• Titus kamei

Abstract: The research analyzes the indigenous Naga female community living in Tamenglong district of Manipur India while studying their participation in modern activism protecting their environment and community rights. Governments have brought extensive environmental conflict to Tamenglong district's remote hills through their development actions of building infrastructure and conducting forestry operations alongside resource exploitation programs. Women in these communities use indigenous knowledge systems to construct resistance by relying on both their collective land ownership beliefs and their traditional leadership structures. The research adopts a qualitative methodology through ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth interviews and oral histories which include participants from local women leaders and community leaders and activists. The study demonstrates how Tamenglong women practice multiple active roles to protect their environment through demonstrations and tree observation as well as project advocacy which defends ecological integrity. By contributing to development their involvement fights patriarchal standards and state-based progress schemes while maintaining traditional models for sustainable development and community-focused welfare. Women employ their traditional power combined with cultural status to protect their environmental rights while defending communal land ownership against outside exploitation. Through this paper researchers contribute to academic discussions about feminist political ecology combining indigenous resistance with environmental justice by centering indigenous women from Northeast India. The findings confirm why governments should create policies that validate indigenous women leaders' environmental expertise during decision-making activities for sustainable development.

Tamenglong women, indigenous activism, environmental justice, community rights, feminist political ecology, Naga traditions, gender and development, Northeast India, grassroots resistance, customary governance.

"Voices from the Hills: The Role of Tamenglong Women in Social Movements for Community Rights and Environmental Protection", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.12, Issue 5, page no.a1-a15, May-2025, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2505001.pdf

"Voices from the Hills: The Role of Tamenglong Women in Social Movements for Community Rights and Environmental Protection", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.12, Issue 5, page no. ppa1-a15, May-2025, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2505001.pdf