English

Abstract

Arunachal Pradesh, the unique territory previously known as the North East Frontier Agency, is a mountainous region extending between the Brahmaputra Valley, whose eastern part it encloses like a horseshoe, Tibet to the north, Burma to the east, and Bhutan to the west. It is the home to 110 ethnic groups (sub-tribes) of great cultural diversity, but in many respects there is an overall uniformity. The Galo population estimated at 80,597 (2001 census) makes them the one of the most populous tribe of Arunachal Pradesh. Poka, a traditional rice wine plays an important role in the socio-cultural life of the Galo tribe of Arunachal Pradesh. It is consumed during most of the festive occasions and celebrations. This paper reports the traditional way of preparation of the wine with ethnobotanical observation. KeywordsPoka, Rice wine, Galo, Arunachal Pradesh, Agricultural, Mopin, starter, alcohol. International Journal of Agriculture Sciences ISSN: 0975-3710 & E-ISSN: 0975-9107, Volume 4, Issue 6, 2012 Introduction Arunachal Pradesh is considered to be luxuriant in biodiversity and has been recognized as the 25th biodiversity hotspot in the world [1]. It is spreading over an area of 83,743 sq km with a variation in altitude from 150-6,500 m and unique climatic conditions. The original inhabitants of Arunachal Pradesh belong to 26 major tribes and 110 sub-tribes [2]. Galo is one of the prominent tribes occupying the southern part of Abor Hills, bounded by in Simen River east, Subansiri in the west, Siyom River Bayor Adi (Hill) in the north, and Lakhimpur district of Assam in the south. The maximum population of Galo is mainly concentrated on West Siang District. The tribe is composed of several groups inhabiting a compact area, comprising of many villages, and all are culturally and socially linked together [3]. The people are dependent on agriculture which is the backbone of their economy. They are socioeconomically dominant in their area. Donyi-Polo religious traditions persist to a degree in most Galo, although Christianity is on the rise in recent years especially in the foothill areas [4]. With this traditional belief, they perform festivals that are mainly agricultural based. Mopin is the main festival of the tribe which is celebrated for four to five days in the month of April for social prosperity and wealth. Rice is their staple product; they produce it for food and preparation of rice-wine (Poka). They traditionally practice shifting cultivation (Jhum kheti) which involves intensive labor and often employs the entire village during cultivation and harvesting of the crops. Galos have tremendous traditional knowledge to use natural resources to a great extent. They are well known for production of household liquor, Poka, which is associated with social, cultural socio-economical context. They offer it in their festivals like Mopin, at the onset of harvesting, their marriage and Shhradha ceremonies. Methodology The present study is based on Basar village (27°59′N 94°40′E.), which is situated in the West Siang District of Arunachal Pradesh. It has an average elevation of 578 metres above mean sea level and has a pleasantly cold climate. According to the 2001 India census, Basar has a population of 3,834 Galo (Tribe) people. Males make up 56% of the population and females form 44%. Basar has a mean literacy rate of 72%, where 61% of the males Citation: Bora S.S., et al. (2012) Poka-a traditional rice wine of the Galo tribe of Arunachal Pradesh, India. International Journal of Agriculture Sciences, ISSN: 0975-3710 & E-ISSN: 0975-9107, Volume 4, Issue 6, pp-268-271. Copyright: Copyright©2012 Bora S.S., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.