Related Topics: Art & Culture, Tribes in India
News
- Members of the Galo community in Arunachal Pradesh can recall the name of their ancestor from 20 generations ago, and this is made possible by their system of naming.
- Bagra, an Ethnographer who began record-keeping 20 years ago, has now created a Genealogical website, with some names hyperlinked.
How Galo Community trace their ancestors?
- They trace their common origin to a primeval ancestor, Abotani.
- Unlike the Mising (Assam), Adi, Apatani, Nyishi and Tagin, the other communities, only the Galos maintain genealogy through given names.
- They have a system of prefixing the second syllable of a father’s name to that of a son, who passes on the suffix in his name to his son.
- They can trace the names of ancestors from the first syllable or prefix of their names.
About Galo Community
- The Galos belong to the Tani group inhabiting Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, besides Tibet.
- At about 1.5 lakh people, the Galos are one of the 26 major communities of Arunachal Pradesh, and dominate West Siang, Lepa Rada and Lower Siang districts.
- They have a big population in East Siang, Upper Subansiri and Namsai districts too.
- They have been recognized as a Scheduled Tribe in the Amendment to the Constitution (ST), Order, 1950, Part-XVIII.
- Mopin festival is a popular agricultural festival celebrated by the Galo tribe.
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