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Paper short abstract

This paper examines the Lotha folksongs as a rich ethnographic resource, analyzing their intricate portrayal of nature to uncover underlying cultural values and the community’s symbiotic relationship with the environment.

Paper long abstract

Lotha Folk Songs as a Repository of Cultural Values and Environmental Symbiosis

E Ongarhoni Ovung

Research Scholar

Department of Cultural and Creative Studies

North-Eastern Hill University

Shillong-793022, Meghalaya

Email: ovungongarhoni@gmail.com

Abstract

This paper examines the Lotha folksongs as a rich ethnographic resource, analyzing their intricate portrayal of nature to uncover underlying cultural values and the community’s symbiotic relationship with the environment. It may be noted that in Northeast India the Lothas as a distinct Naga tribal community located largely in Wokha district of Nagaland have a rich indigenous oral tradition replete with varied age-old oral poetry or folk songs that is passed on from generation to generation. Lotha folksongs are an intricate cultural record, using the vibrant representation of plants and animals to narrate nature’s beauty. These elements function as powerful metaphors that reflect Lotha cultural values and the community's symbiotic relationship with its environment. Beyond their aesthetic value, these lyrical narratives function as a living cultural chronicle and a powerful communal bond, providing a collective means of expression across the emotional spectrum—from celebratory jubilation to shared sorrow and resilience. But in course of time, it has been gradually impacted by several internal and external factors like spread of Christianity and the unavoidable effects of modernization. As result, some of the indigenous knowledge are either forgotten or woven in rejuvenated manner along with Christian beliefs and practices, thereby creating a syncretic cultural tradition.

Keywords: Lotha folksongs, cultural metaphors, environmental symbiosis, oral tradition, resilience, cultural values, syncretic, ethnobotany.