Guwahati: The first doctoral study on Reang people, one of the 75 tribes facing extinction in India, by a Catholic nun was released during a national seminar in Guwahati on November 21.
Janet Florine Tellis, a member of the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit, has been working in northeastern India since 2008. She spent most of her time with the Reang people of Tripura.
The native of Udupi district of Karnataka, southern India, received her Ph.D. from Gauhati University of Assam state on March 30, 2015 with a focus on the Reang people.
Dhrubajyoti Saikia, vice chancellor of Cotton College State University, Guwahati, released the book, based on her doctoral thesis, at the opening of the two-day national seminar on “Syncretism in India: Cultural and Religious Dimensions.”
The book highlights the struggles of a vulnerable tribe to survive in the fast changing modern society.
Sister Tellis told Matters India that she was drawn to the vulnerable tribe in northeastern India, considered the country’s “melting pot,” during her visits to interior villages of Tripura.
“Change is an inextricable ingredient of human existence that leads to social transformation. It is a process which substitutes the old with new. The Reangs are no exception,” Sister Tellis explained.
The 35-year-old nun, who had done her masters in anthropology from Bombay University, said she chose Reangs for her doctoral studies to understand the nature and trend of change taking place among one of the most neglected tribes in India.
“The extent of change varies from society to society and from country to country. Some parts of India such as rural Tripura have experienced speedy transformation due to industrialization while some rural areas change very slowly,” she noted.
According the 2011 Census Riangs are the second largest tribal group with a population of 188,220. The federal Home Ministry in its Sixth Plan has re-designated Reangs as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group on the basis of their pre-agricultural level of technology, extremely low level of literacy, declining or stagnant population.
“The Riangs are by nature nomadic. They were nurtured by nature and natural resources. They survived by fruits, vegetables, fishes and animals. Their food gathering activities were hunting, fishing and jhum cultivation. In jhum, they produced everything they needed.”
However, they now find themselves pushed to peripheries under the pretext of development, Sister Tellis regrets.
“Today they are seen as a people group isolated among other communities pushed into corners of hills and valleys from the main stream of developments. Modernism and its deceptive developments have exploited them and their resources leading them to economical backwardness. They are in the wedges of losing traditional tribal culture life,” the Catholic nun, who has lived with the Reangs braving all odds.
According to her, development and rapid social changes bring new challenges for the Reangs. “Many remained within the traditional land and others migrated to cities and towns in search of better life, occupation and education. There are social changes due to the various tribal welfare programs by the government and NGOs.”
This has resulted in significant changes in their lifestyle, customs, cultural aspects and religion. Their traditional customs are drastically changing, the nun has observed.
Sister Tellis’ book is first authoritative work on the Reangs, their beliefs and practices.
Earlier in an article in Global Sisters Report, Sister Tellis said her cherished dream had come true when she was appointed to work in northeastern India after my final vows in 2005. “Cultures have always fascinated me, and northeastern India, I was told, was a melting pot of races and cultures,” she says.
According to her northeastern India has more than 220 ethnic groups speaking an equal number of dialects. The region is spread over 255,511 square kilometers and accounts for 45 million people, or 3.7 percent of India’s total population. Despite their great ethnic and religious diversity, the people share lots of political, social and economic similarities.
“Soon after landing in the village, I started working in the parish and helped boarding school children in their studies and the school management in the office work. I could also find time to visit nearby families.
It was during those visits she heard about the Reangs, who had come to the region hundreds of years ago.
“The Reangs, I soon realized, had the answers to some of the environmental and economic crises in the world. An in-depth study of the Reangs would enlighten the world, I was convinced. Despite knowing that such research would consume time and energy, I took it up with much joy.”
She said had to go remote villages walking four hours through hilly forests. “I had to adjust to some hardships and sleepless nights: Bugs and rodents ran through the room where I slept, and there was no electricity or washroom. So I arose before dawn to go to the fields and was ready by 4 a.m.
In villages, she slept in places with animals around her. “The grunts of pigs and goats mingled with my own breathing. Rice cooked with fish was a favorite dish. Nevertheless, it was a joy to be with those villagers. Although they had the bare minimum, they welcomed me with whatever they had. Of course, the Divine Word fathers backed my efforts to learn about a unique and diverse culture.”
She stayed close to the indigenous people and engaged in social developmental activities, especially in empowering women. This helped her learn more about them, their customs and rituals.