Tribal Lives and Women’s Voices: An Ethnographic Reading of Fiction from North East India

Abstract

This research paper explores the intersection of tribal identity and women’s voices in contemporary fiction from Northeast India, focusing on the works of Temsula Ao and Mamang Dai. Employing an ethnographic approach, the study investigates how novelists use storytelling to document traditions, cultural rituals, social hierarchies, and the lived experiences of women in marginalized communities. Texts such as These Hills Called Home and The Legends of Pensam are analysed to illustrate the ways authors combine folklore, oral history, and intricate depictions of landscape and kinship. The findings reveal that these literary works not only preserve cultural memories but also foreground strategies of female agency and resilience amid patriarchal constraints and historical change. By situating literature as both an archive and an act of interpretation, the paper highlights the important role women writers play in expanding and challenging the representation of tribal life in Indian literature.