The state of Meghalaya, formed on 21 January 1972, is a state of fascinating socio-cultural significance. Its heritage can be traced from the prehistoric times of Stone Age up to the present. Though comprising mainly of the matrilineal Khasi, Garo, and Jaintia tribes – the state also houses many other lesser known communities such as the Hajong,Sakachep, Biate, Koch, Dalu, Margnar and the Nepali. All these communities find voice in this volume. This book looks at the state of Meghalaya exhaustively from the perspective of heritage documentation and maintenance. The 38 chapters written by anthropologists and independent researchers, present the rich traditions found in the region. This volume will be of great help to academicians, researchers, students, and laymen interested in a comprehensive study of the region. Please note: This title is co-published with Manohar Publishers, New Delhi. Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in South Asia.

Reworking Culture: Relatedness, Rites, and Resources in Garo Hills, North-East India provides intimate insights into the lives of Garo hill farmers, and the challenges they face in day-to-day life. Focusing on the ongoing reinterpretation of traditions, or customs, the book reveals the inadequacy of the all too often assumed characterization of upland societies as culturally homogenous, internally cohesive, and unchanging. Based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, the book focuses on a rural area where land constitutes the most important resource, and where a substantial number of people practise traditional Garo animism. The book explores how people create and continually reinterpret the multiple relationships that connect them as a community, to the spirits, and to the land. These relationships are embedded in normative frameworks that call for compliance, yet leave room for ambiguity and negotiation. Far from being immutable, these need to be constantly expressed, (re-)interpreted, and enacted. The book thus shows how Garo traditions, referred to as niam, are continuously revised and reworked in response to new economic and political opportunities, as well as to changes in the ontological landscape.

Atong Texts by Seino van Breugel consists of a collection of 37 glossed, annotated and translated narratives in the Atong language (Tibeto-Burman) of Meghalaya, India, presented in phonemic standard orthography. This testimony of cultural and linguistic heritage of the Atongs, who are members of the Garo Tribe, complements the author’s Grammar of Atong, also published by Brill. Each text is preceded by a systematic literary analysis. The photos in the appendix provide a visual impression of the environment in which the stories are told. This book is of great value to Tibeto-Burmanists, general linguists, discourse analysts and everyone interested in the languages, history and folklore of Northeast-India in general, and Meghalaya in particular.