A scene at the annual indigenous community fishing, or Kajoi in Maram terminology, Wednesday, April 16, at the Willong-Barak river stretch.
SENAPATI: The annual indigenous Community Fishing of Willong, called Kajoi in Maram terminology, was held on Wednesday, April 16, at the Willong-Barak river stretch. Willong is located along Maram-Peren Road, 35 kms west from NH and 12 kms north from the Barak River. The event participants included local villagers, neighbouring communities, and other guests, totaling to over 2000 in number.
This year, official teams from Senapati District Students’ Association, Poumai Naga Students’ Union, and Naga Students’ Union Delhi, took part in the indigenous festival. Since 2011, the year that had coincided with the kicking-off of its Golden Jubilee Year, important cultural events – like community fishing (Kajoi), Kang-he (Maram Naked Wrestling), and Mangkhang (premier women folk festivals) – have become annual features. This is the endeavour of the MKS to further promote and sustain the cultural heritages of our fore-fathers, most of which today appears to have lost interests among the younger generations, the president’s note stated.
Pungdi P. Celestine, President, Maram Students Union (MKS), giving a brief highlight of the festival states that the community fishing bears both social and religious values. Villagers believe, the substances mixed in the river and activities employed for fishing purposes clean up/filtrate elements of the river as they flow along the river stretch. Further, failing to observe the tradition in a year (March/April based on Agricultural calendar) is believed to bring misfortune to the people.
In the earlier days, male members go to jungles in search of tree bark (Ta-king/Ka-shing) and creepers (Ka-lang/Ka-shii). En route the village, female folks assist in carrying loads and later powder the tree bark. Creepers are placed in the river on the day of fishing.
Male members haul and carry the powdered tree bark and proceed down to the river early morning on the fishing day. Along the village route, women help to carry the load. Meanwhile, every male member prepares their own traditional ‘wooden sticks’ which are later used to thrash the creepers. It is “genna” to consume meat of wild animals (dried/fermented) on this day.
The age-old belief is that thrashing of creepers that produce juices and mixing of powdered tree bark in the selected river stretch caused fishes to lose balance and reduces visibility. In this way, fishes are caught with bare-hands or by using bamboo-baskets of varying sizes and by scything the fishes with sharp weapons.
Before noon, almost every catch is offered to women, young girls, children, sisters, and those who were married in that same year. By evening time, when the women and children leave the river, male individuals and peer groups continue to fish for themselves till late at night and return to village the next morning.
Today, villagers are made to jealously guard the river stretch to monitor excessive human activities in the river bed like collection of sand, stones, and poisoning of the fauna in the river by using chemicals.
