Tribal Culture in Ethnographic Museum

This book can be broadly categorised into two parts- first part gives an in-depth anthropological study of six major tribes of Assam and the other part deals with museology. The anthropological study focuses on tangible and intangible cultural heritages of Boro,Mising, Rabha, Dimasa, Karbi and Deori tribes. It studies the natural factors that influence their dwelling house, agricultural activities and craft practices. It discusses how the art and crafts such as textile, basketry, pottery, household objects and musical instruments is made by each community in their village. The intangible culture is elaborated with vivid description of rituals of these tribes and festivals coinciding the annual cycle of nature. It describes traditional life pattern influenced by legends, myths, ballads, song, dances and musical instruments interwoven with language and social habits. The acculturation process which brings metamorphic changes in traditional tribal way of life has been analysed. Modernisation compels tribes to maintain equilibrium between their adopted culture and the traditions inherited from ancestors. The museology study examines the shortcoming of traditional museum in display representation in totality. This can be overcome by ecomuseum concept. The concept of ecomuseum and ecomuseum model is also discussed in detail. An ecomuseum model has been proposed for holistic representation of tribal culture in totality in this book.

Dr Namita Pegu is an accomplished heritage expert who has obtained her Masters degree in Heritage Conservation from the Indraprastha University of Delhi. The author is a committed researcher of tribal life and culture. She has worked in the North East India for a long time. She has obtained her PhD. Degree on museology from National Museum Institute, New Delhi on her study of tribal culture of the North East India. Earlier she has received Senior Research Fellowship from UGC. She has also written articles in museum bulletin and other periodicals.

By this study a sincere effort has been made to provide an alternative model for holistic representation of tribal culture insitu. The present state of representation in museums of assam speaks only a part of story i.e. material culture. Further, there is lack of documentation that makes representation less informative. Therefore, through this study both tangible and intangible culture of six major tribes which provide a cultural mosaic of Assam, have been taken into account. In course of this research work my guide, Prof. A.K. Das had led me in the proper direction by providing valuable suggestions and advice all along for which I acknowledge his liberal attitude. Luckily, in course of the research work on tribal affaires I had come across Dr. G.C. Sharma Thakur, a conversant scholar on this particular subject, who had extended a chain of knowledgeable advice for which I am indebted to him. All the staffs of the Assam Institute of Research for Tribals and Scheduled Castes were very kindly disposed towards me and offered assistances very generously and so I am bound to acknowledge their affable manner. In adition I have to acknowledge the sincere and constant helpful hand of my mother-in-law, Nilima Das, a graduate of 1976 under Gauhati University and my father-in-law Kiran Chandra Das, M.A. B.T who had been all along with me in field work from place to place and provide unfailing hope and inspiration and for her constant help and inspiration my research work could have been completed. My enlightened parents N.C. Pegu and Hira Pegu had provide a healthy atmosphere and inspiration since inception providing me with an edifice for the whole endeavour and hence it needs acknowledgement.

**Contents and Sample Pages**