Deathscapes in Borderland city negotiation between the believed primordiality of death rituals and social change among the Rongmei Naga tribe of Northeast India

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the socio-cultural transformation and challenges faced by the Rongmei tribe against the backdrop of continuous demographic growth and rapid urbanisation , inadequate planning, and shoddy policies of deathscapes in Manipur, Northeast India. It also examines the recent changes in cultural and customary practices concerning death, dignity and disposal of the dead among the Tingkao Ragwang Chapriak (TRC) group within the Rongmei tribe of Imphal. This article is the result of ethnographic fieldwork conducted from 2015 to 2020. In the last two decades, Thien (a traditional institution of Rongmei) and TRC have played significant roles in transitioning and negotiating customary practises and acquiring burial land. The analysis of this dynamic process with the concept of ‘mortal migration’ conceptualised as an extra-territorial customary rite of passage of death, is a significant contribution of this paper. It falls under what may be called extra-territorial village administration.