Indigenous knowledge and practices of the Phakeyals: a study in Barphake village of Margherita

Assam is a melting pot of various communities with their own cultural tradition and nature-linked practices. The Phakeyals, or the Tai Phakes, believed to be an offshoot of the great Tai race, which entered Assam in the latter half of the 18th century, now inhabiting in Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts of the state, are attributed with a sound indigenous knowledge of environment and practices based on it. They resort to a number of herbal treatments or folk medicines, which are collected from the environment. This paperaims at examining the beliefs and rituals prevalent among the Phakeyals of the Barphake Village of Tinsukia district that have helped in conserving nature by judicious use of bio-resources and maintaining the ecological balance in nature.