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Apatani)
The Apa Tani, also known as Apatani, is a tribal group of about 23,000 in the Apa Tani plateau, which covers large portions of the Papumpare and Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh, although they can also be found in parts of Northern Assam, and to a lesser extent, in Nagaland. Owing to the fact that they are of Tibetan origin, their language belongs to the Tibeto-Burman family.
History
There are currently no known written records of the history of the Apatani tribe, although it is speculated that, throughout their history, the Apatani were government by their own small chiefdoms, with only the occasional intervention from Tibet.
Anthropologists such as Sumit Guha suggests that the Apatani have good oral accounts of the political history of the region. One of their oral accounts speak of their migration from the extreme north of Subansiri and Siang areas following the rivers of Khru and Kime .
These oral accounts are often presented in the form of folk tales such as the Miji and Migung. The Miji is a collection of religious chants performed by priests who preside over the sacrifices of mithuns, cows, chickens and pigs. A religious song, which is sung from one to twelve hours, accompanies all these ritual performances which describe the previous interactions with the spirits or gods, locally known as wi, the content of which explains the origin of the myths.
On the other hand, the Migung is more realistic, owing to the fact that it is narrated in prose, and that the stories within it explain the origins of the Apa Tani people, who trace their genealogical links to other tribes of Tibet.
This also necessarily includes a few legendary places, and recent events, such as the downfall of a nineteenth-century never-do-well. In these two folk tales, both the ritual chants and the prose narrations speak of Abo Tani, who is reputated to be the original ancestor of the Apatani and the other tribes in central
Arunachal Pradesh. These tribes encompass the Tani group.
The first contact with the Europeans came only in 1897, when British officials came to stay in the valley for two days, and only six similar brief visits were later held between the 1920s and 1930s.
In 1944, only after a temporary government outpost was set up by an anthropologist-administrator, did the Apa Tani come in contact with even a minimal government presence. However, when a second but permanent outpost was constructed by the Assam Rifles, stationed there to protect the land, the Apa Tani, in 1948, attacked. The angry officer in charge retaliated by burning two of their villages. This was the first and only act of armed resistance by the Apa Tani against any major external political authority.
Religion
Most of the Apa Tani are loyal followers of the Animist Donyi-Polo faith, who pray to an array of spirits and souls for blessing. Abo Teni, the primal man who came from Tibet, is considered to be the sole ancestor of all Apatani and other Animist tribes in the surrounding regions. When a misfortune occurs, they believe that it is caused by certain spirits, and thus they make appeasement sacrifices of chickens and goats. Myoko, the main agricultural festival of the Apa Tani, is celebrated.
The Apa Tani also firmly believed that bamboo and pinewood plays an important role in their daily lives.
There are currently a considerable group of about 1,000 Apa Tani who have converted to Christianity, following missionary work done by the Mizos in recent years. They are sometimes considered socially inferior by the more orthodox Apa Tani, as the Apa Tani tend to look down those who follow another religion.
Culture
The Apa Tani have a culture that contains remanants of the archaic Tibetan culture. Prior to a marriage, the liver of a Chicken play a significant role in fortune telling. Festivals such as Myoko and Dree are based on agricultural cycles, and Murung is celebrated for general prosperity and peace in the village.
Dress
Though simple, the dress of the Apa Tani elaborate colorful, yet simple styles. Tattoing and the stuffing of large nose plugs were once popular among the women, although this practice has gradually been falling into decline in the recent years.
The menfolk tie their hair in a knot just above the forehead with a brass rod measuring at 12 inches, placed horizontally. Strips of fine cane belt painted in red that were bent into the shape of a horse-collar with an elongated end were also worn.
These strips of cane are loosely fastened together, with the loop of the horse-collar being tied round the waist. The men also tattoo their chin, in a horizontal line drawn across the under lip. Straight lines are also drawn downwards right up to the bottom of the chin.
The women tattoo themselves with broad blue lines from the top of the forehead to the tip of the nose, and from the lower lip to the forehead of the chin. The women bundle up their tresses, which are rolled into two balls on the top of the head. A brass-skewer is then inserted horizontally.
Customs and lifestyle
The Apa Tani trace their descent patrilineally. While the status of menfolk is considered higher than the womenfolk, the sexes may share responsibilities in the house and the family.
The womenfolk carry out the household chores of gathering of both wild and kitchen garden vegetables, cooking, fetching of water, pounding of rice, cleaning of houses, washing of clothes and utensils, nursing and looking after infants and children, preparation of the Tsampa, ginning and spinning of cotton and other jobs associated with the household. In the field, the Apatani woman carries out the tasks that include gardening, seedling, transplanting of paddy and millet, padding, weeding of fields and other activities. In a home, the internal family income is controlled by a woman.
The Apa Tani also have a custom of owning slaves, mainly children, who could come either from their own tribe or from other neighbouring tribes. Unlike most slaves, the Apa Tani slaves are treated in a relatively civilised manner, as many of them are young children.
Like most tribes in Arunachal Pradesh, the Apa Tani are agriculturalists, who lived in close proximity with the nature. They plant staple crops like maize, wheat and six different varieties of rice in orchards, although some may be planted in terraced slopes. Of late, crops such as potatoes and tomatoes are planted.
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