The hill tribes within Assam felt a sense of ethnic separateness from the surrounding plains dwellers and were somewhat discontented. The Garo have had market and warfare relationships with the surrounding people since before White contact. The Garo divide themselves into a number of groups, based mainly on differences in dialect and location. These groups tend to be endogamous, but have very little unity in a political sense. Land is theoretically owned by the village headman, and new sections are distributed among the households each year.
Dry rice is the primary crop, and millet is also important.
In addition, bananas, papaya, maize, manioc, taro, squash, large-pod beans, sorrel, gourds, and many other vegetables are grown to supplement the diet. Important cash crops are cotton, chili peppers, and ginger. Wet rice has been grown more recently in some of the low areas, and this has changed the land tenure system to one of individual ownership, a situation which has profound implications for the social structure. The Garo live in permanent villages varying in size from 10 to 60 houses. Village populations rarely exceed 300.