Mate people

{{Short description|Subtribe of Kuki ethnic group}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}}

{{Use Indian English|date=December 2018}}

{{Distinguish|Mateship}}

The Mate people are one of the Kuki tribes{{cite book|last=Guite|first=Thongkholal|title=The Kuki of Northeast India: Politics and Culture|year=2013|publisher=Bookwell|isbn=978-9380574448|page=90|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hp4hWrL-JOEC&dq=Mate+++kuki&pg=PA90}}{{cite book|last=Tohring|first=S.R.|title=Violence and Identity in North-East India: Zomi Conflict|year=2010|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=978-8183243445|pages=19–20}} of Manipur, India. The Mates – a name, in its literal sense, connotes front beaters and consequently, in the broadest sense as a designation, implies a migratory people – are a little-known tribal community of Manipur, India, whose socio-cultural identity as a distinct tribe was only recently recognised by the Union Government of India and the State Government of Manipur. The Mates achieved recognition as a scheduled tribe in January 2012.Gazette of India-Notification No.02 of 2012.