Paper short abstract:

A feminist analysis of the co-constitution of ethnicity and indigeneity in the frontier hills of the Indian state of Meghalaya through an examination of the Lineage Act, 2005.

Paper long abstract:

The Khasi, Jaintiah and Garo hills, that form the state of Meghalaya, in the north eastern borderlands of India were geographically produced as a frontier in the colonial period and have been marked by historical and historiographical marginalization. Recent studies on the region that emphasise the discursive importance of 'indigeneity' remain at an impasse as they are yet to fully engage with the longer colonial roots of "tribal" subjectivity in these borderlands. Some scholars have highlighted the heterogeneous contexts in which reified categories like "tribal" and "adivasi" have been produced. This paper contributes to this scholarship through a feminist analysis of the co-constitutive concepts of ethnicity and indigeneity and intersecting identities in the Indian state of Meghalaya. I examine the production of a gendered indigenous identity in the state of Meghalaya by focusing on a legislation called the Lineage Bill 2005. The Bill passed by the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council imposes strict control on marriage choices of women in this matrilineal society with an aim to prevent the misappropriation of property by non-tribal and non-Khasi men. The Bill is an entry point into questions on gender and property relations in this frontier state, and the relationship between legal pluralism, democracy, and nation building.