Customary Law: Diversification of its processes and practices” with special reference to Nocte Naga

Customary Law: Diversification of its processes and practices” with special reference to Nocte Naga

The Naga tribe is a major ethnic group of North East India, it is known for her unique culture and identity. The tribe lives in states of Nagaland, Manipur, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and some population of around 150,000 are settled in Myanmar. Although they are scattered to different regions their customs and traditions are similar in practices.
Population and Habitat

Nocte is major tribe of Arunachal Pradesh living in the hills of Patkai with an estimated population of about 111,679 as per 2011 census. Its origin can be traced back to the Hukong valley of present day Myanmar from where they have migrated in between 1600 to 1700 A.D. The word “Noctes” means “people of a village”. They have their own language, culture, customs and traditions which have been in practices since time immemorial. Three tribes namely, Noctes (Tirap dist), Tansas (Changlang Dist) and Wancho (Longding Dist) can be identified under Naga- group in Arunachal Pradesh. These groups have a similarity in culture and traditions and resemble that of the Naga’s of Nagaland.

The customary law is a system or procedure which governs the conduct of the people for over a long period. Noctes customary laws are not in codified form, for ages these customs and usage are been imbibe in their oral tradition and passes on to their next generation. The British government in India followed a policy of least interference in the tribal affairs. Subsequently, The Assam Frontier (administration and justice) Regulation Act 1945 was introduced which recognized village headmen and chief. In the post independence Indian law recognized some laws and declared void of the laws inconsistent with the constitutional law. Indian Constitution also provides protection of tribal customs under fifth and sixth schedule. The Supreme Court of India held that there are areas of life, law of marriage and inheritance. Some of the areas of research can be identified below-
1.    Administration and Justice – The Noctes are governed under chieftaincy system in which the chief (Lowang) is the head of the village, the chief is assisted by the council of ministers(Ngoawa) in various decision making relating to social, political, economic and external relations. The chief holds the highest authority in the council and he is not bound by council advised. In the absence of the chief his next brother can assume all internal responsibility, in case of sudden death of the chief his next brother is declare chief of the  village.

2. 2.    Personal status law-The women has a little or no role in decision making neither they have a right of inheritance of immovable assets. It is on discretion of the eldest son how much parts of land to be demarcated among his brothers. Thus, In a Noctes society women status is quiet low in compare their male counterparts.
3. 3.    Family – The Nocte’ follows a patriarchal system in which the male member is the head of the family. The father represents the family in all matters within and outside the clan. In the absence of the father the eldest son would take all the responsibility. The eldest son lived with his father and mother while other sons lived separately after marriage.
   4.    Marriage and Divorce – The customs of marriage and divorce are strictly followed among the Nocte tribe. Any violation by the members of the party would be fine generously or sometimes even force to leave the village. In respect to the marriage, while the chief clan usually has to marry from their own clan except their siblings, the commoners are not permitted to marry from their own clan. System of marriage followed among Nocte’s may include – (a) Marriage by purchase (b) Gross cousin marriage (c) Marriage with parallel cousin.
   The husband and wife after marriage may get separated only before giving birth to a child. Divorce can only happen if husband and wife mutually agree and approve by the village council. A husband may divorce her wife if found affairs with third party and vice-versa.
   5.    Law of Inheritance – The Noctes follows patrilineal system where the eldest son enjoys the right to inherit the properties and further he can divide the properties to his brothers but in case the eldest son doesn’t look after the family and stay separately he is debarred from holding any claim on the properties. The daughters are not entitled to inherit immovable asset, however the mother can offer precious bangles, ornament and clothes as gift at the time of her daughter marriage. If a father of the family died leaving a minor son and wife his brother will be a guardian of the property until his son attains adult age.
4. 6.    Religions and Rites – The Nocte followed a religion similar to that of the Hindu sect’s Vaishnavism. The Noctes belief in existence of one most powerful God, .i.e..” Rang O” meaning “creator of universe”. Beside this they also worship God of sun, rain, thunder, river, clouds, huge stone, large tree and skull remains of forefathers etc. In fact the existence of any object that was unknown and unexplained to them was belief to possess some kind of supernatural powers.
   Land and tribal law – The occupied land is distributed equally to the clans, the chief clan and the councils members retain sufficient land from newly occupied land and the  rest are distributed equally to the clans further the clans demarcates it among the families. In cases relating to land holdings and disputes, the chief along with his council will hear the case and makes the judgment.
5. 8.  Natural resources – Apart from the private land there are also lands that are kept reserved for the village. The resources out of this reserved land are used only for the common purpose. E.g. Building Bridge, Construction of defensive fence, Construction of Morong (pang) and making trunk drum (Thom) etc.

The Customary laws have been providing the modal of self-governance among Naga’s. As of today the Naga’s customary law are not rigid in its form, it kept on evolving according to the changing circumstances much like any other law. Most of the cases involving within the village are still administer by the village council, it is only in rare cases like murder the appealed are made before the session court/district court. Thus these customary provide for rules, enforcement, procedures and punishment for violation. The practices of customary laws are different depending on region which often creates confusion, in a modern society the need of today is to negotiate dialogue and discuss the evolutionary changes to facilitate the indigenous law under single umbrella in order to avoid confusion.