International Journal of Gender & Women's Studies

Gender land relations in Nagaland: Dilemma of balancing tradition and Modernity
Toshimenla Jamir

Abstract
Land has been recognized historically as a primary source of wealth, social status and power with cultural, religious and legal significance. The use of land underlined all aspects of Naga society. Their relationship to land played an essential role in the maintenance of traditional ethos and norms regulated and enforced by an unwritten customary law. Gender differences in group membership and social identity were closely connected with the patterns of inheritance, resource distribution and governance. A Naga woman’s right to land use was transient to the extent that her access to a particular plot of land was never permanent. So long as the common property resources remained intact, women remained natural managers of these resources without having ownership rights. Contemporary emphasis on individual ownership as the basis of commercial exchange has however led to land becoming commoditized in many parts of Nagaland. The question of gender relations vis-a-vis land rights thus come into focus, in view of the emerging dynamics of livelihood security for women still dependent on land, shifting patterns of resource management and above all, the dilemma of attaining a balance between modernity and tradition.

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