Tied To Tradition

How does a small tribe of indigeneous people nestled in a forgotten corner of civilization, hold out against the onslaught of modern-ity and preserve their cultural identity? One good way is to convert a little known traditional festival into a major cultural event which would sooner or later be noticed by everyone around.

No wonder, when a series of pink posters appeared on the roadside walls of the eastern Assam Oil town of Digboi, announcing the 16th "Swapang Yawng Manau Poi" festival, to be held in the neighbouring town of Margherita, most onlookers were curious. Only a handful were aware that it is an annual festival of the Singpho tribe.

 

Members of the same group of people as the Kachins of North Myanmar, the Xingphaws of Unnan province in South China and the Singphos of India are a sizeable tribe inhabiting the Patkai range. A number of them live in Assamese villages, while the bulk of them are spread in the districts of Changlang and Tirap in Arunachal Pradesh.

A day before the festival, arriving at the festival venue _ a huge field at the New Colony locality in Margherita _ I found the place swamped by people dressed in traditional Singpho attire. The men in blue-green check Sarongs, many brandishing their traditional knives and ceremonial swords, the women in intricately woven Bukangs (stoles), the married ones with white turbans on their head. A Buddhist monk and a few elders directed the preparations.

A giant make-shift stage and auditorium dominated the area. On one side was erected an Imta, a traditional Singpho house on a slightly raised platform. Built of bamboo, without walls on its front and rear ends and with a gigantic sloping thatched roof, it served both as an exhibit as well as a restroom for the participants and visitors.

In the middle of the field was a specially demarcated circular area in which would be set the Shadung, the 11 carved totems which are the emblems of the occasion. A few men were giving these liturgical posts a new coat of paint.

Over a cup of traditional Singpho tea, prepared by seasoning the leaves in special bamboo casks and served in hand-carved bamboo cups called Cya-ing-that, I learned that the ensuing ceremony was one of folk dances and music. Manau Poi, means "Dance festival", and it is held on February 14 every year as a tribute to their mythical ancestor Swapang Yawng._ a quasi divine entity who composed songs and learned music from the birds, and dancing from the butterflies and fishes.

An antediluvian shamanic ritual, the Singpho's initially held the festival in order to appease "Mathum Matha", one of the primordial spirits and various other nature spirits called Nats. However, in its present incarnation, the Manau Poi essentially appears to be a revivalist effort in bonding the ties within the various clans and the greater Tai family, as well as to showcase the Singpho culture and heritage. Besides, with the conversion of the tribes people into Buddhism and Christianity in recent times, the occasion no longer involves any of the ancient religious rituals and sacrifices, taking on more of a cultural colour.

Similarly the totems of Manau Shadung which were representative of the ancient gods and elemental spirits now serves only as a cultural edifice.

The next day, as people milled around in their national costumes, the field appeared as an indigo sea with speckles of white floating atop. Several participants arrived from neighbouring Miao in Arunachal Pradesh, while a few guests came all the way from Myanmar and Chaing Mai in Northern Thailand.

During the day, the colourful Shadung with bright geometrical and flowing patterns was set up, six of its posts standing vertically, four diagonally and the last one featuring a carving of a bird's head and tail at its two ends, placed horizontally across. With a series of carvings of various wild animals on its side this special totem depicts "Dhanesh" who according to their mythology was the leader of the birds.

According to the popular Singpho legend, shortly after the creation of the earth, a boy named Mang Dinngyaw spied on Dhanesh and his flock dancing joyously in praise of Mathum Matha who caused the trees to bear fruits and beautiful flowers. Inspired, the boy directed the first Manau Poi and ever since, all the Singpho people irrespective of whether they live in India, Myanmar, Thailand or in China, celebrate the occasion with dance, music and gaiety.

The first day of the ceremony started with the hoisting of their traditional flag, depicting two Singpho Daos (machetes) followed by an assorted array of cultural programmes and traditional games.

The festivities of the second day began with the inauguration of the Manau Shadung. Two drummers started beating on the huge double-ended drum suspended horizontally in front of the totems and assembling in two serpentine lines the participants started the communal dance of Htung Hkying Manau.

Led by two elders, both holding swords and decked in bright traditional costumes decorated with animal and fish patterns, the dancers gyrated and wobbled, the men holding swords and ladies waving handkerchiefs, circling round and round the field. To mark the event as the first in the millennium, many of the handkerchiefs had the number 2000 printed on them.

In the evening the real essence of the dance festival was unleashed. Till the first crack of dawn, the crowd was treated to a medley of traditional and not so traditional performances.

Though bereft of their previous position and sacrifices, Mathum Matha and the Nats couldn't have expected a more joyous celebration of life.