So
much change has taken place during the recent past that it has almost become a
history while assessing the culture, customs, religion of the people of
Mizoram, which was practised only a hundred years ago. This is mainly due to
the advent of the Christian Missionaries from United Kingdom in 1897 resulting
in transformation in terms of religion, culture, and way of life. The Christian
Missionaries spread education in the land, taught the value of peace,
tolerance, co- existence and universal brotherhood. It paved the way for
modernity in Mizoram. As a result, the lifestyle, the way of thinking and
doing, were radically metamorphosed. Their mental horizon widened by its
teaching, and superstitions and faith in spirits vanished. In fact, the
Christianity made them adaptable to western culture. Its impact on
socio-economic activity is also significant.
The Mizo society is a well-knit
society. There is no caste or class system. The community is comprehensive and
free from any rank or status consciousness. They participate in all social or
religious functions without any consideration of social hierarchy. The
festivals have promoted community feeling and have helped in influencing the
attitude of the Mizo people. There is hardly any profit motif in their economy.
Goods are shared or bartered freely. Every festival is accompanied with dance
and music which is a symbol of their love and fellow feeling. The community
feasts and festivals have widened the boundary of the community life.
Festivals
The culture of the Mizos in the past, to a great extent, was the
manifestation of their occupation, i.e., shifting cultivation. Most of the
festivals, songs or leisure activities were guided by either the cycle of the
jhum or the seasons. There are certain ceremonies and festivals performed by
individuals signifying the various stages reached by them in the social ladder
and for a better life in the next world. One of such is Khuangchawi which has to be preceded by minor feasts. The host has
to offer a community feast with rice beer and meat of different domestic
animals. This is performed with dances and songs.
Another important occasions in the
early Mizo life are the community festivals. They are called Kut each of them
held at specific time of season of the agricultural operation. They are Pawl Kut, Chapchar Kut and Mim Kut.
Pawl Kut is performed at the end of
the harvest to celebrate the harvest, end of the year and to welcome the new
year. Chapchar Kut is a festival of
spring, celebrated before plots for jhum are burnt. It is celebrated with
traditional dance in which men and women take part, and is the festival which
every boy and girl look forward to. Mim
Kut is performed when the first maize crop is harvested. It is reserved for
the deads. This is a festival during which everyone is to make offering to
their dead relatives.
With the advent of Christianity
these festivals disappeared one by one. To cherish the traditional dances and
songs performed in the olden days, Chapchar
Kut is now revived and observed as the state holiday. The cultural dances
are being preserved and taught to younger generations by the Young Mizo
Association and Art and Culture Department of the state government.
Dances
The Mizos, the majority people of the state are close-knit society with no
class distinction, vibrant and sociable. They love to sing, they sing in sorrow
and in happiness. Much as they love to sing they also like to dance. They have
a number of dances performed in groups, which are accompanied with few musical
instruments, most commonly like gongs and drums. Most popular dances are
Cheraw, Sarlamkai, Khuallam, Chheihlam, Chai Chawnglaizawn and Chawnglaizawn.
Marriage
Marriage is solemnized at the consent of both party, but selection of bride
is the prerogative of the parents. However, the youngman can, in advance, and
often obtain the tacit consent of a girl to a marriage and thus pave the way
for a smooth negotiation.
A bride-price is fixed after negotiation
through negotiator (palai) and often calculated in terms of mithun. There is no
dowry. However, it is obligatory for a bride to provide herself with some items
of property before marriage. There is no bar marriage within one’s own clan and
between other clans. Polyandry is never practised. Divorce is permitted and may
be resorted to either side. Liabilities for payment of the price for the bride
are altered, and refunded or forfeited depending on the nature of divorce.
Marriage is now solemnized according to the Mizo Christian Marriage Act.
Status of Women
The position of women is no less important in a Mizo family than that of a
man. But a daughter has no share in the property of her father. Her
responsibility is to become a true housewife. The youngest son is left behind
to look after the parents. He is, thus, an inheritor of his father’s property
including the ancestral home. In case of a Lusei chief and the Paite sub-tribe,
as well as the Maras, such inheritance of property and chieftainship falls on
the eldest son. Clan name also descends in the male line.
However, the situation now changed
with the social transformation of the Mizo people. Inheritance of properties
are decided by the father although the ancestral home is devoted to the
youngest son among the Mizo. Women are not looked down upon in every respects.
In fact, they have become an important workforce of the family in different
sectors.
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