Themes
practices showing communitarian life
Communitarian Life of Reang Tribe, tripura
The main factors that affect the communitarian life of the Reang tribe are the traditional occupations of the community, the economic activities, social structures, and religious practices: Wielding the major features, the Reang is nomadic and is primarily dependent on jhum cultivation, hunting, and fishing, these means of sustenance being derived from the combined efforts of all. Rice, pulses, vegetables, and meat from game hunted by them make their diet. Fishing is another activity which goes on, especially during rainy and winter seasons. Economic life is closely tied to the forest, as they gather foods, tend small rubber gardens, and small businesses, while a few work in government and private sectors.
The customs regarding marriage prescribe endogamy, but even that has been affected by modern influences, such as inter-community marriages, and divorce has been possible with the approval of the Village Council. The Reangs are Hindus and worship deities like Maikhulungma, Tuima, and Buraha while keeping themselves within the control of spiritual beliefs and those in the nature of souls. The village administration, however, is well defined as it consists of three tiers; at the top is the Rai who presides over the rest in terms of dispensing justice to the people and governing them through customary laws. Thus are deprived of the Reang lifestyle: common traditions and economic interdependencies that keep taking a new shape while remaining the same.
