The Apatanis: All You Need to Know About Them

The Apatani or Tani are a tribal group of people living in the Ziro valley in the Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh in India.

Who are Apatanis?

There are no literary sources regarding the origin and migration of the Apatanis and archaeological evidences are too meagre. The Apatanis have preserved different myths and traditions, which throw light on their origin and migration.

History

Linguists describe the Apatani language as a relatively 'aberrant' member of the Tani subgroup of Tibeto-Burman, classifying it as an early branching member of the Western Tani branch. Despite it being a part of the larger Tani tribe, whose common ancestor is believed to be Abotani

Linguistic Categorisation

Monogamy is the social norm but sometimes bigamy is also practiced. Marriage is solemnized either by the way of negotiations or by seeing omen with the help of chicken liver. The process is first initiated from the boy's side.

Marriage

Tattooing and the stuffing of large nose plugs (Yaping hullo), once popular among the women, has gradually declined in recent years. That practice reportedly started because the women wanted to look unattractive to males from neighboring tribes.

Tattooing and Nose Plugs

They practice an animistic religion known as Donyi-Polo, where they pray to the Sun and the Moon, here Sun is regarded as Mother while Moon is father. Donyi Poloism is the religion that believes in supernatural.

Donyi Polo

The traditional homemade rice beer with special Apatani salt called Tapyo. Traditionally Tapyo is made at home using ashes of certain indigenous plants, which to a large extent is also responsible for saving Apatanis from problem of goitre.

Rice Beer

Food in a traditional Apatani home revolves around rice for obvious reasons. Rice is often accompanied with boiled vegetables, meat preparation or other delicacies cooked in bamboo shoots. There are hardly any spices used in traditional Apatani food, hence the green chilli, which accompanies every single meal.

Rice as Staple

Myoko festival in the month of March. It is a month long festival of friendships and merry making. The unique feature of this festival is that homes of host villages are open 24×7 for guests throughout the month.

Myoko Festival