Society
The social and cultural features and practices of the Rongmei tribe are determined to a great extent by the physical environment which surrounds their habitation. They live in close communication with nature, and their natural environment has a major influence on their lifestyle. The villages of the Rongmei are usually small in size and the habitation is scattered. Each village has a headman called Khulakpu (Khulakpa).There is a house of commons called the Peikai. All problems are expressed and sorted out here. The people are allowed to express their different views, following which the decision is taken. Theft and violent crimes are usually not seen. The social system of the Rongmeis is patriarchal and each of the clans enjoy equal status. They usually try to maintain exogamy. Apart from the traditional Naga systems of marriage, they also have their own unique marriage rituals. Some distinct systems may be mentioned here. Noumang-mei-Nou-kao is a system which allows a boy to stay at a girl's place for three to four years as her husband. This system is followed with the agreement of both parties and after the completion of the time agreed on, the boy returns home. Chamemei is when a girl is married without her consent as repayment for some debt or obligation. Naokakhaomei is the ritual which dictates that at the death of a man, his closest brother will have to remarry his wife and look after the family. As regards dressing habits, the Rongmei wear a lot of ornamentation. Both men and women have pierced ears. While the males usually wear feathers in their ears, the women traditionally wear brass rings. The traditional dress of women usually includes the Phe-soi (shawl), though traditional attire is fast being replaced by modern clothes.
Read more about this topic: Rongmei Naga
Famous quotes containing the word society:
“Practically everyone now bemoans Western man’s sense of alienation, lack of community, and inability to find ways of organizing society for human ends. We have reached the end of the road that is built on the set of traits held out for male identity—advance at any cost, pay any price, drive out all competitors, and kill them if necessary.”
—Jean Baker Miller (20th century)
“They are, as it were, train-bearers in the pageant of life, and hold a glass up to humanity, frailer than itself. We see ourselves at second-hand in them: they show us all that we are, all that we wish to be, and all that we dread to be.... What brings the resemblance nearer is, that, as they imitate us, we, in our turn, imitate them.... There is no class of society whom so many persons regard with affection as actors.”
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830)
“The professional celebrity, male and female, is the crowning result of the star system of a society that makes a fetish of competition. In America, this system is carried to the point where a man who can knock a small white ball into a series of holes in the ground with more efficiency than anyone else thereby gains social access to the President of the United States.”
—C. Wright Mills (1916–1962)