Ownership, Access Rights and Commoning of Land and Forest: The Case of the Kukis of Manipur, India

This paper explores typical land and forest commons situation among the Kukis living in the hills of Manipur, India. Through an ethnographic account of two case villages, it unravels the context of commoning which is based on chief ownership and the villagers’ access rights and further discuss the context of continuity and change. In doing so, it examines significant elements such as the ownership system, traditional institutions vis-à-vis governance mechanism, commons situations vis-à-vis resource systems, and circumstances of access rights. It also examines the changes induced by the market that introduced capitalist relations through commoditisation. This phenomenon limits provisions of benefit sharing or access rights to livelihood sustenance and security, beyond which trade on valued resources became the prerogative of the chief’s exclusively. While the paper acknowledged the significant contributions of commons resources for the villagers’ livelihood, it offers a particular insight on the limitations of commons based only on access rather than collective ownership, amidst overarching state and market institution.