Culture, Capital, and Witch Hunts in Meghalaya and Nagaland

In continuation of the conceptualisation of our earlier study on ‘Culture, Capital and Witch Hunts in Assam’, this study has tried to explore the social beliefs and ritual practices of witch-hunts in indigenous societies of Meghalaya and Nagaland in Northeast India. Our understanding of witch hunts represents the persecution, even killings, of women and some men who are supposed to have acquired supernatural powers that they use to harm others in their community. These also include households that are perceived as ‘the thlen (serpent) keepers’ and individuals who possess ‘the tiger-spirit’. They are believed to cause physical harm, make others sick and rob them of resources.

Anthropologists and scholars of indigenous peoples generally work to describe what is taking place in indigenous societies and cultures, without a critical reflection on the beliefs and practices. These writings provide a critical reflection on the beliefs and practices. These writings actively contribute to encouraging indigenous peoples not to think in ways that may provide a different worldview conducive to women’s empowerment and economic development of the society and its enhanced position in the present-day world.