About Apatani tribe
- The Apatanis, one of the major ethnic groups of eastern Himalayas
- Location/state: they live in the Ziro valley in the Lower Subansiri district of Arunal Pradesh
- Languages: The Apatanis speak a local language called Tani, including Apatani, English and Hindi.
- Culture: They worship the sun and the moon
- The tribe has extensive knowledge of herbal remedies to cure most of their ailments. Local ritual specialists also take part in chanting, blood-letting and animal sacrifices in a bid to keep the inhabitants healthy.
- They are known for their effective traditional village council called bulyañ, which supervises, guides and have legal oversight over the activities of individuals that affect the community as a whole.
- Unlike the other tribes, they are non-nomadic in nature.
- The Apatanis are among the few tribes in the world who continue to worship nature
- Agriculture & recognition:
- Their wet rice cultivation system and their agriculture system are extensive even without the use of any farm animals or machines.
- So is their sustainable social forestry system.
- UNESCO has proposed the Apatani valley for inclusion as a World Heritage Site for its “extremely high productivity” and “unique” way of preserving the ecology.
- They practice permanent wetland cultivation in hilly terrain by slicing the hills, whereas other tribes practice cultivation in dry land by cutting down forests.
- The most captivating members are the older women of the tribe, who wear facial tattoos and massive nose rings.
- Festivals: They have two major festivals – Dree and Myoko.
- Dree is the agricultural festival is celebrated with prayers for a bumper harvest and prosperity of all humankind
- Myoko is a festival to celebrate friendship similar to modern friendship day but unlike the latter which lasts only for a day, it is celebrated for almost a month-long, from the end of March to the end of April.
Source: The Hindu & UNESCO
