Printed Poster |Mishmi Tribe (33x43cm)

Mishmi Tribe | Arunachal Pradesh | Poster

The Mishmi are one of 26 indigenous groups inhabiting Arunachal Pradesh. The Indian Clans are called Idu, Miju & Digaru whereas the Chinese clan is called Deng.

Mishmi claims Tigers to be their brother and observes taboos against Tiger Hunting. 

Mishmis (Miju & Digaru), who live in longhouses that stand on bamboo pillars, are one of the rare tribes for whom silver is more valuable than gold. Around the 16th Century, the Mishmis used to trade their yak leather, wool and tree fibre for silver and salt, among other things, at the Brahmaputra valley in Assam. Therefore, silver became a symbol of how well travelled one was and was highly prized for the status it gave its wearer.

The use of ornamental silver does not end at jewellery; a Mishmi is incomplete without his silver smoking pipe. This intricately ornamented three piece pipe consists of a cup and two or more additional tubes. The length of silver pipe represents the seniority level and social status of a Mishmi man.

Pigs are kept in large numbers and are eaten on important occasions, but fowls are used exclusively for sacrifice, and the Mishmi Hills must be about the only place in India where travellers cannot buy a chicken.