Ecospirituality in Indigenous Shamanism: Exploring Myth, Ritual, and the Spiritual Connection with Nature in Mamang Dai’s Escaping the Land

Abstract

ABSTRACT Ecospirituality embodies the sacred interdependence between humans and the natural world, drawing from indigenous cosmologies, ritual practices, and mythic traditions. For communities negotiating the pressures of colonialism, modernity, and cultural erosion, these beliefs constitute vital systems of identity, memory, and ecological ethics. Yet, scholarly documentation on the ritual, shamanic, and mythological dimensions of Indigenous cultures in Northeast India remains limited. This study examines ecospirituality in Mamang Dai’s Escaping the Land, analyzing how shamanic practices, cosmological stories, and symbolic figures such as the Rainman articulate an Indigenous philosophy of environmental reciprocity. Through a qualitative textual and ethnographic reading, the paper foregrounds how the narrative reclaims ecological knowledge suppressed by colonial and postcolonial structures. The study argues that Indigenous ecospirituality operates as a decolonial counter-discourse that challenges anthropocentric modernity and restores relational modes of understanding the environment.