Tribal Folktales and Women- The Rabhas and The Garos

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This work examines whether women are confined to the traditional gender roles prescribed to them by the male dominant society or go beyond that to challenge it, through a content analysis of the folktales of the two tribes who adhere to two different social set up. One being patriarchal now (the Rabhas) and other being matrilineal (the Garos), these two tribes give us an immense opportunity to reflect on their status, man- woman relationship, role played by women in two contrasting cultures, and representation of women in their traditional roles and beyond. Women and folktales have a deep connection and it is mostly through women that folktales are transmitted from one generation to another, with that the beliefs, traditions, customs, taboos, thoughts and feelings, hopes and fears etc of a society get incorporated and are kept in circulation. Comparison and contrast of women from two different social and cultural set ups through a study of their folktales provide us with tremendous insight into their life and living.

Gargee Chakraborty (born 1973, Guwahati, Assam) is an Associate Professor, Dept. of English, at Dakshin Kamrup College, Mirza, Assam. Born to late Dr. Asit Kumar Chakraborty and Mrs. Amita Chakraborty, she graduated from Cotton College, Guwahati with English( Major) and did her MA (English)from University of Pune in 1995. She completed her Ph.D from Gauhati University in 2013. Before writing this book, many of her articles and research papers got published in different journals and books.

Primary attention to gender surfaced in folklore not long ago. Women have introduced new perspectives to many old questions in folklore and folk narratives. The concern with the subject of women in the folktales and fairytales was latent for quite a long period but in the recent years, the interest in this area of study has developed. Hence this work tries to examine women and their representation in the folktales as seen in the context of the two tribes of Assam- the Rabhas and the Garos. These two tnbes inhabit primarily in the districts of Kamrup (metro), Kamrup( rural) and Goalpara, situated at the southern part of Assam. Garos are also one of the important tribes of Meghalaya, the neighbouring state of Assam. The present work attempts to investigate whether women in tribal societies under study enjoy better status with respect to societal power and position as compared to other tribal and non-tribal societies which are mostly patriarchal. It is mostly through women that folktales are believed to be transmitted from one generation to the other and along with it a society's traditions, beliefs, rituals and customs and views and thoughts are also carried forward. The two neighbouring tribes belong to two different social set up- Rabhas being patriarchal (but even today they trace the line of descent through the females and the children after marriage are inducted into the mother's clan) and the Garos adhering to matrilineal set up. As a result they provide us with an enormous opportunity to understand women in two contrasting social set up through a content analysis of their folktales. Position of women as reflected in folktales is worth studying because in its oral tradition folktales are the integral part of any culture. I must thank my mentor Dr. Anil Boro for motivating and guiding me throughout my work. My thanks goes to Dr. K.K. Bhattacharjee, my colleague Adward Steady Sangma, Prof. Dharmeswar Kalita, Prof. Akhil Das Dr. Ananya Baruah, Dr.Nizara Hazarika and Dr. Ranjan Bhuyan for guiding me in my journey. Moreover I need to thank all those story tellers whom I met in my field trips to different tribal villages and I am indebted to all those tribal women who gave me a better understanding of their position while interacting with them informally. Observing life style of those women in their own environment gave me an insight into their life, an understanding which got reflected in my work.

I am grateful to my mother Mrs. Amita Chakraborty, my husband Hrishikesh Bharadwaj and my son Aryadeep for their constant cooperation and support.