Special Issue on “The Tribal Chronicles of North-East India”

2025-12-07

December 3, 2025

Call for Papers: Special Issue on “The Tribal Chronicles of North-East India”

You are invited to submit a paper for possible inclusion in a special issue of the Journal of Underrepresented and Minority Progress (JUMP). The Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress (JUMP) is a refereed interdisciplinary publication (Print ISSN 2574-3465 & Online ISSN 2574-3481) dedicated to the educational, economic, and social progress of minority and underrepresented communities around the world. It is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed, and international, open-access journal published by STAR Scholars Network and is indexed on SCOPUS, one of the major indexing databases for peer-reviewed literature.

Tribal literature, in simple terms, refers to the rich set of literary pieces, oral and written, of a tribal community that reflects their generational customs and traditions echoing their cultural heritage. North-East India is composed of eight states: the “Seven Sisters” (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura) and the “brother” (Sikkim).  It is home to over 200 tribal communities and several ethnic groups presenting one of the most culturally diverse regions of the whole world. These tribal communities assert themselves with their own languages, traditions, festivals, fashion, history, literature, foods, dance, songs and socio-political movements. The North-East tribal communities differ from the ones present in the other parts of India due to their distinct Tibeto-Burman origins, linguistic identity, accompanied by the historical and geographical isolation and political objectives. This isolation has contributed towards the flourishing of their own cultural identity away from the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan population of India with their own indigenous knowledge and connection to the land.

This special issue for the “The Tribal Chronicles of North-East India” aims to highlight the unseen diverse literary shades of the tribal communities of North-East India and unveil their unique perspective through their folktales, songs, myths, poems, stories, novels, and plays. Their writings reflect their identity, sense of existence, heritage, socio-political atmosphere, ethnicity, belief system and their struggles as well as opportunities. The issue will showcase the vibrant and diverse narratives that have emerged and are emerging in the contemporary context and reflect the dynamic fusion of tradition and modernity in the works of the tribal literature. This bridges the gap and nurtures a deeper understanding faced by the communities through the lens of literature.

We invite paper submissions to the following topics, but are not limited to:

  1. Cultural Preservation: North-East part of India is filled with the diversity that is present in the whole of the Indian subcontinent. It embodies Jawaharlal Nehru’s quote of “Unity in Diversity”. Yet, they belong to the marginalized area of the country with very less representation and are rapidly on the verge of being dominated by other forms of culture. However, tribal literature plays a major role in preserving their unique cultural identity, customs, beliefs, languages and rituals. Tribal authors take pride in contributing towards the cultural preservation and revival of the indigenous culture in the era of globalization. For example, Mamang Dai’s The Legend of Pensam and many others are using folktales and myths in the contemporary times, reusing their cultural ancestry to present their individual uniqueness, agency as well as ground their identity in this rapidly changing world. The oral tradition of storytelling, which has been a pivotal element in sustaining the cultural identity of the indigenous community of these states, has been on the decline with the advancement in the technological sector and along with it the core idea, identity, practices as well as the tradition are getting removed from the knowledge of the younger generations. But by materialising these cultural elements in various forms or medium like written, visual or digital enables these communities to sustain and preserve these values for the future generations as well as provide a medium of expressing themselves in a new way.
  2. Exploitation of Natural Resources: The bond between natural resources and the tribal communities has always been unique and complex at the same time. This has been depicted in various works of tribal literature. They depict the exploitation of natural resources and sheds light into the changing era of capitalism that adversely impacts the ecology and the indigenous communities co-existing with nature. They propose a sustainable practice that respects the livelihood as well the sacredness of Nature. The folktales and myths of the different communities in the seven sisters and one brother present these ideas of exploitation of nature. Temsula Ao, a writer and a poet from Nagaland has brilliantly blended the exploitation of nature to that of the exploitation of women. Ao's distinct storytelling and lyrical quality capture the essence of Naga life, customs, and folklore, addressing core issues like woman-nature relationships in the Northeast. (Charu, 2024). Some of her famous poems like “My Hills”, “An Old Tree” and “Distance” depict the destruction of nature. (Charu, 2024)
  3. Impact of Modernization: Modernization presents not only in the advancement of science and technology in the North-Eastern region of India but also the socio-political climate of the state, identity and the rapid changes and impact on the livelihood of the indigenous people. Tribal people mostly depended on the oral tradition but a recent trend has been that they have started to write down about themselves, seeking self-expression. The socio-economic forces of modernization and development have no doubt brought some benefits to the people of some areas, but the benefits accrued to them have been largely outweighed by the harm. Development induced displacement, involuntary migration and resettlement has caused marginalization of tribals, and presented enormous problems to them. (Mohapatra, 2012)
  4. Conflicts and Peace: The North-East as a region is unstable with conflicts, curfews, violence within the region itself. This has been greatly depicted in the tribal works of contemporary as well as the past. They capture the trauma of the everyday conflict against corruption, army, government, militancy. These are reflected mainly in the poetry of the tribal literature. Robin Ngangom, who is from Manipur and now based in Meghalaya, says that “unquestioning ‘nationalism’ in the face of a fear of loss of identity and encroachment of territory and cultural values” are not the topic of poetry but rather “a nervous internalization of the increasingly complex politics of the region” (Das, 2024).
  5. Translation Studies of the Tribal Literary Voices: Much of the true essence of tribal literature has been captured in the language of the tribal community. Translation Studies refers to the conversion of a text from the source language to the target language while maintaining the equivalence. Scholars and researchers are actively engaging with these texts in order to translate these texts and make it accessible for the people outside their linguistic and cultural boundary and disseminate across. This also serves as an archival of the pieces of history that marks the face of the tribal literature. There are many writers like Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih, a Khasi poet, who writes in English and also translates Khasi poetry and folklore.
  6. Voice of Subalternity: North-East tribal literature highlights the experiences, the struggle and the subalternity of the marginalized communities which often exposes the socio-economic and political injustices faced by the tribal communities that offer a cultural dynamic to the social scenario. The term “subaltern” means “the other”. By bringing a voice for this otherness, tribal literature brings forward the idea of the advocacy of rights related to land rights, human rights, environmental sustenance, women’s empowerment, gender equality and traditional gender norms in to the creative expression of the writers and expresses the woes of the indigenous people. Easterine Kire from Nagaland is one of such writers who recounts the Battle of Khonoma, voicing indigenous resistance to British colonizers through her work A Naga Village Remembered and When the River Sleeps. She stands as a prime example in giving voices to the subaltern i.e. the tribals.
  7. Displacement and Migration: This is one of the most common aspects of tribal literature from the North-East India due to conflicts, opportunities, resources, historical events which reflects the internal as well as external complex scenario of the region and the people. The influx of migration of refugees, immigrants from the neighboring countries and even other states of India on a large scale poses a threat to the identity, culture and practices of the indigenous community as well as the rise of tension between the two sections. At the same time when someone from North-East India, goes to other places, it becomes difficult for them to maintain the cultural identity and faces alienation, racism and discrimination. An example of this is the Naga-Kuki conflict that happened in Manipur which has been occurring reason of which are land disputes, political ambitions and historical criticisms. In colonial records it is clearly described how the Kuki people came to the Naga hills in massive numbers around 1845, killing thousands on their way which continued (more or less intensively) up until the quelling of the “Kuki Rebellion” in 1919. (Leth, 2023)
  8. Gendered Identities and Marginalized Voices in Tribal Narratives: The North-Eastern tribal literature offers a compelling space for the exploration of how gender interacts with indigeneity, displacement and marginalization. Women and queer individuals within the tribal communities face dual exclusion. They are marginalized by national narratives and are silenced within patriarchal cultural structures. Literature acts as a medium for these voices to reclaim agency and visibility. Writers like Temsula Ao (2006) and Easterine Kire (2016) bring forth narratives of resilience, traumas, and spiritual inheritance of Naga women, vivid and alive. Temsula Ao in her book These Hills Called Home: Stories From A War Zone, presents the narrative picture of war and domestic suffering, and Kire redeems feminine power through myth in Son of the Thundercloud. Mizo poet Mona Zote engages with gendered subjectivities and social resistance through their poetry and academic work. As Debajyoti Biswas and Pratyusha Pramanik have argued, “Mona Zote, through her poems, challenges the cultural stereotypes on one hand and also on the other hand, questions the demonization of women in patriarchal societies.” (Biswas & Pramanik, 2022) Her writings mirror the daily activities of tribal women and very much inquires into the spiritual and ecological nuances associated with gender. The oral and digital traditions hint at queer and non-normative identities among tribes like the Bodo, Hmar, Dimasa, and Lepcha, further offering thematic areas for investigation.
  9. Spiritual Ecologies and Sacred Narratives: Spirituality greatly influences the Tribal literature from North-East India where nature, myth, and ancestral presence are deeply entwined. Tribal literature thus becomes a space where these sacred relationships are remembered and rearticulated in modern narratives. Writers such as Mamang Dai (2004) view rivers and landscapes as sacred entities. In River Poems (2004) Dai describes rivers as living beings – “The river has a soul… the immortality of water” (Dai, 2004), this signifies the Adi cosmology which is full of respect for nature. Dai states, “Everything has life. Rocks, stones, trees, rivers, hills, and all life is sacred. This is called Donyi-Polo, literally meaning Donyi (Sun) and Polo (Moon) as the physical manifestation of a supreme deity, or what she calls ‘world spirit.’” (Dai, 2010) In the same way Easterine Kire uses the spiritual consciousness of the Nagas, where human and spirit realms coexist. Dhanya A.P and Sudakshina Bhattacharya (2019) note, “Nagas still have a heightened awareness of the spiritual.” Various writers like Temsula Ao (2012) and Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih (2005) rely on oral ritual and ancestral respect to explore land-based spiritualities which are threatened by modernity. The Mizo, Khasi, Bodo, and Apatani tribes consider the land is as sacred law, kin, and memory.  As Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih in an interview states, “The universe is a cosmic whole that receives its animation and force from the one living truth—God, U Blei. Because of this, the old Khasis held nature in great esteem. (Nongkynrih, 2024) Tribal literature thus becomes a medium to preserve sacred knowledge and resist spiritual erasure.

JUMP seeks to provide a venue for meaningful, purposeful, and actionable scholarship and invites articles, dialogues, and further remarks in accordance with its editorial policy (see https://ojed.org/index.php/jump/about/submissions).

Submit Abstract: tribalnortheast34@gmail.com 

Important Dates: 

Submission of Abstract: January 10, 2026

Acceptance/Rejection of Abstract:  January 31st, 2026

Submission of Full Paper: March 15th, 2026

Acceptance/Rejection of Papers: July 31st, 2026

Final Version for Publication: December 2026

Guest Editors: 

Please direct inquiries to the guest editors below:

  • Manju, PhD

University Institute of Liberal Arts and Humanities

Chandigarh University, Mohali (India)

Email: manju.uila@cumail.in

  • Aruna Bhatt, PhD

University Institute of Liberal Arts and Humanities

Chandigarh University, Mohali (India)

Email: aroonaaruna@gmail.com

Copywriters:

  • Aeshna Sharma, Research Scholar

Universal Institute of Liberal Arts and Humanities

Chandigarh University, Mohali (India)

Email: aeshnasharma@gmail.com

  • Chintan Dhiman, Research Scholar

Universal Institute of Liberal Arts and Humanities

Chandigarh University, Mohali (India)

Email: chintandiman01@gmail.com

  • Geetanjali Brahmacharimayum MA (English)

Email: geetanjalidevi18@gmail.com

References

Ao, T. (2006). These hills called home: Stories from a war zone. Zubaan Books.

Ao, T. (2012). Once upon a life: Burnt curry and bloody rags. Zubaan Books.

Biswas, M., & Pramanik, S. (2022). Gendered terrains in contemporary poetry from North-East India: A feminist reading. International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences (IJELS), 7(3), 105–111. https://doi.org/10.22161/ijels.73.15

Charu. (2024, April). Intersecting dimension of nature of women: An ecofeminist reading of Temsula Ao’s selected short stories. Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (JETIR), 11(4), 827–837. https://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2404A01.pdf

Dai, M. (2004). River poems. Writers Workshop.

Das, N. (2024, April 18). Served raw: How poetry from North-eastern India captures the trauma of everyday violence. Frontline. https://frontline.thehindu.com/books/poetry-from-indias-north-east-reflects-the-political-tensions-of-the-region/article68023522.ece

Dai, M. (2010, May 1). The land as “living presence”: Interview with Arundhathi Subramaniam. Poetry International Web.

http://www.poetryinternationalweb.net/pi/site/cou_article/item/17068

Dhanya, A. P., & Bhattacharya, S. (2019). The praxis of the wedded mystic: A divergent reading of Easterine Kire’s novel When the River Sleeps. Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities, 11(3), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v11n3.05

Kire, E. (2016). Son of the thundercloud. Speaking Tiger.

Leth, S. (2023, December 21). Understanding the complex conflict unfolding in Manipur. IWGIA. https://libguides.csudh.edu/citation/apa-7

Mohapatra, G. (2012, October 1). Globalization and changing tribal identity in North East India: Emerging issues. The Tribal Tribune, 5(1).

https://www.etribaltribune.com/index.php/volume-5/mv5i1/globalization-and-changing-tribal-identity-in-north-east-india-emerging-issues

Ngangom, R. S. (2005). Time's crossroads: Poems (2nd ed.). Writers Workshop.

Nongkynrih, K. S. (2005). Around the hearth: Khasi legends. Penguin India.

Nongkynrih, K. S. (2024, May 31). From the light of a kitchen stove to the funeral nights. Usawa Literary Review. https://usawa.in/issue-11/interview-11/kabir-deb-in-conversation-with-kynphamsingnongkynrih/#:~:text=But%20the%20old%20ones%20who,hunting%2C%20they%20bowed%20low%20and