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Paper short abstract

This paper examines flood memory in Majuli, shaped by Brahmaputra floods as ritualized temporal markers. It explores cultural memory among people, revealing survival knowledge, identity, and spiritual beliefs that transcend mere adaptation, embedded in Indigenous knowledge and collective histories.

Paper long abstract

This paper examines the experiential and cultural dimensions of flood memory in Majuli, the world's largest inhabited river island, which the Brahmaputra River's annual floods have historically shaped. These recurrent floods serve as ritualized temporal markers, profoundly shaping the islanders’ relationships with their environment and collective memory. Flood memories among Majuli’s communities reveal an intricate archive of survival knowledge, spiritual beliefs, and identity formation that transcends mere physical adaptation.

This ethnographic and oral historical study explores flood preparedness as embedded in Indigenous knowledge systems, cultural memory, and identity construction, highlighting a preventive temporal-spatial orientation within the environment. Key strategies, such as food reserves and transportation, mitigate vulnerability amid climatic events.

The study employs collective memory theory to analyze how flood recollections inform adaptive behaviour, while ecocriticism highlights nature’s agency in shaping narrative and identity. Invented tradition provides insights into the active reconstruction of flood rituals and narratives that aim to foster social cohesion amid environmental change. Indigenous knowledge systems further elucidate the localized adaptation strategies and human-environment relationships that are fundamental to Majuli.

By situating flood-preparedness narratives within academic discussions on narrative theory, ecology, and cultural survival, this research contributes to an understanding of how marginalized communities mobilize cultural knowledge and agency in response to ecological uncertainty and the climate crisis.