Page 95 - Changing Living Spaces

Living Spaces of Ethnic Groups and their Relationship with the Ecological Environment

Changes in the Land Use Pattern of Indigenous Hindus
Living Spaces by Ethnic Groups in Kamrup District
The last case study was conducted in Kamrup district and shows how im-
portant the living spaces of different ethnic groups are for agricultural
development. In this region, the differences in the ecological environ-
ment are relatively smaller than in the other regions, with a gentle slope
extending from the floodplain near the Brahmaputra to the foothill zone
along the border with Bhutan. The urban city influence is more dominant
than the environmental factors. The state capital, Guwahati, attracts
people living in the surrounding rural villages. The distribution pattern
of villages by ethnic groups roughly shows the pattern that Asamiya vil-
lages are located near Guwahati, Nepali villages are located in the foot-
hill zone, and Bodo villages are located in the middle plains (figure 8).
However, the differences between the living spaces of each ethnic group
are not as clear as in other regions. Like living spaces, livelihood activities
are almost identical among ethnic groups. They mainly grow rice in the
rainy season and some vegetables in the dry season.
However, the living spaces in the region historically showed a different
pattern. The Bodo people first lived in the northern part of the region, but
population density there was low and much land with forests remained
unused. In the 1950s and 60s, some Asamiya farmers who lived in villages
near Guwahati migrated to the northern region in search of large arable
land. At that time, people could freely own unoccupied land after reclaim-
ing trees and grass themselves. Field research has shown that the peo-
ple of Asamiya moved northward during this period in search of resourc-
es. However, the direction of human movement is now reversed. Some
of the migrated Asamiyas living in the border area with Bhutan have mi-
grated to the southern region near Guwahati in the last decade. The val-
ue of the land has declined for villagers as they show less interest in con-
tinuing farming. More villagers prefer to work off-farm or in white-collar
jobs, which are more feasible in urban areas. The number of households
migrating south is not large, but many people are going to the southern
region near Guwahati to work.
The political factor also influences the movement of people in the region.
The northern part of the region (the area between Goreswar and the bor-
der with Bhutan) was declared an autonomous Bodo region in 2003, pro-
moting the Bodo First policy. Non-Bodo people, including the Asamiyas,
are relatively disadvantaged in the region and have difficulty finding

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