Tangtha--children of the hills

The traditional 'horn dance'

A documentary film on the ethnic group, titled Bandarban's Bomang, was screened at Spectra Convention Centre recently. The 25-minute long documentary has been filmed and directed by A Masud Chowdhury and edited by Moinul Hossain Mukul.

Bandarban's Bomang depicts the ethnic Bom's heritage and culture and their history of survival. The word Bom came from 'Bomjao' meaning 'united nation'. If we take a look into the Bom history we can see that two different groups named Pangthaoye and Sunthola formed today's Bom tribe.

History has it that the ancestors of Bom came from China's Chingling Mountains and then settled into the Arakan province of present Myanmar. They came to the northeastern part of Bangladesh about 165 years back and at present around 10,000 Boms are living in the Bharatmoon Para of Bandarban district.

Bom has its own distinguish features. Medium height, yellowish skin, flat nose and oriental eyes--all these features prove that the Bom people bear the Mongolian blood. Theirs is the hunting tribe with rituals relating mostly to hunting. They are praised as heroes when they hunt tigers or mountain buffaloes. Even the traditional Shing Nrittya or 'horn dance' is celebrated with the horns of the hunted animals.

The documentary started featuring the Bom youth named Santhuyang Sailuk Bom on a hunting spree where he uses the traditional flute called Tepoth for mimicking the sounds of the animals or birds to trap them. Another youth Lauthiyang Bom shows the traditional trap made of bamboo twigs, string and a wild red fruit for the bait to hunt wild fowls. Bamboo or Mautak is the most important material for the Bom's, from which artistic baskets and baby cots are made.

Another interesting emblematic feature is the using of Komor Tant--a special kind of handloom which has a belt to tie around the hip of the weaver. The Bom blankets, produced with these handlooms, are made from old wool that make it warmer. Their clothes are also different from other tribes. The women wear nufen and the males wear rinta.

The main source of income of the Bom is marketing of pineapple, wild banana, papaya and other crops, which are chiefly produced on the steps of hills by a process called Jhum cultivation.

Earlier, the Bom were the worshippers of nature but now most of them have embraced Christianity. But it had little effect on their life style. The modern trends have however not harmed their own traditional values. The word Bom means unity and there is little doubt that almost 80% literate Boms give prime importance to their own tradition.