Indigenous Agricultural Knowledge in Sumi-Naga Folktales: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis of Kasho Papu and Litsapa
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54536/ijsrd.v3i1.8381Keywords:
Agricultural Knowledge, Cosmology, Folktale Analysis, Indigenous Knowledg Systems Northeast India, Oral Tradition, Reflexive Thematic Analysis, Sumi NagaAbstract
This study examines how indigenous agricultural knowledge is represented in two published Sumi Naga folktales, Kasho Papu and Litsapa, with attention to farming practices, social values, ecological observation, and cultural continuity. Using an interpretive qualitative design, the study applies Braun and Clarke’s Reflexive Thematic Analysis, with ATLAS.ti 2026 used to organise coding, memos, quotations, theme development, and visualisation. Supplementary code-frequency and sentiment displays were used descriptively and did not determine theme construction. Four themes were developed: indigenous knowledge as communal heritage, social inversion as moral order, supernatural mediation of agricultural knowledge, and marginalised individuals as chosen knowledge bearers. Kasho Papu foregrounds seasonal timing and land governance, whereas Litsapa foregrounds rice-variety classification, ritual regulation, and seed sharing. The study contributes a focused RTA-based interpretation of how ecological, moral, and cosmological meanings are connected within these two editorially mediated texts. Because the corpus is limited, the findings are not intended to represent Sumi agricultural knowledge as a whole.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Papiya Dutta, Lilika K Zhimomi
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