The Galo Tribe
Arunachal Pradesh
The Galos are a Himalayan tribe that are concentrated in the area around a town called Basar. Basar happens to be the headquarters of the newly formed district of Lepa Rada in Arunachal Pradesh. Galos live in harmony with nature and follow a religion called Donyi Polo in which their deities are the Sun and the Moon.
Though some of the Galos have converted to Christianity, the majority of them adhere to the Donyi Polo faith. White flags with the sun emblazoned on them can be seen fluttering outside the houses of the Galos who follow the religion of Donyi Polo. The Galo tribe trace their ancestry to Abotani who is said to have handed down the skills of rice cultivation.
Lineage:
Abotani Tribe
About
Family Structure:
The society follows a patriarchal and patrilineal structure with a robust clan organization. Families are nuclear but typically accommodate elderly parents.
Marriage Customs:
Marriage arrangements involve the payment of bride wealth, known as Batu or Togu Panam. This includes items such as mithun, pig, dry fish, and occasionally brass bowls. Batu, a lighter ceremony, typically involves one or two mithuns, a cow, a pig, and brass bowls, and is conducted by average families. Conversely, Togu Panam, conducted by wealthier families, is a grander affair where 5 to 10 mithuns, cows, and pigs are slaughtered, along with a considerable number of valuable or metallic items offered. In exchange, the bride's family sends a substantial amount of wealth, equivalent to the bride wealth paid, when she departs for her husband's home. Remarriage of widows is permitted, but if they marry someone outside the deceased husband's kin, compensation must be paid.
Unique Naming Tradition:
The Galo people have a distinctive method of naming individuals, allowing them to trace their lineage back to their ancestors. In the absence of a formal written language, this practice serves as a way for them to mentally recall their forebears and family lineage. A portion of the father's name is incorporated into the son's name, with certain syllables like "Dopa" in the father's name resulting in the son being named "Pasu."
Taboos:
Taboos are enforced following specific rites or ceremonies. These restrictions primarily concern movements, such as prohibiting the felling of large trees, cutting banana trees, digging holes, or damming rivers. Another category of taboos pertains to eating habits. Individuals who have participated in rituals, like the Nyich and other family members, refrain from sharing meals from others' utensils for certain periods. They also adhere to restrictions on consuming certain fruits, such as bananas, oranges, or jackfruits, and certain leafy vegetables like spinach, round pepper, or prickly ash. For instance, a person who has slain a tiger and performed a ritual refrain from consuming ginger and rice powder for the remainder of their life. Similarly, someone bitten by a snake and undergoing a ritual avoids consuming certain tabooed items thereafter.
Language:
Tani Galo
Festivals
Traditionally, in villages, the ultimate authority to determine whether to observe the Mopin festival or the Mari festival lies with the Nyibo. Through the examination of chicken liver or divination of eggs, he confirms which festival the villagers should celebrate for that year.
Mopin Festival:
The Mopin festival is a celebration of land fertility, where prayers are offered to the eternal sisters for a bountiful agricultural harvest. It is believed that after these invocations, the Mopin goddess sends her daughters, Pinku and Pinte, to bring a plentiful harvest to humanity, ensuring peace, prosperity, and happiness. During the festivities, people don pure white traditional attire, symbolizing peace, and purity, and perform the Popir dance to the tune of the Popir song. They gather to dine, drink, and revel together. Mopin, the primary festival of the Galos, is celebrated in April to invoke prosperity and wealth. Mithuns are sacrificed, and feasts are held with meat and rice beer. Participants smear rice powder on each other's foreheads as boys and girls dance from house to house. The festival typically lasts for four to five days.
Mari Festival:
The Mari festival, another significant celebration of the tribe, is a variant of the Mopin festival. There isn't much disparity in the elements and purpose of Mopin and Mari festivals. The objective of the Mari festival is primarily to ensure a surplus harvest, good health, and prosperity for humanity. It typically spans three days and is celebrated annually in February.
During the Mari festival, humans, and spirits, both malevolent and benevolent, gather together. The purpose of this assembly is to reach an agreement between worshippers and spirits at the worship object through animal sacrifices. This agreement is made to secure abundant crops, protection from threats, prevention of epidemics, avoidance of misfortune, and overall well-being for the villagers. Unlike the Mopin festival, where mithuns are sacrificed, in the Mari festival, pigs and fowl are commonly offered as sacrifices to invoke the spirits.
