Location: The Garo people live in the northeast part of India in the state of Meghalaya. They reside on the hills that their name stems from, Garo Hills. The Garo people refer to themselves as A’chik or Mande versus Garo. The people live in a lush forested area that experiences heavy rainfall. The population of this area is believed to be approximately 300,000. The Garo hills were ruled first by the British and have now become a part of independent India.
Daily Life: The Garo people divide themselves into a number of groups based on their difference in dialect and location and there isn't a strong political unity between all the tribes. The Garo set up permanent villages that vary in size. These villages tend to be between 10 to 60 households. The people of the village rely on the slash-and-burn technique for agriculture that they refer to as jhum. The cultivate dry rice, millet, and bananas, along with a variety of vegetables. The important cash crops for the Garo people are cotton, chili peppers, and ginger. The lifestyles of the Garo people are all based on a matriarchical point of view, in other words the people put a high status and power in the hands of the women. The land can only be inherited through the women of the families. The village leader is only chosen by the husband of the heiress. Each married couple chooses one daughter, usually the youngest, to be the heiress of the household and property. Sometimes the position of this youngest daughter would fall into marrying a specific relative as well to keep the land in the family.
Religion: In 1867, (a time when the British ruled this part of India) American Baptist missionaries arrived in the Garo Hills and taught the people Christianity. As a result, one-quarter to on-third of the Garo are now Christians. The native Garo religion includes the belief of supernatural spirits called mite. They believed that these spirits lived in the jungle and caused diseases. They also believed in important gods that overlooked the growth of the crops.
“henogamy” Encyclopedia Britannica Online. http://search.eb.com/bol/topic?eu=40850&sctn=1 [Accessed 11 May 2000].
“Society-GARO” http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/EthnoAtlas/Hmar/Cult_dir/Culture.7842 [Accessed 11 May 2000].
Written by: Jill Kneip