Cultural Dimension of Ecology - A Case Study of the Oraons

8/13/2019 Cultural Dimension of Ecology - A Case Study of the Oraons

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The major customs among the Oraons, as with any other community, are connected with birth, marriage and

death. The linkage of customs with the ecology is best reflected in customs connected with marriage and death.

There are many customs preceding marriage with which the environment is very closely connected. There is the

custom of men going to the forest to fetch firewood and women to fetch sal leaves for preparing cups and plates.

The preparation of the marriage mat and marriage baskets of various sizes are other customs. Setting up a

marwais, however, the most significant. Nine salsaplings with leaves on top are planted in the courtyard in three

rows. The middle one of the second row differs in its height. Also planted are branches of bamboo, sidha,

bhelwa, mango and mahua.The mango suggests perpetuity of descendants, the bamboo symbolises progeny,

the sidha fidelity of husband and wife, the bhelwaprotection from the evil eye and the mahua, love between the

couple. The marriage ritual would be incomplete without this invocation of trees and plants.

During funerals the Oraons practise burial and cremation. Bodies are buried when crops stand in the field. In this

custom, various shapes of branches cover the bottom of the grave, lengthwise and crosswise.

Important festivals of the Oraons pertain to the forest, hunting, agriculture and cattle. Besides these, there are

socio-religious gatherings known asjatras, which take place at the commencement of different seasons. It is not

possible to discuss all their festivals. I shall confine myself to a few for the purpose of illustration.

The spring festival, known as sarhul, is celebrated when the saltree is in full blossom. In this festival the Oraons

perform the symbolic marriage of the sky with the earth. This is done to ensure the fertility of mother earth. On

this day a propitiatory sacrifice is offered to the old lady (the village goddess) who is believed to abide in thesacred grove of the village. Phagguis a festival which is observed towards the end of February or the beginning of

March. On the evening previous to the feast, a young castor (Palma christi) plant and a semar (Bombax

malabaricum) branch are planted in an open place. Around these some hay, firewood and dry leaves are heaped.

The village priest sets fire to the hay. When fire burns at its brightest the young castor shrub is cut into pieces

with an axe. Immediately the young boys of the village light torches from the bonfire and throw the burning

torches at fruit trees, saying, Be loaded with good fruit.

II

What these selected illustrations show is the scale of interaction that prevails between the community and its

environment. Whereas the communitys dependence on nature is overwhelming, it is far from being passive. The

community acts on nature and transforms it into forms that are of use to it. However, the use of environmentalresources is limited to the extent necessary for the community. It is this which leads to harmony between

community and environment. Such harmony is, however, possible because of the overriding social values that

guide Oraon society. These are the values of equality in society, collectivity in economy, accommodation in

history, ethical living in philosophy, folkism in literature and group participation in art and music. On account of

these, the attitude the Oraons have towards nature is one of rational adaptation and not of mastery over the

world.

Crises in this harmony result from a number of sources. The opening up of the economy to the market and

therefore profit is an important factor but is not the only one. Societies guided not by profit but by their assessed

needs have been equally instrumental in the destruction of environmental wealth.

What seems to be at the back of disharmony is the attitude of rational mastery over the world rather than rational

adaptation to it. What has led to this shift seems to be a spirit of competition and domination rather than

cooperation, the hallmark of traditional societies.

III

After having tentatively explained what makes possible harmony between community and environment, we shall

explore the ways in which the Oraons contribute to sustaining the existing order. We have seen how nature

enters into the very fabric of Oraon society their food, houses, domestic goods, artifacts, rites, rituals,

customs, festivals, etc. This shows how the natural order enters into the social order of the Oraons. The two

orders are not separate, discrete, autonomous. Rather, they are integral to each other. At the same time, the

social order is also a moral order to the Oraons. Hence there are ways through which the moral order ismaintained. In Oraon society, these orders are maintained either through prohibition or propitiation. Taboos

surrounding the use of environmental features are varied. These are observed on different occasions and by

different sets of people. Restrictions surrounding hunting or the commencement of a season or totemic

institutions may be taken as illustrations. Propitiation of village deities in charge of different environmental

features is another way by which the moral order is thought to be maintained in Oraon society.


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Cultural Dimension of Ecology - A Case Study of the Oraons

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