The Rites of Passages of the Karbis and the Role of Women: On Seeing Unlike a Feminist

Abstract

The ‘Karbis' (Mikirs) of the Northeast India, are one of the oldest aboriginal ethnic tribes belonging to Mongoloid stock genealogically and Tibeto-Burman linguistically. They possess a vibrant cultural lease of life moulded by myriad rites and rituals bequeathed by a good number of great tradition-bearers of the yesteryears and perpetuated with utmost reverence by their posterity through oral tradition. This has been possible because of the strong collective racial memory, patriotic zeal and consciousness of ethnic identity. It is noteworthy that despite the patriarchal structure of the community, the Karbi women completely dominate the ritualistic domain of the tribe by playing a pivotal role in the entire rites of passages. This would appear crystal clear, if we alter our perspectives towards the status of the Karbi women in the society they belong. Such an attitude is indispensable in understanding and evaluating a particular society because no one is licensed to misrepresent the cultural ethos of a community. Thus, on seeing unlike a feminist, and debunking Beauvre's conviction, we realize that the Karbi women are not marginalized by their male counterparts in the society, rather, are highly deified. The author attempts to explore the rites of passages performed by the Karbis within the narrow gamut of this paper by establishing the prominence of the ‘second sex' in performing and sustaining some indispensably important rites and rituals”the life-force of their culture.