Mishmi people
The Mishmi people are a tribal community primarily found in the northeastern part of India, particularly in the Mishmi Hills region, which includes the Dibang and Lohit river valleys. This group comprises four main sub-groups: the Idu, Miju, Digaru, and Deng Mishmi, with the latter residing across the border in Tibet and not officially recognized by China. Historically, the Mishmis are believed to have migrated from areas that may include modern-day Myanmar or Tibet. The population of the Mishmi people in India is approximately forty-nine thousand, whereas the Deng Mishmi are estimated at around thirty-five thousand.
Culturally, the Mishmi people are known for their strong familial bonds, with a lineage that is traced through paternal lines. They live in communal longhouses constructed from bamboo, cane, and other natural materials, and engage in shifting cultivation, primarily growing maize, buckwheat, rice, and other crops. Their lifestyle also includes hunting and fishing, with a notable trade in medicinal herbs and other goods.
Mishmi spirituality is rooted in animism and includes a reverence for tribal gods and ancestral figures. Major festivals, like Reh and Ke-Meh-Ha, celebrate agricultural cycles and community bonds, reflecting the group's commitment to cultural preservation. In contemporary times, the Mishmi people are navigating the complexities of their identity and environment, working with government conservation initiatives while also advocating for respectful engagement from outside researchers.
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Mishmi people
The Mishmi people are tribal people, mostly living in far northeastern India. Three groups in India primarily live along two river valleys, the Dibang and Lohit, in a region called the Mishmi Hills. The Dibang group is known as Idu. The Lohit Valley people comprise the Miju and, in the lower elevations, the Digaru groups. A fourth group, the Deng Mishmi, lives on the Chinese side of the border in Zayu County in the Tibet Autonomous Region and is not recognized by China as an ethnic group. In the twenty-first century, the Mishmi of India numbered about forty-nine thousand, while the Deng population was estimated to be about thirty-five thousand.
The Mishmi people are one of multiple tribal groups in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. This state is home to the largest variety of ethnic tribal groups and subgroups in the world. The region in the Himalaya Mountains is at the center of international conflicts. China and India have long argued about the location of the Sino-Indian border and have engaged in border skirmishes and, in 1962, war. China has claimed all of Arunachal as its territory.
Prior to the war, the Mishmi moved freely across the border, but the conflict interfered with Mishmi trade and familial relations. India, which views the region as significant to the nation’s security, has invested in some infrastructure in the region to cement its claim. In modern times, the Indian government has paid Mishmi people for information about Chinese activity in the region. The Deng Mishmi people have been virtually cut off from the other groups since the war. Researchers know little about them.
Background
The Mishmi people may have originated in modern-day Myanmar and migrated along the Lohit River to the Mishmi Hills. Other scholars claim that they originated in Tibet or arrived via various routes.
Arunachal Pradesh was incorporated by the British Indian government as a territory known as the North East Frontier Agency in 1912–1913. This involved discussions with the Indigenous peoples of the Himalayas of northeastern India and the creation of three frontier tracts: Balipara in the west, Sadiya in the east, and in the south the Abor and Mishmi Hills and Tirap frontier tract. The northern boundary, the McMahon Line, follows the crest of the Greater Himalaya Range and is the border over which China and India have argued. India made the North East Frontier Agency a union territory in 1972 and a state in 1987.
The Mishmi groups in India claim to have individual primal ancestors. The Idus cite Nani Initaya, the Mijus claim Amik Matai, and the Digarus are said to have descended from Jamalo.
Overview
Members of the four Mishmi subgroups regard one another as family. This belief extends to the Deng Mishmi, even though they are cut off from the other groups by the border dispute. The Digarus, Miju, and Deng Mishmis are more alike in their cultures, but the languages of the Digarus and Idus have more in common.
Each Mishmi group includes several clans with more than seventy known members. The people trace ancestry through paternal lines and live in small family-based groupings. Each family group lives together in a longhouse raised on posts. The structures are built with bamboo, cane, and other wood as well as leaves and straw. The number of rooms within is determined by the size of the family group. Domesticated animals live under an extension of the longhouse roof, although pigs live beneath the structure.
They practice shifting cultivation, or farming on different tracts of land each year, and move frequently. Staple crops are maize and buckwheat. Those living in low elevations cultivate rice, while those in higher regions grow barley and wheat. Sweet potatoes and other vegetables are also grown.
Cattle are important to the Mishmi. The animals provide meat and serve as currency. The people also rely on fishing and hunting for food. They compete with Chinese hunters for musk deer. Food is preserved by smoking and drying.
Mishmi people engage in trade with various peoples. Among the goods they exchange are aconite poison, medicinal herbs, musk, and paper bark. In return, they seek clothing, copperware, salt, and swords. They are also known for their craftsmanship. Men are skilled basket weavers, working with bamboo and cane. The women are known for the designs they produce in weaving cloth.
Education in the region developed slowly. Literacy varies by group, but a number of younger individuals seek higher education and careers. While many Mishmis continue to farm, others work for the government or outside enterprises.
The Indian government has brought conservation programs, including preservation projects, to the area with input from leaders among the Mishmi. Among these is a tiger preservation program that the Idu support. The Idu consider the tiger to be a brother to the people because they share ancestral parents. Up to 90 percent of the small tiger population lives in the community forests of the Idu.
Religion is based on tribal gods and animism. Significant figures include Sineru, a priest whose palm print on rocks at the Chinese border is regarded as a shrine. Practices include animal sacrifices and other offerings.
Major festivals vary by group. They were observed within family groups only until the late twentieth century, when some were revised to become community events. This development was cited as a way to preserve cultural traditions. Family or village celebrations continue as opportunities to reunite with relatives. Festivals traditionally include the sharing of oral literature and folk songs. Idu celebrations include Reh and Ke-Meh-Ha. Reh occurs the first two days of February. Priests chant and dance in prayer, giving thanks to Maselo-Zinu and Nani Intaya. Ke-Meh-Ha is observed on September 24 and is a celebration of the rice harvest. The Mishmi started celebrating the Tamla Du Festival as a community in 1972. During this February event, a celebration of agriculture and the environment, participants from several tribes pay respects to their ancestors. Cultural preservation is of utmost importance to the Mishmi, and they also recognize many outsiders who would like to study their culture and community. In the twenty-first century, the Idu created a research and ethics guide for those studying the Mishmi people, ensuring the study of their culture is performed with respect.
Bibliography
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Aiyadurai, Ambika, and Claire Seungeun Lee. “Living on the Sio-Indian Border.” Asian Ethnology, vol. 76, no. 2, 2017, pp. 367–395, www.jstor.org/stable/90017668. Accessed 14 July 2021.
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Kaushik, Karan. “Of Reh, Rituals and Rice Beer.” Outlook India, 31 Mar. 2021, www.outlookindia.com/outlooktraveller/explore/story/71244/attending-reh-festival-in-idu-mishmi-village-in-roing. Accessed 22 May 2024.
“Language: Idu Mishmi, India.” United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 2004, www.unesco.org/archives/multimedia/document-1766. Accessed 14 July 2021.
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“Tamla Du Festival of Mishmis in Arunachal Concludes.” Telegraph India, 16 Feb. 2020, www.telegraphindia.com/north-east/tamla-du-festival-of-mishmis-in-arunachal-pradesh-concludes/cid/1745837. Accessed 22 May 2024.