International conference

On
Eco criticism and Global South: Trends, Issues and Challenges

Organized by
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
Dibrugarh University
Dibrugarh -786004

Research paper on the topic- “Indigenous Ecology and Traditional Systems of

Knowledge: A Study of Select Poems of Mamang Dai”

Submitted by-
Name: Dhritishna Jiri pachani
Designation: Post graduate student
 Abstract

Literature is considered to be one of the finest forms of art, having a presence of aesthetic
expression. In this field of literature, eco-criticism finds a prominent place in the works of various
authors. It is a theoretical discourse which strives to establish the fact that man has in a way
forgotten his connection to nature and thus attempts to destroy it. It attempts to restore that concept
of nature, which, in the postcolonial era is beginning to get erased. The eco feminist writers attempt
to resist the western constructions of nature according to which it simply acts as an agency which
serves human beings. Moreover, the postcolonial writers strive to restore a pre-colonial nature
which lays emphasis on the indigenous forms of ecology and traditional knowledge systems. The
predicament of the Eco critics is that they want humans to consider nature as something that has
many voices and as a personified subject rather than considering it to be just something abstract.
One of the renowned Eco critics who voiced her opinions regarding natural resources is Mamang
Dai. A northeastern poet and short story writer, Dai is a brilliant figure who, through her writings,
has tried to establish a connection between man and nature and show its past and present conditions
through her works.
The aim of this seminar paper is to showcase the indigenous ecology and traditional
systems of knowledge as a voice of resistance against the notions of colonialism, as found in few
of the select poems of Mamang Dai.
The paper intends to examine and justify the aforementioned topic by a thorough analysis
of the poems: “The voice of the mountain”, “Small towns and rivers” and “Man and brother” by
Mamang Dai and also through examination of secondary resources.

Keywords: Indigenous ecology, traditional knowledge, Eco criticism, nature, man.

 Introduction

Poetry from Northeast India is polyphonic. Northeastern poets speak for their whole
community and their poems are not individual, rather several voices put together from the people
in the region. For outsiders, they see Northeast as a beautiful land to explore but the irony is that
the pain faced by people gets hidden behind all this beauty. They paint the country using all manner
of imagery — rivers, trees, mountains, history, heritage, myths, legends. Poems from the Northeast
reflect on varied topics such as landscapes, politics, myths, legends, militarism, insurgency, peace,
and ecology as well. These flows still exist in the place through the oral epics. One gets to
experience both the ancient and contemporary tales of the region at once. A notable feature of
Northeastern poetry is its ecological focus. Identity and isolation are also key aspects of the present
political moment in the northeast. Poetry here turns explicitly to ecology as a way of asserting an
identity; ecology is crucial here as it can serve as a space/place for the poets of this area. It glues
them together, or they at least notice nature in much of what they do. One notices an active effort
when they read the works of contemporary poets in English from Northeast India on ecology. It
serves as an integral part of their quest for identity, traditions, and culture as well amidst the
humdrum of modernization and urbanization. The artists from the Northeastern region of India
also express great anxiety about different ecological problems in their work such as huge
destruction by forests, coal and Uranium mining, sectarian violence, insurgency and counter
insurgency operations — all finally result in deterioration of the environment. They emphasize in
their lyrics about safeguarding the region’s ecology which is believed as securing the land, the
native traditional/culture, and most importantly of all identity.
Eco criticism is about interpreting a text in terms of how it relates or doesn’t relate to ideas
of wildlife, landscape, nature, wilderness , natural setting etc. It’s all about the relationship with
what we call nature literature and the physical environment. Cherryl Glotfelty in her book The Eco
criticism Reader (1996) defines ‘ecocriticism as the study of the relationship between literature
and environment’ (Glotfelty xix). The aim of the ecocritical study is to restore the environment
and protect it from the dire consequences of human actions which are damaging the whole planet.
Ecocriticism, according to Glotfelty, is geared centered on earth where environmental issues come
first. The word ‘ecocriticism’ first originated in the essay “Literature and Ecology: an Experiment
in Ecocriticism” by William Ruckert, which dates back to 1978. In his 2013 book entitled
Contemporary Literary and Cultural Theory, Pramod K Nayar defined ecocriticism as a critical
apparatus that analyzes ‘the ways and means of textualizing nature and landscape representation’.
It is a relatively young movement whose origin dates back only to the end of the 20 th
century. In the field of A literature, ecocriticism starts with the name of a Norman foerster and his
book Nature in American Literature (1923). The first essay was Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Nature”
(1836) which is also considered as a significant work of nature writing. Moreover the origin of
ecological writing in contemporary American literature refers back to 19 th century American
transcendentalists Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller and Henry David Thoreau. It bears its
character in England through John Ruskin Bond’s Modern Painter Volume III (1856) and William
Wordsworth’s Preface to the Lyrical Ballads. The founding figure in this field is Jonathan Bate
along with his key text Romantic Ecology: Wordsworth and the Environmental tradition (1991).
In fact, this eco-critical note has been seen in one of the great romantic poets of the English
Renaissance period works, ‘Lake Poet’ i.e. William Wordsworth. His poetry is a response to urban
life and pollution and the realities of an industrial town. In his poetry, he wants to celebrate
landscapes and nature as means to bring across man’s relationship with his environment.
The poets from Northeast wrote as a form of resistance against the colonizers. Their writing
is therefore known as resistance writing. They tried to raise their voice against the colonialism that
was prevalent in the country for many years. During all the years of imperialism, the whites
destroyed all forms of nature and natural resources for their own materialistic purposes. Praise and
appreciation for nature was never seen in anything they did and that is why during colonial rule,
nature did not receive much significance. They were neglected and that is what compelled the
writers, especially those belonging to the Northeastern diaspora to save and protect nature through
their writings. In their writings, nature was elevated to a Godlike position where nature was a
superior form of God’s gift and therefore the people belonging to different communities believed
that it must be considered to be the same as the humans.
Mamang Dai is a notable writer from the Northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh who
voices a deep concern towards the ecological aspects of the world. She believes in safeguarding
all of those and in her memoir, life in the breathtaking land of Arunachal Pradesh is revealed from
all angles — the natural beauty, traditions, culture of local communities. Poems about tribes, tribal
folklore-myths-legends are reflected clearly. Her place has an abundance to offer and she loves her
heritage. For her, it’s the only hope that could preserve and protect not just their age-old religion
and belief but also their centuries old identity from vanishing in front of the monotony of
civilization and urbanization where tribal communities have been fighting over survival and self-
esteem. Life in Arunachal Pradesh; the faith of its people and hers; its farming landscape;
mountains, rivers, and stones, all tell an amazing and magical tale about the land’s ecology and its
enigmatic and glorious past. She represents the traditions which are now an integral part of the
mosaic living with transitions of modern or the recent one that is being associated with the
Arunachali culture and traditions. Being an ardent connoisseur of her ancestral roots and traditions,
Mamang Dai is something of an ambassador for the old ways of tribal existence.
The study undertaken here would go a long way in highlighting the various forms of
indigenous ecology and traditional systems of knowledge in the poetry of Mamang Dai and will
always portray Northeastern writing as a form of major resistance writing in literature.
In this seminar paper, primary and secondary sources will be made use of. The sources will
Comprise some reference books and research materials from the internet. This paper will adapt
analytical methodology taking into consideration the theoretical framework of eco criticism.
 Textual Analysis

Mamang Dai, the renowned writer from Arunachal Pradesh produces works which are deeply
engrossed in tribal lore’s. Mysterious and grandiose mountains in Mamang Dais’ poems,
intertwined with myths and legends make a captivating fable that surrounds these territories.
Northeast being a region with varied ecological habitats, gets reflected in the eco-poems of the
poets of this region. Insurgency, identity crisis, disjunction with the mainland are the most
dominating issues for the contemporary politics of Northeast India and these thematic echoes find
an echo through in the contemporary poetical output by Arunachali poets. There is an inherent
need to go back to their roots in the sense of getting attached with their native culture and heritage.
This is the environment, in which conscious efforts have been made by the poets also to use it as
an instrument of affirming oneself, an expression of self-identity. Through her poems, Mamang
Dai tries to establish a voice for the voiceless ecological systems of her region and also tries to put
in front of the world the various myths and folklores prevalent in her region.

Indigenous Ecology in Mamang Dai’s poetry

Through her poetry collection ‘Voice of the Mountains’, Mamang Dai delves into an intimate
examination of the bond shared by indigenous cultures and their environment. Through her poetry,
Dai captures the ecological diversity of the Eastern Himalayas, drawing upon traditional
knowledge and her Arunachali heritage. Elements of indigenous ecology are vividly found in
‘Voice of the Mountains’ by Mamang Dai. Landscape and place gets a clear representation through
her poetry. Dai captures the essence of the Eastern Himalayas by illustrating their intricate
relationship with the environment and its occupants. Emphasis on their deep ecological and
mystical value—mountains, streams, woods, and fields come alive in her work. Moreover,
exploring the regional biodiversity through this collection reveals unique indigenous species such
as flora and fauna. Through her poetry, Dai illuminates the significance of indigenous species and
their interconnectedness within an intact environment. Also, another aspect of the ecological
system prevalent throughout her poetry is the human-nature connection. The natural environment
holds significant value to indigenous populations such as those portrayed by Dai’s work – there is
mutual respect & reliance present in these cultures’ relationship. Her poem highlights how human
wellness hinges upon environmental stability; she spotlights why this necessitates preserving
ecosystems by illustrating their intricate relationship. Nature is increasingly personified just like
Wordsworth's most beloved Goddess Nature. She is considered to be the epitome of Adi rituals
and cultures and as a tradition, the man pays homage to the mountains and offers a 'fish' to her
which is caught from the river. This cultural ecology stands a part and parcel of the Adi culture.
The mountains which are personified in the poem, thus speaks:

I am an old man sipping the breeze

That is forever young.
In my life I have lived many lives.
My voice is sea waves and mountain peaks,
In the transfer of symbols
I am desert and the rain,
The wild bird that sets in the west,
the past that recreates itself.
(Midsummer Survival Lyrics, 29)

In Mamang Dai’s ‘Voice of the Mountains,’ an intimate and poignant view of indigenous ecological
perspectives unfolds, shedding light on the complex connection formed by humanity, nature, and
ancestral wisdom. Indigenous wisdom and environmental protection are core elements of her
poetic narrative.
Just like the essence of mountain as found in her poem “Voice of the Mountains”, river is
also very well personified in the river poems written by Mamang Dai. The river stands as an
embodiment of myth, memory, history and the varied culture of the people of Arunachal Pradesh
in a generalized form and the community of the Adi people in particular. In her poem “Small Towns
and Rivers’’, Dai indicates how the soul of the river coexists with the anxiety of humans and the
anguish of the innocent tribal people. Nature and culture are intertwined in the poem and the
innocent tribal people are seen surrendering to the ‘rivers’ and ‘mountains’ with a pristine form of
love and captivating attachment:

‘In small towns by the river

We all want to walk with Gods’ (River poems, 2004, lines 39-40)

Throughout the poem, the world of nature is represented by the river. A contrast is laid between
the human world and the natural world. The human world is prone to deaths and that’s an
indomitable truth whereas the river is immortal. Moreover, sadness and grief is a part of the human
world but the river or any other natural body is always full of vigor and movement. This contrast
is clearly noticed in the very first stanza of the poem when the speaker’s hometown lies “calmly”
amidst trees, and “is always the same, the “dust” is “flying” and the “wind “ is “howling down
the gorge.” Just like Wordsworth, the Adi tribe holds the belief of Pantheism (identification of God
with the universe). For them, the world of Nature was not dead, but full of spirits. After that, they
committed to honoring the mountains, rivers, and trees. Dai herself confessed that for her Nature
is “a living presence” with which one can connect and empathies. This thought is reflected in the
line: “The river has a soul”. The natural world reacts to world events, just as humans do. The
natural world reflects the human world’s pain and suffering through insurgency. As if mourning-
riven, the river courses through the heartland.
Not just natural bodies like rivers or mountains but Mamang Dai establishes and portrays
a connection between the natural species and the human beings through her poem “Man and
bother”. Kinship and siblinghood are explored by Mamang Dai through her writings on tigers and
humans. Significant works like “Man and Brother” underscore the importance of sibling bonds.
According to Arunachal Pradesh locals, tigers and men are born brothers. The arrival of a tiger is
patiently awaited by a hunter in “Man and Brother.” Hearing someone calling his name, he
suddenly turns around. He realizes it was none other than his prey, the tiger:

‘The tiger runs swiftly from my father’s house

Calling my name.
Brother: Man brother!
Have mercy for our destiny!’ (Dai 2014,p. 49)

The hunter realizes the tiger’s plea for mercy when he addresses him as ‘brother’. The hunter then
realizes that killing his own brother (the tiger) means that the entire village must perform five years
of intense penance. So the hunter asks the tiger to run away from there. It seems as though the
hunter does this to save the villagers from the punishment but after rescuing the villagers from
harsh punishment, he comes to understand the importance of other forms of life. The hunter
realizes that he cannot kill his own sibling, i.e., the tiger and that itself establishes the love and
affection that the Adi people had towards not just natural bodies but also various species too.
Traditional systems of knowledge

Mamang Dai is known as a celebrated writer from Arunachal Pradesh whose works are rich in
tribal folklore. Having left the bureaucracy, Mamang Dai was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri
award for her contributions to literature. She has written many poems and two novels, and one of
them explores the myths of her land. Her writings deal with nature elements like clouds, rivers and
mountains that express a spiritual search for a ‘homeland’. In North East India, myths play a
substantial role in the oral literature of its people. Stories told through word of mouth,
mythologically relevant or related to them signify the depths of a traditional wisdom that combine
all that has been gathered from a rich experience of life; and are inextricable from the oral history
of the region. Group solidarity and consciousness for collective endeavors and welfare, stem from
the way of life of the masses still rooted in their traditional social base. As a result, folklore is still
significantly influential on the living culture within the region. It has been growing and absorbing
new elements. The use of myths and legends which are a part of the traditional systems of
knowledge of Arunachal Pradesh, can be seen in three of her various famous poems as well.
One such natural body that forms a great part of the Northeastern myths and legends are
the Mountains. The mountains are considered to be “know-it-all” and “all knowing”. Lofty
landmasses, several myths and folklore center around them. Their seemingly sacred nature is why
several tribes revere mountains as they do. Invincibility and protective nature is what makes them
so majestic. Because of its medicinal properties and the produce used by villagers, this place is
sacred. Ancient Hindu mythology holds several significant myths associated with the mountains.
In the Himalayas lived gods and sages in their mystical cloaks and sat on years of tapasya to
uncover the mysteries of the universe and its truths related to karma.
As Dai says in her poem ‘The Voice of the Mountain’, mountains can understand both
deserts and rainfall. The mountains help to perpetuate the past. The mountain teaches us of ‘life
with particles of life that clutch and cling for thousands of years’. A churning of life for thousands
of years is contributed by mountains which represent living entities. The rocks that shine in the
sun are ones whispered of by mountains. The mountains know the clouds and have their own
understanding of the impending rain. The relationship of mountains and clouds is intrinsic by
nature. The clouds help the mountains by providing them with much-needed water through a
symbiotic arrangement. The mountain calls the cloud ‘The fragile beat within the core of all.’ As
long as the mountain holds fast, there may yet be no cloud fall. Geographically, mountains work
as rain shadows, and rain shedding natural structures are interconnected with the philosophy of
hill tribes. Using their traditional knowledge and experience, the tribes understand the interplay
between mountains and rains. Their belief systems and the way they live, follows traditional
methods, reinforcing their connection with the natural world and its conservation. In the article
“The Nature of Faith and Worship among” by Mamang Dai, Arrows tipped with ginger, sacred tree
branches, and a belief in spiritual protection articulated in the unique ‘Pator Gate’ shaped by Adi
culture.
In Voice of the Mountain, the author takes on an omnipresent persona. Dai says that on the
mountain, ‘forever young’ breeze gently sucks like an ancient man would lick his lips. According
to her, nature is like an old man who has experienced multiple lives. His voice is a union of sea
waves and mountain peaks. With symbols and the imagery of chance syllables, nature orders the
world with history and miracles. In the poem, the mountain tells its all-encompassing story.
The poetess in 'Small Towns and the River' muses upon the dominant theme of the river,
but the presence of a mountain adds a unique element. Known for its immortality, the river watches
the first drop of rain. The same water then rises up as a mist on the mountain-tops. As it is covered
in mist, the mountain gets a mystical appearance, uniqueness of distance and enigma. Like the
invisibility of much, there are also Northeastern states and their majestic mountain ranges which
fade away on the national radar screen. Arunachal remains a hidden mystery to the so-called
mainland. The mountains symbolize the ineffable: mysterious, unknown, and almost mythical
power. Independence, boldness and strength are qualities that can also be seen as powerful. At
times, the mountain speaks with the voice of a young man. At times, as a senior citizen. The
mountain remembers when he was young the man brought fish from the river as a gift to his village.
For the mountain, such an act has seen such offerings in the past, making it a repeated one. The
transformation of the mountain into a warrior/hunter occurs, leaving behind their spear by the tree
intending to create a ‘sign’. The language the mountain etched with the spear is an attempt to speak
about how language documents knowledge known by the mountain. In the poem, Mamang Dai
has presented human life as temporary and ephemeral because it ends so soon. The speaker
contrasts this perishability of human life with the permanence of rituals and nature. The tribal
rituals have been in existence since time immemorial. They (tribal) have been passed down from
one generation to another for thousands of years. Thus, they have a sort of permanence in contrast
to the human life which is caught in a vicious cycle of life and death. The speaker also gives some
instances of prevalent rituals. For example, she mentions the ritual of placing the dead with their
head pointing westwards so that when their soul rises it would go towards the “golden east”,
meaning, heaven. These are some of the prevalent customs and traditions of the people belonging
to the Adi community of Arunachal Pradesh.
There has always been a sense of correlation and mutual regard between the human and
the non human creatures present on the earth. This kinship has actually been brought about by
NEFA(North-East Frontier Agency) wherein they believe that the “the earth and sky have
descended from a sort of universal Mother” (Elwin 1999,p. 7) and it has been born out of the
primeval fog and mist. The Adis also are of the belief that the “descended a line of mysterious
beings down to Peddong-Nane, the living rock from whom Wiyus, men and animals were born”
(ibid). These beliefs give birth to the idea that all things made here in the physical world have a
common source of creation from something female. Hence, in the Adi worldview, there is an
absence of any hierarchy among beings and therefore the human and the non-human (for instance
bat, tiger, serpent) etc. are all siblings. This is an opposition to the Christian belief wherein it was
thought that humans were assigned superiority over any other being in this world by God himself
and therefore they were superior.
In contrast to the above, Mamang Dai writes on the human-tiger kinship and siblinghood
in poems such as “Man and Brother”. Mamang Dai, through her poem “Man and Brother”, has
tried to show the interdependence and interconnectedness between the animals and humans that
existed in the Arunachali cultures. There is a peaceful coexistence between the man and the beast
and this peaceful coexistence is often regarded as a part of the idyllic life. In her poem, she writes:

The tiger runs swiftly fi-om my father’s house

Calling my name.
Brother ! Man Brother !
Have mercy for our destiny. (Dai, p. 50-51)

According to the Arunachali beliefs and customs, humans and tigers are kin. The killing a tiger is
like killing a human being and all the rites involved in it are also the same and rigorous. If someone
is killed, it is saddening news. Rituals take place to choose someone to lead the search for the tiger.
The poem moreover has an even more deeper meaning. It delivers a strong social message that
urges the people to stop with the destruction of the ecology.
 Conclusion

Reading poetry from the North East is not only about facing contradictions but it is also about
tuning in to that note that plays along while being at war with the psyche. Since India is a
multicultural country where we have both tribal as well as migrant population to deal with any
kind of cultural imperialism within the realm of written literature therefore cultural policies come
into play. For those who reside within the place and for the ones residing outside, the place holds
an important position in their lives and moving away from it is never easy. In the poems of the
Northeast, their mythic and folktales are more clearly seen and love for nature remains a constant
form of addiction. For this reason, such poets are forever chasing nature in their verse. Their
poetry is thick and heavy with this tapestry of stories, myths, legends, rituals, dances, festivals,
cultures, traditions and people. For they return to the past, to become better equipped in
interpreting their present, nature descriptions or figures of speech based on this mosaic, make
their poetry more grounded, more rooted, more attuned to where “they belong”. This feeling for
history pervades their poetry because they take such an active interest in their Myths and
Legends. These are the truths that they want to guard via their verse. It can be observed that these
poets are aware too that they are the interpreters of the poetic panorama of this land through
whose verse the soul (essential) beauty of this land can express itself because it might vanish any
time soon.

Moreover, this is how Dai works as a poet: an Adi (which refers to her Adi-na) women from
Arunachal Pradesh, India. Even though she received her education in a pattern inspired by the
‘colonial masters’ but that didn’t make her shy away from claiming any linkage to her Adi
ancestral culture and traditions. She rather claims support for issues such as the elimination of
‘the logic of domination’ present in the colonialist orientation which underlies discrimination
based on gender, species, race, and class. Dai suggests a form of “eco-reciprocity” in her
interaction with ‘nature’. The objective is to escape preconceived yet unfounded beliefs to
encourage sociocultural egalitarianism and a harmonious relationship amongst all species. It is
also because such coercive naturalizations involve competition and resource extraction within a
society.
 Work cited

• Dai, Mamang. “Small Towns and the River”, Poetry International. Web October 16 2012.

• Dai, Mamang. The River Poems. Kolkata, Writer’s Workshop, 2004.

• Elwin, Verrier. Myths of the Northeast Frontier of India. New Delhi: Munshiram
Manoharlal Publishers, 1999.

• Nayer, K, Pramod. Contemporary Literary and Cultural Theory. Vol. 3, Pearson, 2023.

• Nayer, K, Pramod. Postcolonial Literature an Introduction. Pearson, 2008.