Northeast Indian Tribes: A look at the oldest surviving tribes of Northeast India

TRAVEL TRENDS, INDIA Updated : Nov 15, 2021, 16:08 IST

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A look at the oldest surviving tribes of Northeast India

Northeast India has been capturing the imagination of world travellers and anthropologists ever since! The region, comprising eight states, namely Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura is widely noted for its distinct culture, tradition and lifestyle and people from all around the world visit here to witness the beauty of northeast india.

Notably, the land is home to over a hundred fascinating tribes and, interestingly, every tribe has its own culture and ethnicity that is beautiful.

Let’s have a look at some of the oldest and most popular surviving tribes of Northeast India:

<a rel="nofollow" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GARO_TRADITIONAL_DRESS-9.jpg" target="_blank"title="Indian Garo Treble Couple with there Traditional Dress ."> Photo by:</a> Vishma thapa, <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en">Creative Commons Attribution Licence</a>

Garo Tribe, Meghalaya

Garos constitute 1/3rd of the total population of Meghalaya living in the Garo Hills. It is also among the few remaining matrilineal societies in the world, where kids take their clan titles from their mothers. Family’s youngest daughter inherits the property from her mother, while sons leave the house when they hit puberty. They boys live in a bachelor dormitory called nokpante and they live in their wife's house after marriage.

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Sumi Tribe, Nagaland

Counted among major ethnic groups, the Sumis belong to the Zunheboto district and Dimapur district in Nagaland. Sumis used to be one of Nagaland's headhunting tribes before the arrival of the Christian missionaries. Very few of them practice animism. The tribe has two prime festivals, Tuluni (July 8) and Ahuna (November 14).

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Kuki Tribe, Northeast

People of this tribe live across all northeastern states but in hilly regions mainly. The villages of Kuki tribes are usually a cluster of closely built houses. The men in the tribe wear colorful sangkhol or a jacket and a pheichawm or a dhoti. Women of the tribe are heavily ornamented with earrings, bracelets, bangles and necklaces all the time.

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Khasi Tribe, Meghalaya

Khasi Tribe is the major tribal community in northeast, occupying almost half of the total population of Meghalaya. Khasis mainly live in the Khasi and Jaintia hills and follow the matriarchal society. In this tribe, women play all the major roles and are more important than men. Women get to take all the crucial decisions in the tribe.

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Deori Tribe, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh

The Deori tribe primarily resides in Assam’s Sivasagar, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur, Tinsukia districts and Arunachal’s Lohit and Changlang districts. They belong to the Sino-Tibetan family of Mongoloid stock and, in olden times, they used to serve as priests in the temples.

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Bodo Tribe, Assam

Bodo tribe mostly belongs to Assam, but has also migrated to other parts of the country. Bodo people are responsible for rice cultivation, tea plantation and poultry farming in this part of India. Weaving and silkworm rearing are also part of Bodos livelihood. Rice is their staple food, while Zu Mai (rice wine) is their home drink!

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Bhutia Tribe, Sikkim

Bhuitas migrated to Sikkim from Tibet and live in the Lachen and Lachung regions of North Sikkim. The people here speak Bhutia, which is a dialect of Tibetan language. This tribe is known as one the most developed and educated ones. Bhutias mostly work in government sectors and business. Women of the tribe are popular for wearing heavy pure gold ornaments. Their houses are also quite unique and are mostly in rectangular shape. These are called khin. Sheep and yak breeding are their main source of occupation.

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Apatani Tribe, Arunachal Pradesh

One of the most distinctive tribes in the northeast is the Apatani tribe. The Apatanis live in the Ziro valley in the Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh in India and speak Apatani, English and Hindi languages. Their wet rice cultivation and agriculture systems are quite impressive. In fact, UNESCO has proposed to include the Apatani valley as a Heritage Site for its "extremely high productivity" and "unique" way of preserving the ecology. You’ll be able to recognise the Apatani women with their distinctive nose piercings and ornaments, and the men with their tattoos.

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Angami Tribe, Nagaland and Manipur

It is a prime tribal community of Nagaland. But, a number of Angamis can be found in Manipur as well. Rice and grain cultivation on hilly regions is one of their prime occupations. Men of the tribe wear shawls while women wear mechala, a wraparound skirt. Colourful ornaments are worn by both the genders. This tribe is noted for its woodcraft, including cane furniture. Pork with bamboo shoots are their staple food.

<a rel="nofollow" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_Adi_Tribals_from_Arunachal_Pradesh.jpg" target="_blank"title="Portrait of Adi Tribals from Arunachal Pradesh"> Photo by:</a> Ramesh Lalwani, <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en">Creative Commons Attribution Licence</a>

Adi Tribe, Arunachal Pradesh

Natives of Arunachal Pradesh, Adi Tribe belongs to the hills and have their own village, laws and council. The tribe is further divided into several sub tribes. Men of the tribe wear cane, bear and deer skin helmets, all depending on the region they belong to. The women here wear dresses as per their age and marital status. Unmarried women wear beyop, an ornament made of five to six brass plates fixed under their petticoats. The tribemen are into trapping and hunting of pigs and other animals.