Imphal, September 05, 2010: Whereas the living dialects of Aimol, Tarao and Monshang have been listed as extinct, the Khoibu dialect which is fast becoming a dead language finds no place in the list of UNESCO's endangered languages.

According to Mosyel Syelsaangthyel Khaling, convenor of the Khoibu Tribe Recognition Demand Committee, Khoibu people called themselves Uipo.

The Marings called them Uipowaa and the Tangkhuls named them Apo while they are known as Inthee (people of Ningthi/Chindwin river) and Upong.

Brushing aside all these misnomers, the Uipos chose to call themselves Khoibu, meaning owner of the bee.

According to folklore verses of the Khoibu ancestors, Khoibu people lived inside caves during the pre-historic period.

Coming out from caves, the Khoibus made their settlement at a beautiful and verdant valley known as Mongrengphai.

Then they migrated to Ningthi river basin, Ango Hill range and Yoomadung Hills (now in Myanmar).

At a later stage, the Khoibus migrated to Manipur after they were invaded by the Awas.

The invasion by Awa on Khoibu settlements was before the Seven Years Devastation of Manipur.

During the invasion, Awa soldiers slaughtered thousands of Khoibus, said Mosyel.

At present, Khoibus number just around 3000 and they are settled at Khangshim, Nungourok, Salemram, Yamolching, Thalen, Biyang, Khoibu Khullen (the oldest Khoibu village in Manipur) Khadungyon in Chandel district and Thawai village in Ukhrul district.

Apart from this, small pockets of Khoibu tribe are scattered at Haflong in Assam, Loklaiphai in Churachandpur district, Loktak Project area and Imphal.

Lamenting over omission of Khoibu dialect in the UNESCO's endangered language list, Mosyel said that Khoibu people have been singing hymns in their own dialect.

The New Testament has also been translated into Khoibu dialect besides a publishing a language primer titled Phayounad by Hawaii Island (USA) based Pacific-Asia Christian University.

A few years back, villagers elders used to teach Khoibu dialect to youngsters when dormitory system was in practice.

Khangsim village chief Kopham Sangphamram Khaling said, "we came to know there was such a list (UNESCO's endangered language list) only when you people came here".

Kopham made this remark while interacting with Dr Th Chandramani and this reporter.

Dr Chandramani is a chief resource person of the Centre for Tribal and Endangered Languages being run under the Mysore based Central Institute of Indian Languages.

Last month, Dr Chandramani showed to the Aimol people a report of the UNESCO which contained the List of Endangered Languages in the Online Version of the World Atlas of Endangered Language (vis-a-vis Census) 2009. Out of 196 languages listed in the endangered list, 102 are from the North East.

To produce a white paper in this regard, Dr Chandramani is stationing himself in the State together with his technical assistant FM Basha.

On the other hand, the Moyons have been perplexed on finding that their dialect was listed as 'definitely endangered' in the same list of the UNESCO.

A statement issued by the Bujuu Raanchung Puh (BAP) claimed that there are about 3700 Moyon people spread across 14 villages in Chandel district.

The Moyons have been speaking their own dialect and they have been recognised as a Scheduled Tribe.

Given these facts, categorising Moyon dialect as 'definitely endangered' was perplexing, said the BAP which is the apex body of the Moyon tribe.

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