BEYOND THE MARGINS: NATURE, CULTURE, AND INDIGENOUS SURVIVAL IN THE LEGENDS OF PENSAM AND WHEN THE RIVER SLEEPS

Abstract

Indigenous communities have long been the custodians of nature, their lives deeply intertwined with the environment. However, their existence is increasingly threatened by environmental marginalization, displacement, and ecological degradation. Literature is a crucial medium through which these injustices are documented and critiqued. This paper explores the complex intersections of nature, culture, and survival in two significant Northeastern Indian novels—The Legends of Pensam by Mamang Dai and When the River Sleeps by Easterine Kire. Dai’s The Legends of Pensam weaves oral narratives with history, portraying how shifting landscapes shape Indigenous identities and how environmental degradation threatens traditional ways of life. Similarly, Kire’s When the River Sleeps follows a spiritual quest through forests that are not merely physical spaces but repositories of ancestral wisdom. Both novels critique the commodification of nature and the dispossession of Indigenous lands, underscoring the dissonance between Indigenous ecological consciousness and external developmental agendas. Through an ecocritical lens, this discussion examines how these narratives depict Indigenous resistance, the significance of oral traditions, and the sacred relationship between people and the land. This paper also examines how Dai and Kire use storytelling to resist environmental injustice, preserve Indigenous wisdom, and critique the impacts of modernization on ecological sustainability.