and way of life characteristics of a given group and the place of sport within that way of life. Like the concept of society, the notion of culture is widely used in the sociological, anthropological and historical study of sport. It encourages the researcher and student to consider the meanings, symbols, rituals and power relations at play within any particular cultural setting. Traditional sports and games as a specific part of the global sport system may engender the notion of old, exotic and endangered cultural manifestations, but to some extent that is only the outsider´s view on an extremely widespread and interesting sub-group of sports, which can be analyzed from different perspectives relating to sociological, anthropological or cultural sciences. Different tribal groups of India also have some of their own traditional games and sports, which reflect their cultural identity and means of recreation and entertainment in leisure time. In Assam the cultural heritage of the Dimasa Tribe has its own resemblance. They are primarily dwelling in the Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao district of Assam. They are autochthones of the region and they have multiple traditional cultures of their own and some unique ethnic games and sports as well. In this paper an attempt has been made to focus on the various ethnic games of the Dimasas. The studied people of these villages are very much aware of their folk cultural traditions, particularly of their ethnic games and sports. This paper is an attempt to discuss about their different ethnic games; as well as the significance of such ethnic games among the concerned people, with a special reference to their emerging problems and prospects.