Traditional handloom practices of Nyishi tribe of Arunachal Pradesh, Eastern Himalaya

Abstract

The documentation of traditional handloom practices of Nyishi tribe and their cultural attire was done in Papum pare district of Arunachal Pradesh wherein 7 selected villages were surveyed during May 2018 to February 2019 through random sampling with semi-structured questionnaire. Rubung Ruekio, a traditional loin loom of Nyishi tribe is prepared from locally available resources, viz., Bambusa. tulda, B. pallida, Dendrocalamus hamiltonii, Gmelina arborea, Michelia species and Terminalia myriocarpa. Most of the weavers were female and weaved culturally important traditional dresses such as Pomo gale, Dumping gale, Jekum/Name-acham gale, Jinjab gale, Juhu/Junghang gale and Luch/lungch gale which are worn especially during auspicious occasions. Of these, Jekum gale, Pomo gale and Dumping gale culturally significant. The market price of gale varied tremendously depending on type of raw material and type of handloom used in the production.