Tiger Paper| Journals
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Tiger Paper July-September 2011 Vol. XXXVIII : No. 3
DOCUMENTING THE RELIANCE ON FOREST AND ITS PRODUCTS BY NISHIS IN AND AROUND ITANAGAR WILDLIFE SANCTUARY, ARUNACHAL PRADESH, NORTHEAST INDIA
by Ambika Ayiyadurai and Surendra Varma
Introduction
The Nishi are one of the major tribes inhabiting Arunachal Pradesh. Arunachal Pradesh is located in the northeast of India and is known for its rich biological and cultural diversity and is recognized as one of the 25 “biodiversity hotspots” of the world (Myers, 1988). The State has a forest cover of about 68,045 km2 (Anon, 2001a; Singh, 1995) and is also home to about 26 ethnic human communities with distinctive cultures and rich traditions (Anon, 2002). Among them, the Nishis are considered to be one of the dominant communities and practice slash-and-burn cultivation, which is popularly called jhum, or shifting cultivation. Due to the mountainous terrain and lack of sufficient suitable land for irrigationbased cultivation, this community is almost entirely dependent on slash-and-burn cultivation. Shifting cultivation usually involves cutting of secondary bamboo forests (Ramakrishnan, 1992; Raman et al., 1998). Since old growth or primary forest is less extensively available and is more difficult to clear, they are not cultivated frequently. The tribe as a whole is fond of hunting and fishing. Nishis practice polygamy and the length of the hut gives an indication of the number of wives a Nishi man has. The village is a cluster of huts made of bamboo, built on stilts and habitually situated in the valley. Examples of their hunting skills are proudly displayed at the entrance of each hut. The skull of a boar is generally kept among the trophies. At some houses, monkey skulls are usually hung near the door to keep evil spirits away (Shukla, 1965). Women are involved in farming and do not go into the forest as much as men. Nishis speak their own language, which has no script; English is understood. It is believed that God wrote the script of the language of Nishis on the back of a mithun, which was eaten up by the people, so there is no written form of the Nishi language. Overall, the food, shelter and other needs of this community are met from the forest. One can notice the social, economic, cultural and even linguistic association of the forest and its products in the lives of Nishis that evolved over a period of time. The conservation of forest or wildlife or mitigating measures for Nishi-wildlife conflicts have to take these aspects into consideration. It was what motivated us to undertake a survey of the dependency on the forest and its products by Nishis in villages near Itanagar Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh in northeast India.
DOCUMENTING THE RELIANCE ON FOREST AND ITS PRODUCTS BY NISHIS IN AND AROUND ITANAGAR WILDLIFE SANCTUARY, ARUNACHAL PRADESH, NORTHEAST INDIA
by Ambika Ayiyadurai and Surendra Varma
Introduction
The Nishi are one of the major tribes inhabiting Arunachal Pradesh. Arunachal Pradesh is located in the northeast of India and is known for its rich biological and cultural diversity and is recognized as one of the 25 “biodiversity hotspots” of the world (Myers, 1988). The State has a forest cover of about 68,045 km2 (Anon, 2001a; Singh, 1995) and is also home to about 26 ethnic human communities with distinctive cultures and rich traditions (Anon, 2002). Among them, the Nishis are considered to be one of the dominant communities and practice slash-and-burn cultivation, which is popularly called jhum, or shifting cultivation. Due to the mountainous terrain and lack of sufficient suitable land for irrigationbased cultivation, this community is almost entirely dependent on slash-and-burn cultivation. Shifting cultivation usually involves cutting of secondary bamboo forests (Ramakrishnan, 1992; Raman et al., 1998). Since old growth or primary forest is less extensively available and is more difficult to clear, they are not cultivated frequently. The tribe as a whole is fond of hunting and fishing. Nishis practice polygamy and the length of the hut gives an indication of the number of wives a Nishi man has. The village is a cluster of huts made of bamboo, built on stilts and habitually situated in the valley. Examples of their hunting skills are proudly displayed at the entrance of each hut. The skull of a boar is generally kept among the trophies. At some houses, monkey skulls are usually hung near the door to keep evil spirits away (Shukla, 1965). Women are involved in farming and do not go into the forest as much as men. Nishis speak their own language, which has no script; English is understood. It is believed that God wrote the script of the language of Nishis on the back of a mithun, which was eaten up by the people, so there is no written form of the Nishi language. Overall, the food, shelter and other needs of this community are met from the forest. One can notice the social, economic, cultural and even linguistic association of the forest and its products in the lives of Nishis that evolved over a period of time. The conservation of forest or wildlife or mitigating measures for Nishi-wildlife conflicts have to take these aspects into consideration. It was what motivated us to undertake a survey of the dependency on the forest and its products by Nishis in villages near Itanagar Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh in northeast India.
