North-East Indian Tribes

North-east region of India with its absolute pristine virginal territory remains completely unexplored. The valley is beautified with lush green vegetation, grandiose mountains and feral rivers. North-east India is also abode of exceptional range of flora and fauna and the brilliant tribal life. North-east Indian tribes are perhaps some of the most mysterious and yet most studied and observed band in the country, with host of things to offer in a slice of everyday life.

North East India comprises Sikkim, where orchids bloom by the hillside; Assam, legendary for its tea gardens; Arunchal Pradesh, the first state in India to salute the morning sun; Tripura, enriched in its princely traditions remaining to explore; Nagaland, renowned for the tribal crafts and culture; Mizoram, known for its exquisite bamboo and cane relics; Manipur, luxuriously preserving the marionette dance; Meghalaya, a rare place wherein one can recline in the picturesque vista of the abode of clouds. A motleyed bunch of north-east Indian tribes and tribal groups, each with its own distinctive culture inhabit the various regions named. A whopping number of tribal languages are spoken throughout these seven states. The north-eastern states bear the highest percentage of Christians.

The Tai-Khamtis north-east Indian tribe clung to their Buddhist faith and settled in the Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh, hence the area became the focal platform for intermixing of diversified cultures and religions; the main religions stayed back as Hinduism and Buddhism. North-east Indian tribal society leans to be selfless about humankind, its leadership being grounded on ties of kinship and temper rather than on hereditary rankings.

A major portion of the habitat that North-east Indian tribes inhabit, is hilly and forested. Tribal villages are normally found in areas away from the alluvial plains, near rivers. These tribal bands hold such cultural features, that it clearly indicates an ancient level in social-cultural parameter. The native people of Arunachal Pradesh are tribes with heart-warming legacy of arts and crafts and engaging folksongs. The state has 26 major tribes and a number of sub-tribes with their own patois and cultural identities. Apatanis is the foremost tribal group of Arunachal Pradesh. Each tribe possesses its own lively folk songs and kaleidoscopic traditional dances, depicting an inimitable outline of unity in diversity. Though the tribes possess their own dialect, but Hindi and Assamese are also extensively spoken and used in communication with non-tribal people.

Sixteen major tribes along with other sub-tribes inhabit Nagaland. Each tribe has its own custom, language, dress and can easily be distinguished by the brilliant designed attires, jewellery and bead strings they don. The present generation of Nagas have turned towards fashion designing in a big way, reproducing fabrics, representing the ancestral motifs blended with modern appeal. The traditional ceremonial attire of each tribe is an interesting sight to witness. Under the header of North-east Indian tribes, the main tribal groups in Assam comprise Khamti, Phakial, Khamyang, Aitonia, Nara, Gurung and Shyam. Populations of these tribes have been gradually diminishing in the last one-decade.

A common feature of the tribal population in north-east region of India is intense weaving, that is practiced by all tribal groups in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and in the valleys of Assam. There are only a few exceptions, like the Nokteys of Tirap in Arunachal Pradesh and the Khasis of Meghalaya who do not weave. It is the women who are the real sartors of north-eastern region. Whether it be the Monpas and Sherdukpens of Kameng, the Mishmis and Khamtis of Lohit, or the wives of the Wanchoo chieftains of Tirap in Arunachal Pradesh, or any of the Naga tribes, or even the Assamese in the plains, it is the women folk who weave unlike the rest of India, where men surpass the weaving skill.

North-east Indian tribal population mainly dominates in the thinly populated hill areas, almost comprising 20 percent of the total regional population. In the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland, more than 90 percent of the population is tribal. However, in the remaining north-eastern states of Assam, Manipur, Sikkim and Tripura, tribal people count within 20 and 30 percent of the population. These people are in the habit to practice farming by clearing a field by slash or burn methods, planting it for a number of seasons and then abandoning it for a lengthy fallow period, rather than the intensive farming, characteristic of most of rural India.

Source: IndiaNetZone

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