Livelihood of Traditional Handloom Weaversof Darlong Community in Unakoti District of Tripura, India Roy Stabak1, Debbarma Debasish2, Darlong Siamfela3, Mitra Saptarshi4 1ICSSR Project Fellow in the Department of Geography and Disaster Management, Tripura University, Suryamaninagar-799022, Tripura Email: stabak.roy@gmail.com 2Research Scholar in the Department of Geography and Disaster Management, Tripura University, Suryamaninagar-799022, Tripura Email: saslang1989@gmail.com 3Ex-student in the Department of Geography and Disaster Management, Tripura University, Suryamaninagar-799022, Tripura Email: sfrante619@gmail.com 4Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and Disaster Management, Tripura University, Suryamaninagar-799022, Tripura, Email: aptarshigeotu2000@gmail.com Online published on 23 July, 2019. Abstract Tripura is a small state in North East India which has 10486.43 km2 geographical areas. Unakoti, one of the eight districts of Tripura is situated in the northern border of the State. Presently about 8, 000 Darlongs belonging to Kukichin group are residing in 22 villages of Unakoti, North Tripura and Dhalai districts. Their population is even less than one per cent to total population of the State. Maximum concentration of this community is found in Unakoti District. Weaving is the primitive economic activity as well as cultural symbol of this tribal community. The research tries to find out the status of socio-cultural-economic life of the Darlongs in the rural sites of Unakoti District, Tripura through extensive field survey. Modernization plays a crucial role in the developmental processover social traits of the Darlong Community. The research additionally explores the challenges being faced by the community weaving mores. Acculturation of Darlong culture and that of modern western culture is transforming their own culture giving a new shape. It has been observed that large segments of the Darlong society who reside in the interior part of the hilly state have little scope of getting involved in the handloom activities. About 400 samples have been collected through a Stratified Random Sampling technique by Systematic Schedule Survey. Secondary data have been collected from Census of India, different Panchayats and Rural Development Blocks of Unakoti District. The findings reveal that the socio-economic status of the surveyed rural villages of Darlong has been changing rapidly because of educational improvement and cultural assimilation as a result which time-honored cultural element especially traditional dresses particularly of man gradually being replaced by modern western dress. Top Keywords Traditional Weaving, Handloom, Acculturation, Darlong. Top |