‘The wait for the Flood is also the wait for Fish!’: Water Commons among the Mishing on Majuli Island (Assam), India

Abstract

Flood is often perceived as a destructive force in state and other hegemonic discourses on Majuli Island, India. However, for the indigenous Mishing who live near river banks or on chapories (sand bars), flood is not perceived as an abnormal external force, but as deeply intertwined with their daily living, culture and economy. More importantly, for the Mishing, flood represents the continuous annual creation of water commons. This paper examines the water commons formed by the annual deluge and describes the fishing culture of the Mishing in these commons. Contrary to privatised fishing grounds and private fisheries, where public access is limited, water commons are open to everyone and all villagers have equal access to this “common pool of resources.” Further, the paper examines the different aspects of Mishing subsistence fishing culture on the commons: community fishing; gender; fishing as subsistence and livelihood. This article is based on an ethnographic study of a Mishing village on Majuli Island. Participant observation and interviews were the main tools of data collection for this research. The paper concludes that Mishing subsistence fishing is economically and socio-culturally significant for the community, and Mishing fishing culture on the commons highlights their everyday life with the river on Majuli Island.