A Nyishi tribal

Itanagar, Nov. 19: The ethnic tapestry of Arunachal Pradesh is undergoing a quiet change. Nyishis, the single-largest tribe of the state, have grown by a few thousand, but not because of a baby boom.

The “Hill Miri” tribe has decided to merge with the Nyishi tribe, to which they originally belonged. The Hill Miri Welfare Association shed the “Hill Miri” nomenclature — presumably coined by the British for administrative purposes — at a public meeting recently, declaring “we are the original Nyishis”.

When the myriad tribes of the Northeast are mired in a fight to assert their ethnicity, often with ugly consequences, such a marriage of two tribes is indeed rare.

The merger came in the wake of a proposal from the Nyishi Elite Society. The merger meeting unanimously decided that the “community so far called the Hill Miris, henceforth ought to be known as Nyishis”. “According to the chronological chart of the Nyishis, we are brothers and sisters of the Nyishis and sons and daughters of Abotani (pagan God),” Hill Miri Welfare Association president T.K . Murtem said. However, the traditional attire of the Hill Miris, as distinct from others, will not change.

Scholars feel that the conglomeration of tribes inhabiting the eastern and northeastern parts of the then Subansiri area was conveniently, though not very correctly, designated as Hill Miris by the British. This was because they occupied the stretch of land to the north-east of the Apatani plateau.

Many historians, especially those from the state, would have us believe that there was no particular Hill Miri tribe in Arunachal Pradesh.

“It was a creation of outside writers who did not know much about the tribes,” a lecturer in Arunachal University said.

Some of “elite” sections of the Hill Miris in Upper Subansiri district came in contact with members of the Nyishi Elite Society in 1997. Realising that they were politically and culturally segregated for over three-and-half decades, they decided to come into the Nyishi fold.

Accordingly, the first historic “Affirmation Day” was held at Ligu, a village in the scenic Daporijo, headquarters of Upper Subansiri district, on December 19, 1998. Thousands of “Hill Miris” from Lower Subansiri, Upper Subansiri, Papum Pare and East Kameng districts attended the meet. The meeting declared: “We affirm to adopt socially and traditionally the authentic tribe nomenclature of Nyishi for all times.”

Tater Don read out an affirmation resolution which says it all: “Having been traumatically misclassified and mistaken for centuries, having considered all aspects of our social and traditional evolution and having verified our age-old folklore, we’ve come to the conclusion that, as much as Abotani is the father of all mankind, it is equally true that we are Nyishis.”