Portrait of a Matrilineal Tribe

Nokma, in Garo language, means ‘head of the village’ who is a woman. In the Garo tribe of Meghalaya, children take the mother’s surname, daughters inherit the family property with the youngest getting the lion’s share, and most businesses are run by women. Agriculture is one of the sources of livelihood which is practiced meticulously by women of all age groups in the family. The youngest daughter anchors the family, looking after elderly parents, giving shelter and care to unmarried brothers and sisters, and watching over property.

Meghalaya is a state tucked away in the North Eastern corner of India. The two major tribes of the region, Garo and Khasi, are a matrilineal in social structure and order, in an predominantly patriarchal country. The structure is protected by the Khasi Social Custom of Lineage Act of the Indian constitution. Matriliny safeguards women from social ostracism when they remarry because their children, no matter who the father was, would be known by the mother’s clan name. Even if a woman delivered a child out of wedlock, which is quite common, there is no social stigma attached to the woman in our society. The society seems to not succumb to the dominant patriarchal system in most of India.

The culture is elusive and depleting because the Garo women have married people from other Indian provinces and from outside India. But very few Garo women have given up their culture. Most have transmitted the culture to their children born out of wedlock with non-Garos.

Nokma: A Portrait of a Matrilineal Culture is a project that portrays the lives of Garo tribal women in and around Bolsagre, a village nestled in Western Garo Hills. This projects is a reflection of a community that sustains the matrilineal culture in a male-dominated society, breaking social stereotypes and prejudices that women have carried with centuries of oppression in India.