Paper short abstract:

This paper seeks to explain the relationship between nature and culture and argues that indigenous Kuki community - particularly women have close connection to nature and embedded knowledge to manage, nurture, and conserve the resources better.

Paper long abstract:

Prior to embracing Christianity beginning from the 20th century, indigenous Kukis were culturally perceived to have a more intimate knowledge of managing natural resources. The transition from traditional to Judeo-Christian religious systems has altered their perceptions about ecological knowledge systems and subsequently contributed to a disjuncture between women and environment. Women's involvement in the socio-cultural sphere is not a new concept among the indigenous Kukis, but their participation is acknowledged and venerated in the distant past. The ceremony of 'chang-ai', wherein women play a significant role in the community space is a case in point. According to Kuki mythology, the person who performed such ritual is believed to have earned uninterrupted passage to heaven. In a sense, this ritual illustrates that women, nature-culture and production of life are inseparable domains among the Kukis. Based on oral narratives, this paper foregrounds the social and ecological worldviews of the Kuki community in relationship to their natural resource uses and belief practices in the past. Drawing upon ethnographic study, this paper attempts to understand the tradional knowledge in resource management through the lenses of ecofeminism. This paper seeks to demonstrate the relationship between nature and culture and argues that women are closely linked to nature. The paper argues that Kuki women's wisdom and healing in the form of both food production and spiritual sustenance comes traditionally through women. Further, it is important to unfurl how the relationship between humans and nature, and more specifically, between women and nature is established, contested, and changed?