Environmental Resources,Traditional Economic Organization and Its Role in the Empowerment of Marginal Tribal Women

Introduction

Social inequality lies in certain features of all human societies, which are necessary to them. This stratification is above all a system of distributive status, i.e. a system of differential distribution of desired and scarce things. Predominantly in most of the countries, men enjoy the authority, power and rights over the resources, whereas the majority of the women are debarred from it. They are badly deprived, exploited, neglected and suffer major setback in different ways. Peoples and Bailey (1997) stated that, in many societies, women are excluded from performing major religious leadership roles and are forbidden to participate in most of the important rituals. Patriarchy legitimizes culturally backed bio-physiological differences between men and women as the basis of unequal access to resources, opportunities and rewards and to rights. Women suffer from many disadvantages in social life. This extends to controlled access to essential domains of life such as education, mobility, employment, property, income and decision-making. In the study by Sharma (1997), the value system perceives woman as a social category inferior to man in all aspects of social life. In the study by Ember et al. (2002), the roles are culturally assigned to the genders, while the degree of unequal access lies between the genders in the perspectives of prestige, authority, power, right and economic resources. It is to be mentioned here that although the issues are related to control over the resources and authority over decision-making, the cultural and social dimension of the facts cannot also be ignored. Particularly in the Indian context, the exploitation and deprivation of women can be seen in multidimensional aspects and it has become a widely practised social problem for the entire country. Although the Constitution of India guarantees equal rights for both men and women, womenfolk are still striving to achieve equality from the social, economic, political and legal perspectives as a whole. They continuously face discrimination and marginalization both subtle and blatant, and do not share the fruits of development equally.

Theoretical Background of the Study

White (1949, 1959) stated that culture is fundamentally a means for capturing and utilizing energy. Technological subsystem controls the amount of energy captured and utilized by the cultural system. As the technology becomes more efficient, more energy is captured and utilized, which leads to the development in the culture as a whole and is expressed through the formula:

E × T = C ( E = e n e r g y , T = t e c h n o log y , C = c u l t u r e ) .

Social organization is the combination of three processes such as:

N × P × R = S ( N = n u t r i t i o n , P = p r o t e c t i o n , R = r e p r o d u c t i o n , S = s o c i a l o r g a n i z a t i o n ) .

Further, White has formulated property (P) as = T × L (T = thing, L = labour). Thing is the obtained product for utilization in livelihood, which can be procured through raw materials with the help of technological knowledge. Culture is the integral part of the social organization. Thus, the accumulation of energy through technology is the key to secure the nutrition (without scarcity of food), protection (safety) and continuation of generation through reproduction. On the other hand, according to White along with technological subsystem, there are other two subsystems within the cultural system, that is, social structural and ideological or philosophical. The ideological subsystem includes the taboo, where the gender-based social sanctions and restrictions are prevalent related to the economic rights of the women as well as their authority to control over the technology and resource.

In Moore (1988), the feminist perspective in anthropology concerns both gender relations in particular societies and the idea of gender as a structural principle in human societies generally. Feminist anthropology formulates its theoretical questions in terms of how economics, kinship and ritual are experienced and structured through gender, rather than asking how gender is experienced and structured through culture.

Interrelationship Between Environment and Economy

The anthropological study of economic organization is a focal point for discovering the relationship between material and non-material aspects of the environment and human behaviour as well as the social system within which it is exchanged and redistributed as cultural goods and services. Hoebel and Frost (1976) stated that the economic organization is treated as a link between the material base to culture and social structure. Economic order in one form or another is a functional prerequisite to societal survival and continuity. From the anthropological point of view, economy is believed as a system of managing the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services in a society. Piddington (1957) states: ‘economic system is designated to satisfy material wants of the people to organize production, to control distribution and to determine the rights and claims of ownership within the community’ (cited in Dash, 2004, p. 123). In Ember et al. (2002), every society has access to natural resources—land, water, plants, animals, minerals—and every society has cultural rules for determining who has access to particular resources and what can be done with them. According to Hunter and Whitten (1976), the natural environment is the origin of all the resources people use to secure the material needs and desires. All groups are selective choosing to utilize certain resources and to ignore others. In Ember et al. (2002), all societies have customs specifying access to natural resources; customary ways of transforming or converting those resources through labour into necessities and other desired goods and services, and customs for distributing and perhaps exchanging goods and services. Clifton (1968) states that every society makes use of technology such as tools, constructions and required skills. The technology and material cultures of people are so intertwined with their economic life that they can be treated as separate only conceptually.

In the study by Kessing (1958), each local economic system represents a more or less unique aggregation of experience built up partly through progressive innovation by the people themselves as they have adjusted to their local setting. Actually, the economic system of any people quickly reveals that behaviour relating to production, exchange, property and consumption all tie in functionally with social organization and with the political, legal, religious and aesthetic behaviour. Hunter and Whitten (1976) stated that the economic behaviour of the people lies in their own cultural terms, focusing on the substantive social and technological processes through which human interact with one another and with the environment to meet their subsistence needs. The study of the relations between cultural patterns and physical conditions is of the greatest importance for an understanding of human society, and it is intimately correlated with the economic organization of the concerned society.

In our country, tribal people dwell in the high hills, isolated forest-covered regions that are far away from the conveniences of regular communications and urban attractions. Their entire livelihood is very much dependent on forest-based natural products. These people are mainly hunter-gatherers. They collect their food from the environment, which includes fruits, roots and tubers of the locally available plants. Further, they hunt animals within their vicinity for consumption. Moreover, they collect honey from their surroundings. They reside near a number of local rivers and other water resources, which provide them fish and other aquatic animals as a source of animal protein. Thus, their prime requirement of food is dependent upon the environment. Moreover, the environment not only provides food to the human society, rather it is a major source of animal fodder too. In rural societies, domestication is a common feature. The forest and neighbouring environment provides plentiful of grazing land and leaves and grasses are used as fodder. On the other hand, these people get milk and meat from the domesticated animals. Meanwhile, being closely associated with forest and environment, these people depend on natural products for their dresses. For this purpose, they weave raw materials collected from their surroundings. Economic aspects of the simple societies are intimately related with their environmental perspective. They collect fuel from their surroundings. Moreover, a number of forest-based products such as latex and honey are major economic pursuit for them. The societies which deal their livelihood by settled agriculture are totally depended on nature and use simple technological means for their production. Most of the communities in the North-Eastern states are dependent on the shifting hill cultivation by utilizing natural resources and climatic conditions in a proper manner. A number of communities depend on the handicrafts by utilizing natural resources such as bamboo and cane. Ecological products are related with the economic perspectives of the people. In this context, the production of material commodities involves the conversion of natural resources, directly or indirectly, with the help of human labour and capital into a final consumable form. In this context, the present study has been done among the Karbi tribal group of Karbi Anglong, Assam.

Natural Resources, Traditional Economic Organization and Women Empowerment

Results and Discussion

It is necessary to provide equal status to women in every aspect if the approach comes through some sociocultural perspectives. To provide equal right to the women and to abolish the indiscrimination, we have to make them the stakeholder of production generation. It is not by increasing their physical capability, rather we have to make them socially powerful. As stated earlier, we cannot create or destroy any source of power; rather we can transform it from one form to another. The application of acquired knowledge will enhance the access and operation over technological skills. Technology can produce energy, and in case of simple societies, natural resources can be utilized as the prime raw material. So, along with the abundance of natural resources, if the women of simple societies have the knowledge of application over technological means, they will be able to generate more energy. It will increase the production into manifold. Ultimately, these productions ensure and increase the power because it has some market value by which they can fulfil their materialistic as well as other needs and necessities. Thus, acquired knowledge and technological skill will enrich the women to access over production and economy. Ultimately, the authority and rights over economy will empower the women, and they will enjoy equal status with the male, irrespective of social or cultural disapproval.

In this regard, a model can be mentioned related with the women empowerment and equal gender accessibility over technology, which may be formulated as ‘AAKTNEP’ theory, i.e. ‘Application (A) of Acquired (A) Knowledge (K) to utilize Natural Resources (N) with the Help of Technology (T) for Production (P) as well as Empowerment (E) (AAKTNEP)’, where the knowledge of technological skills and utilization of natural resources will generate production. It will endow with the scope to generate income which can ultimately empower women. The theory can be demonstrated through the diagram in Figure 1.

OPEN IN VIEWER

Figure 1.

Source: Field Study, 2016–2017.

From the empirical perspective, the application of the ‘AAKTNEP’ theory has been well observed among the womenfolk of Karbi society. The multifarious environmental resources of the studied area, traditional occupational pursuits of the people, the role of womenfolk in their traditional occupational pursuit and its significance in women empowerment are discussed next in brief.

Shifting Hill Cultivation or Jhum Cultivation

The shifting hill or jhum cultivation is mostly practised in the hilly regions. It begins from the middle months of February (Thangthang) or the beginning of March (There). To cultivate, they first begin to cut down the trees of the forest or jungle of the hill slopes to be used as jhum field. This work is called ‘Ritkepan’. The next phase of the work is burning the dry materials (Me Kekai). This is followed by complete clearing of the areas as well as preparation of the soil with the help of hoes. After having prepared the soil, the seeds of the cereals are shown. This is done during the months of April–May (Jangmi–Aru) when the summer rain begins. The principal crops are rice (sok), viz. Chubok and Lobok, and other jhum crops such as maize (Thengthe), arhar (Thekek), cotton (Phelo) and pumpkin (Bonghom) are also grown in the same field. Womenfolk play a very crucial role in this regard. When the paddy seedlings attain the same height, these begin the ‘karlu’, the process of weeding. Thereafter, a ritual offering is given to god of wealth (Rit Anglong Karkle). Paddy is harvested generally during the period of September–October (Chiti–Phre), and the other crops at different months.

Moreover, there is a social practice among the Karbis. There was a youth social organization called ‘Jir Kedam’, whose members (Jirsong) were all the young boys and girls from the age of 18 years. They were generally put to work in the jhum field of the villages right from the beginning of the cultivation up to the harvesting of the crop. People used to sell their surplus in the market. Production of crops depends on the cultivated land along with supply of rainfall.

Settled Cultivation

Settled agriculture is done on the plains areas. However, the studied area is adjacent to foothill. So, the cultivation is done in a small valley adjacent to the hill and converts it into a narrow wet paddy field mainly for rice. Womenfolk are associated with it in different perspectives in relation to its different steps. The technological implements related with agriculture were of quite primitive type. Paddy cultivation with the help of plough is also extensively carried along the narrow and isolated foothill plains bordering.

A number of vegetables such as potato, mustard, turmeric, brinjal, cucumber, tomato etc. are cultivated by them largely. These vegetables are consumed primarily by them, while the surplus was sold by them directly in the market. Womenfolk were primarily associated with the selling of vegetables and pulses.

Kitchen Gardening

The womenfolk of these families cultivate a number of fruits and vegetables in the kitchen garden. This primarily includes green leaves, tomato, chilly, brinjal, lemon, banana, jackfruit, gourd, pumpkin etc. These produces play a very crucial role in their daily food pattern. On the other hand, the surplus of such produces is regularly sold by them in the local market. Such selling of both the agricultural and kitchen garden produces generates a regular source of income for them in the local market.

Case study 1: Sameli Kropi (32 years) had five members in the family. She used to do the jhum cultivation regularly along with her husband. Further, in their hut she used to do kitchen gardening, such as brinjal, gourd, pumpkin, sweet gourd, spinach and tomato, in different seasons. She used to sell those vegetables and earn at least ₹100 per day. With this income, she can afford her purse as well as provide the requisites of their children to a certain extent. Her husband also accepted her effort of earning and he gives her equal importance in the decision-making in the family.

Animal Husbandry

Apart from agricultural crops, they keep domestic animals for socioeconomic purposes. Such fowls and livestock are not only indispensable for various ritual and social feasts but these are also good cash earner. Further, they also used to collect fish from different local streams. Such animal produces are regularly sold in the market by womenfolk, which generates a regular source of income for them. Meanwhile, they rear the eri silk cocoon in the household. It was used for the preparation of their traditional dresses as well as they used to sell it for commercial purpose.

Case study 2: Kare Tissopi (27 years) had three children, and her husband passed two years ago. She was primarily involved with jhum cultivation. However, in adverse climatic situation, the scarcity of desired resources told upon their common minimum livelihood. Further, in their hut, she used to domesticate livestock and fowls. She used to sell the animal produce directly in adjacent local markets and earn at least ₹2,500 per month. This income helps her provide stability to the family’s common minimum livelihood requirements. Her in-laws have recognized her efforts and she is the prime decision-making authority in the family.

Handicrafts and Weaving

Bamboo and cane are two of the major and abundant natural resources of the region. A number of material cultural implements are prepared by the female, including bamboo mats, baskets, agricultural implements or household uses like for carry rice and vegetables (Hak, Ingtong), Mats (Tar), storage of rice, sesame (Dur, Hoton), hand fan (He-jap) and various implements such as Beleng, Ingkrung, Kasu Arahep, Lumplak akroi etc. To store a large amount of paddy, they use ‘Ingkro’; to carry firewood they use Chatkang, Theng Khangra for carrying firewood; Anchoho, Anchohu, Phelo bisir, Si, Kove Thok for keeping betel nuts and betel leaves; Hak kengdo, Burup, Ru, Soklet, No pak abe, Hak Khalun for keeping cloths; Bapthali, Chengpi, Chengso, Chengburuk, Lumhor, Anchobak, Siro, Anthong, Phak lohong, Inghoi, Vo-um, Langpong for drinking water, tea etc. Along with daily usage, they prepare the bamboo and wooden models of traditional Karbi Houses, Jambili athan, i.e. the traditional symbol of Karbi social structure, different sculptures, masks, tablemats and a number of other decorative implements. These have a huge demand between both the Karbis and non-Karbis. These products are regularly sold in Diphu market, and in most of the cases the studied womenfolk used to prepare them in their households. Even in local fairs and in daily market, the Karbi women sell them directly and earn approximately ₹1,000–1,500 per month.

Further, with the help of bamboo, locally available silk cocoon, thread and different wild fruits, women prepare traditional garments, which is intimately associated with these families. These products get a good price in the market. The shawls are not less than ₹400 and women cloths ‘pini’ and a belt ‘vamkok’ would cost a minimum of ₹1,000 and ₹ 150, respectively. Women also earned their living by spinning the cotton to prepare the cloth ‘pilu’ etc. Moreover, male jacket (choi hongthoir), bag (jarong), man’s turban (poho) etc. are either sold in the market or used at home. The instruments required for these production are thread ‘Hon’, Therang, Thening, Thepun, Kanti, Harp, Hi-e, Ponglang, Ae-doi, Thehu etc. The instruments needed for spinning the cotton and warm yarn are Honlam, Takari and Michongkret. Another implement called Lithai used for taking out the seed of cotton before spinning. Again, they also give the colour on the threads, which are collected from different jungle fruits collected from the forest. They used a fruit called Sibu for black colour, Laha for red colour, Seluka or Kopak ban for yellow colour etc. These locally prepared garments play a dual role—as a source of earning and meeting requirements of cloths in daily livelihood.

Case study 3: Junmili Hansepi (37 years) had a five-member family. She used to do jhum cultivation regularly along with her husband. Further, in her leisure period she used to prepare woollen garments and bamboo products for household use and selling. This reduced the economic burden of purchasing the clothes and could generate her earning. She used to sell those produce directly in different shops and customers and earn at least ₹1500 per month. With such income, she can accumulate a fold of rice for her family to a great extent.

Category of Monthly Income

The multifarious natural products such as vegetation, domesticated animals, fishes and bamboo have played a major role in the economic pursuit of the studied people. In these occupational sources, womenfolk play a major role. As the natural resources are abundant in the region, it has provided them the scope to come in direct monetary exchange in the market and has generated their regular scope of earning. Although every year the produce varies to a certain extent, the level of income is more or less proportionate for them to satisfy their common minimum livelihood. Their monthly income is approximately between ₹2,500 and ₹3,000. Utilization of different produces plays a crucial role in the sustenance of these families. With the help of indigenous knowledge and implements, they can convert natural raw materials into economic produce, which can generate scope of earning for them. Ultimately, it had secured the economic involvement of women in daily familial discourse and provides them the scope to get empowered.

It has played a vital role in their authority of decision-making, as reflected through following case studies:

Case study 4: Mala Taropi (28 years) became widow two years ago. She had one son of 10 years and a daughter of 8 years of age. After the death of her husband, the neighbours and family members suggested her to remain engaged with the household courses only. However, she never gave up. She used to do the agricultural work. She is the sole decision-maker of her family. Quite unexpectedly, her brothers-in-law tried a lot to snatch the portion of land of her deceased husband. However, she was very firm in her argument with the village headman, that she was not interested to compromise with her dignity and to become a dependent member. She had taken up the full responsibility of her family, including studies of her children.

Case study 5: Swapna Katharpi (31 years) remembered the day when her husband met with a major cerebral attack and became permanently paralysed. At that time with three children, she faced a bolt from the blue and got tremendously confused. She focused on kitchen garden, animal husbandry, handicrafts and weaving, which she could run from her own courtyard, after looking her ailing husband and two little children. On their agricultural land, she engaged labour to monitor the work. She had fixed the condition with such labours that certain amount of produced crop would be provided to them. Swapna was the prime decision-maker of her family. To get any sort of official benefit, she used to interact with the Sarkari Goanbura (government-authorized village headman) and even to block office, autonomous council office etc. From every circumstance, the family is completely dependent on her.

General Observations

The contemporary society has formed after transformation through sociocultural evolution. In the early prehistoric period, i.e. in savagery, human beings were totally nomadic and hunter-gatherers. They were dependent on nature for their survival. Then both male and female accumulated the natural resources and enjoyed the common authority and rights over the resources and usage. This was followed by the stage of barbarism, where human being first started to cultivate and showed their tendency for a settled life. The last stage is the civilization that is mainly based upon settled agriculture and permanent settlement of livelihood. In this period, the concept of surplus appeared out for the first time; to control over the surplus, the male society gradually imposed sex-based taboos upon the female related to their physical as well as physiological characteristics and made them confined within the household territory. Gradually they became segregated from the domain of education, economy and political field (Engels, 1884). Even until today within the household territory in Indian society, females are under the subordination of their husbands and in-laws regarding their common minimum requirement. Despite all legislations and policy commitments and planning, women remain a vulnerable group. The need of the present decade is to develop status for the women and to redress the discrimination against them. If we really wish to empower women, then we must go beyond the current outlook. We have to look for a broader approach that addresses planning, adequate resource allocation, programme design and formulation, targeted intervention and implementation based upon the requirement of women residing at the field level with their participation. In this regard, the government has taken a number of initiatives. Constitutional safeguards regarding education, job involvement as well as economic security, political participation of the women must be ensured. To establish a gender bias-less society and to redress the indiscrimination against the women, the society must have to assure their remarkable participation in every aspect. In this regard, long traditional social and cultural stigma imposed on women should be uprooted from the society, and in this connection a lesson about importance of women in every aspect must be introduced in the educational curriculum for the awareness of menfolk. A family is build up with both men and women. Moreover, woman is the bearer of our future generation, and if she is debarred from the empowerment, then the progress of the human society in the forthcoming period will have to face a major setback. Therefore, the real development is possible only if, besides governmental efforts and initiatives, the people of society share and care in every aspect to the women for sustainable development. Here the interaction between human life and environment plays a major role. Particularly in case of the Karbis, it has been noticed that womenfolk had utilized natural resources with technological application, to generate their own source of income. It had given them a major scope to support their families economically, and in many cases, without her earning the common minimum livelihood would have to face a serious challenge. Menfolk of the society had accepted their major supportive role in economic pursuit, and in many cases, women’s consensus is not ignored in the decision-making. Thus, it can be summarized that, particularly among the tribal societies, the utilization of natural resources with the help of indigenous technology is intimately associated with their traditional economic organization. Womenfolk play a crucial role in it. Such produces generate a regular source of income for them and play a vital role in the empowerment of women.