Published Paper Details:

The multifaceted roles performed by women in a tribal society adds to the preservation of traditional culture and adds towards sustaining the community's collective memory. Women in a tribal culture represent the link between past and present. They do this by bringing tradition into every aspect of the community's daily life through their service and use of knowledge that has been passed down from their ancestors to create ongoing connections between people living today and those who lived hundreds or thousands of years ago. This study uses qualitative ethnographic approach to understand the role of women as preservers of tradition and custodians of culture. It provides a comprehensive examination of how women's influence permeates the various spheres of communal life, arguing that these sites of daily labour serve as the material foundation for cultural preservation. It presents the contributions of women within the Nocte society as working towards preservation of cultural integrity and thereby, creating a broader discourse on indigenous heritage and gendered agency in North-East India.