The Khasi are the largest community in Meghalaya and one of the world's few surviving matrilineal societies — children take the mother's clan name, and the ancestral property passes to the youngest daughter, who is also responsible for the care of her parents. Traditional Khasi religion, Niam Khasi, coexists with a large Christian population, and the monoliths you see standing in fields across the hills are memorials raised by clans over centuries. Shad Suk Mynsiem, the spring thanksgiving dance in Shillong, is the best introduction to it.
