So when you look at a map of the world, where is the place that is most like a black hole to you? Where seems the most remote, the most unknown? For me anyway, there are many such places, but one in particular, at least until recently, was India’s northeastern most province of Arunachal Pradesh. It’s right there next to Bhutan, Tibet, AND Myanmar, three other extremely exotic Himalayan areas. But everybody at least knows a little bit about those places, with Bhutan’s Gross Domestic Happiness measure which it invented as a counter-measure to GDP, Tibet’s ongoing political struggles with China, and Myanmar’s recent political renaissance.
But Arunachal Pradesh? Maybe I’m just revealing my own ignorance, but when I look at most countries on a map, at the very least, a mental picture of what it’s like pops into my head, either by virtue of my own experience, or a semi-fictional montage of images from the internet or movies. AP, however, was completely dark until recently. I didn’t know what to expect at all, and AP seemed to me like the remotest corner of the world. But once I went there, it just became a reminder that there are no remote corners of the world, and in fact, everywhere is the center. Here’s what I found.
An animal I wasn’t previously aware of:
Like giant cows, or naked yaks, the Mitung is apparently indigenous to the region. A semi-domesticated bovine, the Mitung feeds on jungle foliage, which there is a lot of, so they get really big. If a person feeds them salt, they remember and tend to graze only in the vicinity of wherever they were fed the salt. So locals wait till a Mitung shows up somewhere near their house, and feed it a handful of salt every once and a while, and thenceforth it is “their” mitung.
Seriously, these things are gigantic; much bigger than any steer or buffalo. The first time I saw one sitting in the middle of the road as I rounded a bend, I almost fell off my bike. Later I learned they are pretty tame and friendly. Mitungs aren’t bred or herded like cattle, or even milked, but instead they are slaughtered for important occasions like weddings and funerals. Unfortunately, and as pictured above right, the slaughtering of Mitungs for commercial purposes is becoming a big problem; the guys in the photo above were expertly butchering this mitung on the side of a busy road, and I assume going to sell the meat.
Tribal Ladies with big nose plugs and facial tattoos:
The Apatani tribespeople live in several villages near the city of Ziro, in central AP. Their villages are a UNESCO Intangible Heritage site or something or other; and pretty much everything about the way they live is unique, but especially the facial modifications. The story goes that back in the day, Apatani women were much more beautiful and therefore sough after as brides than neighboring tribes’ women, so raids and lady-stealing were frequent. As a solution, it was decreed by the elders that all women would be tattooed and pierced at a young age to make them less attractive. This practice continued until about thirty years ago, so it’s mostly middle-aged and elderly women who look this way; the younger generation of women look pretty normal, except that they often sport hipster ear plugs, and dress like they would fit in at a punk rock concert!
I expected the ladies above to be really shy and/or indignant about me taking pictures of them, but on the contrary, everyone around Ziro seemed really proud of their culture and eager to show it off. These two women don’t seem themselves as having been mutilated, they know that they’re beautiful with or without beard tattoos on their faces! Extra info: apparently the tattoos are made by bamboo, and the plugs are made of rattan (which is made of bamboo).
The Apatani practice a kind of organic agriculture that is particularly closed-loop. In rice planting season, they stock their padis with little fish, which keep pests at bay and also fertilize the fields. Then, when it comes time to drain and harvest, they collect the fish and eat them. Most Apatanis also keep a bamboo grove for personal use, and forest management policy is an important responsibility taken care of by the village elders.
Above-left: The totem pole thingy in the foreground has something to do with ancestor worship rites, and the platform behind it is part-time storage shed, part-time meeting hall for village elders. Above-right: A spirit house, used for funeral ceremonies. Someone needs to pick up the litter.
Above-left: The apatanis are pretty tolerant people. The couple above is a Hindu-apatani couple living in a traditional structure, which is basically a bamboo house built inside-out, with the frame on the outside and walls on the inside. Pretty cool. Above-right: The younger generation seem pretty much just like kids in the rest of India. They have normal haircuts, wear uniforms in school, and end up going to college and getting jobs far away. Like in most places, the older folk lament the dilution of their culture but are proud that their descendants have more opportunities than they did.
Above-left: THEY HAVE MAKGEOLLI! For those of you who don’t know, makgeolli is a rice beer that is very popular in Korea, and one of my favorite alcoholic drinks. This stuff was excellent, and tasted exactly like the Korean stuff. Above-right: Mitung skulls. The family that offered us the makgeolli also had these skulls hanging on the wall. They’re a symbol of affluence; it means this family has slaughtered three mitungs, which means they’ve been the center of at least three important events in the village, and their mitungs’ meat has fed many of their neighbors.
That wraps up part I of my posts about Arunachal Pradesh. Stay tuned for parts II and III!
