The Garo: People of the Hills
- Gemma
- Nov 30, 2024
- 6 min read
For this edition of "Le Dragon Déchaîné" I wrote a piece on the Garo, an ethnic community in Bangladesh and India. So, come with me to begin (or continue) your exploration into the culture and modern challenges of these peoples.
The artwork by Gemma Tabet is inspired by Garo culture, and was created using mixed media: alcohol markers with digital art. The work takes direct inspiration from photographs and texts of Garo traditions and peoples, and thus serves as a glimpse into this rich and unique history. Inspiration came from photographers like David Talukdar, Cintu Thakuria, and F. Widjaja on Shutterstock, as well as Himdipta for the Wildlife Trust of India. In the artwork I have depicted a boranq, which are tree-top bamboo houses that serve also as watchouses to protect crops from wild animals like elephants. The Garo woman is wearing a dakmanda, a ceremonial, colourful two-piece dress woven with floral patterns, wide stripes, and diamond symbols known as mikron or “eye”. She also has bangles or sangong on her wrists, a white waist band known as sengki, and earrings called natapsi. The Garo man is wearing a pandra, which is a ceremonial cloth going across the chest. Both are wearing thin glass necklaces known as rigitok, a headband decorated with beads known as kotip, and a headdress made of feathers from bhimraj birds or roosters, known as do·me. These terms are derived from a variety of sources: Sankar Kumar Roy for eHRAF World Cultures, the District Administration in the South and East Garo Hills, and the Indian Ministry of Culture.
Today, the Garo, also known as the A’chiks Mande (hill people), are one of the better-known matrilineal communities of the world. Currently living in India and Bangladesh around the Garo Hills region, these peoples have matrilineal traditions that stretch back centuries, such as inheritance through the mother’s line (ma’chong). Because of the specific environmental conditions of the Garo Hills region, the Garos are also known for their jhum cultivation. Their unique society can be symbolised by the Wangala festival after the October harvest, in which food, music, and dance is prepared to honour the gods of their Songsarek religion, organised by the headman of a village’s dominant family. Yet, this ethnic community faces modern challenges brought by cultural assimilation, political marginalisation, and climate change that threaten to end the Garos’ centuries-old way of life.
The Garos originated from the Tibetan Plateau and migrated in the Prehistoric Period to North East India, where today they mainly live in the Meghalaya and Assam regions, as well as in areas of Bangladesh like Mymensingh, where they are known as lowland Garos. The Garo language is part of the Tibetan-Bruman linguistic family, although a large variety of dialects exist. Being a matrilineal society, property passes from mother to a chosen daughter known as the Nokna, who also inherits the property of her husband or Nokrom, both coming to live with the Nokna’s parents. Yet, the Garos are not considered a matriarchal society, as it is the man’s responsibility to manage the property and agricultural affairs. In fact, the Garo society revolves around agriculture, traditionally practising jhum or shifting cultivation, in which an area is cleared by burning vegetation and cultivated for a few years, then abandoned to allow fertility restoration. Both men and women are involved in agricultural and labour processes, with men in charge of jungle-clearing, house-building, and basketry, while women are in-charge of crop plantation, weaving, and cooking.
However, the modern world has brought harsh challenges to the Garo peoples, linked to cultural assimilation caused by Christian missionary movements and patriarchal communities, political marginationalisation particularly for the Bangladesh Garos, and environmental degradation triggered by deforestation and climate change.
The Garos traditionally follow a faith called Songsarek, with a variety of deities like Saljong, the sun and fertility god (honoured during Wangala) or Chorabudi, the god of crops. Moreover, they believe in a variety of spirits called mites, as well as reincarnation, in which one can be reborn in lower or higher forms of life. Yet, today, this religion is less and less practised as more Garos convert to Christiniaty, which is seen as helping to develop “identities that are… profoundly modern” (Maaker, 2007). This act of cultural assimilation began in the early 19th century, when the British Empire took over the Garo Hills, paving the way for religious conversion primarily led by American missionaries. Today, more than 80% of Garo peoples are Christian (Maaker, 2007). The Garos not only face religious cultural assimilation, but also loss of their traditional matrilineal society due to the rising presence of patrilineal values in neighbouring Hindu and Muslim communities. A study by Sirajuddin Ahmed and Upala Barua in 2021 found that the Nokrom system, in which the husband goes to live with his wife, is becoming rarer, due to the changing attitudes of younger generations, who are exposed through schools to patrilineal values. The traditional Garo way of life is under serious threat of permanent loss due to these acts of cultural assimilation.
Moreover, the Garos, particularly those of the lowland or Bangladesh regions, face political marginalisation through exclusion policies and historic discrimination. The lowland Garos have particularly been affected by external politics between India and Pakistan, beginning with Partition in 1947 (when Britain created a Muslim majority in Pakistan and a Hindu majority in India). This event saw these Garos become citizens of Pakistan, despite demands to join the other Garos in the Meghalaya region of India (ibid). In 1964, the lowland Garos were forced to flee to refugee camps in India, after an influx of more than a million Muslim refugees brought thievery, intimidation, and illegal settlements, as well as active suppression by state agencies. When the Garos returned, they faced aggressive state attitudes, particularly through the Enemy Property Ordinance, which led to Garos losing lands to the Pakistan government. Further, despite the lowland Garos fighting for the creation of Bangladesh in 1971, the new government did not provide any rehabilitation aid and stressed the dominance of the Bengali ethnicity. This historic political exclusion and even suppression of Garos has had profound effects not only on their identity, which now includes major distinctions between the Garos in Bangladesh and India, but also modern socio-economic challenges. The Garos, in both areas, face land ownership issues, which leads to a lack of access to basic necessities such as modern medical facilities, educational institutions, and employment opportunities.
Further, the Garos face political, social, and economic insecurity as a result of environmental degradation. According to the Global Forest Watch, since 2000, India has lost 6% of its total tree cover, primarily due to deforestation, and in 5 key regions including Assam and Nagaland. For the Garos, the consequential rise of temperatures and changing precipitation patterns threaten their access to sustenance and their livelihoods. Particularly, subsurface coal mining and deforestation has caused biodiversity loss, flash floods, and decrease in supply of drinking water. Moreover, due to rising Garo populations, the Garos have begun transitioning from traditional jhum cultivation to permanent cash crop cultivation (crops sold on markets for profit), which increases levels of deforestation. In Bangladesh, the Garos are also threatened by the government’s lack of effort to preserve their environment and culture. The Bangladesh Forest Department launched in 2000 a World Bank funded Sustainable Forest and Livelihood Project, involving the construction of gardens, guesthouses, and an artificial lake that negatively affects the hundreds of Garos in the Madhupur forest of the Mymensingh region. Deforestation and uncompensated land loss will have huge repercussions on the socioeconomic status of this community. Yet, despite Garo activism and demands for better forest policies, they have not only been the victims of police violence and shooting, but also of eviction threats by the government. Thus, the Garos risk not only loss of land, but also heightened climate vulnerability.
In conclusion, it is evident the Garos face a multitude of challenges arising from efforts of cultural assimilation, political discrimination and marginalisation, and environmental degradation, all of which is not being properly addressed by governments in India nor Bangladesh. Although in India the Garo lands and culture are more protected than in Bangladesh (e.g., 92% of the Garo Hills forested area is owned by local communities under the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council), they still remain a highly vulnerable community. As seen, Garo culture is still at risk due to the climate crisis, as well as external religious and patrilineal influences, which requires greater adaptation planning and policy from high levels of governance. Governments should listen and work alongside indigenous-led projects, such as the Meghalaya region Hill State People’s Democratic Party’s recent initiative to urge official recognition of the Garo language, in order to ensure better employment opportunities (India Today NE, 2024). Particularly in Bangladesh, the Garo minority has faced severe political and socio-economic insecurity, requiring urgent governmental initiative to better protect and respect these peoples. Governmental policies, particularly those involving forest cover and cultural preservation, need to be created with Garo communities, such as the Joyenshahi Adivasi Development Council, which has been a key leader protesting the Madhupur land loss. The Garos possess a unique culture intrinsically linked to nature that must be safeguarded not only for its wealth of knowledge, but also to ensure the continued existence of a vulnerable population.
Disclaimer: As a student, I don’t have the full capacity nor time to delve into the complexities of each ethnic community. My intention is to create a space dedicated to introducing readers to different minorities and their plights, to raise awareness and to encourage further readings into such topics. My art piece of each ethnic community is not an accurate representation of the culture as a whole, but an artistic interpretation based on primary photographs and references of historical traditions.
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