The Nishis

Spread over much of western Arunachal Pradesh, the Nishi tribe are easily distinguished by their customary form of dress, most notably their woven, feather adorned hornbill caps. Long burdened with an erroneous reputation of fierceness and hostility, the truth is that the Nishi are a warm, hospitable and charming lot going to any and all lengths to accommodate their guests. What they do this in is another of their trademark features – the longhouse. Measured not by meters but rather in the number of kitchens, most typically range between three and five, though some stretch to more than ten. Inside reside a community of closely knit families occupying their own segregated sections, each going about their daily activities independent of one another. They are dark, smoky, low-roofed structures, full of atmosphere, and are they ever amazing!

Like most mountain dwelling tribes in Asia, the Nishi practice a cyclical process of crop shifting known as Jhum agriculture, where tracts of forest are burned and cleared to produce land suitable for cultivation. After the soil has been depleted the area is abandoned and the procedure repeated elsewhere. This centuries old technique is extremely laborious and time consuming, and the Nishi, like all tribes who employ this common method, devote much of their energies to it. Their spirituality reflects this necessary relationship with nature. Donyi-Polo, literally ‘the sun and the moon’, to which all life is connected, forms the pillar of Nishi religious beliefs. Abo-Tani, a mythicial ‘culture hero’ man to whom all Nishi trace their descent, is another very important figure with many myths and tales devoted to his tumultuous life. Next to these are countless other spirits, some good, some bad, which at times need to be invoked and appeased in order to insure good crops, health, or prosperity. Often this involves complex rituals of dance and animal sacrifice, some ceremonies lasting for days on end.

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