Paper short abstract:

I wish to take a closer look at the Tangsa people living in north-east India with respect to the recent attempts made to retrieve and reinvent their ‘authentic’ culture – in songs, dances, dress and ritual practices -- in order to fashion a new ethnic identity in keeping with their modern Christian present.

Paper long abstract:

Tangsa refers to more than 30 small Naga-related ethnic groups who have migrated into north-east India from the Patkai hills in northern Myanmar and have settled in the Indian states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. In the last few decades, rapid changes have occurred to their lifestyles as a result of their migration down from the hills, conversion of most of the Tangsa to Christianity, and their acceptance of a 'modern' way of life in the democratic Indian state.

Initially, conversion had implied burning of traditional artefacts and giving up most of their old cultural practices, but many Christian Tangsa have slowly realised that their new religion cannot help them secure their ethnic identity. On the other hand, the few non-Christian Tangsa still left have also understood that putting religious divide before ethnic unity could lead to their annihilation, in the face of the very complex ethnic situation in the area. Therefore, there have been intense efforts in recent years, on the part of both groups, to come together to retrieve and reinvent their 'authentic' traditional culture in order to deliberately fashion a common ethnic identity.

In this paper I wish to take a closer look at some of these attempts made, as manifested in present-day Tangsa festivals, in terms of training youth in 'authentic' traditional dances and songs, going back to the hills to 'find' their traditional costumes, and in modifications admittedly made to the supposedly authentic rituals and practices in order to fit better with modern times.