Puroik Oral Literature of Kamyang and Katchiye water basins, East Kameng, Arunachal Pradesh

The collection features interviews with Puroik elders and cultivators from five villages in East Kameng, Arunachal Pradesh: Byale, Surung Kasuang, Mechidu, Mecha and Byaluom. These five villages are situated in two water basins, formed by rivers Kamyang and Katchiye, both tributaries of the Katoie river (or Kameng river) in western Arunachal Pradesh. These recordings document the ethnobotanical knowledge and life histories of elders, and the oral history of the tribe. The oral history of the Puroik people is a spoken record of the genealogy of different clans among the Puroik and historical events leading to the present. These recordings have contributions from 45 people across generations who belong to four clans of the Puroik – Kasuang, Mechidu, Mecha, and Halley.

This collection documents oral histories, traditional ecological knowledge, and cultural practices related to plants, land, and identity in clans of the Puroik tribe living in Kamyang and Katchiye water basins. Some of these recordings document the pronunciation of Puroik names for plants, crop varieties, animals and natural phenomena. The interviews were done with a focus on the cultural significance of Metchi, or the Eastern Himalayan sago palm Arenga micrantha (referred to as ‘the Palm’ in the summaries). In addition to being their staple food, it serves as a cultural keystone species for the Puroik people (Garibaldi and Turner 2004). It plays an important role in the oral history and the cultivators hold a deep knowledge of the life history, variety characterisation and vegetative propagation of the Palm. The interviews were done in Puroik, Arunachali Hindi or a combination of both the languages.

Generally, the recording includes translation between Puroik and Arunachali Hindi on-the-spot, with the help of a translator mediating between the interviewer and interviewee. Some recordings of oral history are uninterrupted narrations in Puroik. These recordings are accompanied with translations recorded in audio by playing back the original narration sentence-by-sentence. The length of recording files varies from half a minute to nearly 2 hours.

The summaries presented in English are the researcher’s best attempt to translate the original oral history narrations. These are, however, not authoritative translations and instead serve as an aid to navigate and interpret the recordings. English summaries are produced by a two-step translation, from Puroik to Arunachali Hindi and then to English. These are limited by errors in translation between the languages or in the researcher’s ability to fully understand Puroik worldview. These are subject to correction by Puroik scholars in the future. This is also the reason that the original narrations in the elders’ voices are crucial for both younger Puroik people who want to learn the oral history and for other listeners. These original narrations must be consulted and considered alongside any accompanying translations. We welcome additions and modifications from other researchers and community members, kindly contact archives@ncbs.res.in.

This collection aims to:

- Create a digital repository of the Puroik oral history and elder botanical knowledge including names, uses, and symbolic meanings, especially an ethnobotanical account of Metchi, the Eastern Himalayan sago palm, Arenga micrantha, the staple food cultivated by the Puroik people.

- Document linguistic and cultural heritage in the endangered and underdocumented Puroik language and facilitate wider viewership and recognition of their knowledge.

- Highlight community voices and narratives of place, showing how language encodes relationships with the environment.

- Offer a platform for younger people to keep listening to the Oral history and memorising it, serving as a resource for future revitalization, research, and education initiatives.

This oral literature project was done in collaboration with the Puroik people of East Kameng, Arunachal Pradesh. The project was built on a Master’s dissertation by researcher Mansi Dhingra exploring the relationship between the indigenous Puroik people of Arunachal Pradesh and their staple food, the Eastern Himalayan sago palm, Arenga micrantha. The majority of the recordings in this collection were done during the Master’s research work in the period between December 2023 and March 2024.

Before beginning the research, Free Prior Informed Consent was obtained in August 2023 by research co-advisor Chintan Sheth by meeting six village councils for this study. Later, in December 2023, the project was re-introduced to the village council to request permission to do this study with them by the researcher, Mansi Dhingra. After discussing the intended study, proposed methods and expected results, the village members gave their inputs. These conversations were mediated by Mr. Padue Kasuang (aka Dha Byale), Puroik mentor and research liaison, who kindly translated between Arunachali Hindi and Puroik languages and spoke to members of the five villages. The research project was done after receiving the consent of the village council and members, and included both palm sampling and recording the interviews.

Consent was obtained from all participants before conducting an interview. Participants were informed about the interview’s purpose, the use of the information, and their right to stop recording, withdraw consent, or ask questions at any time. With participants’ permission, interviews were recorded, and consent was obtained for the long-term storage and archiving of the material to ensure the preservation of the knowledge shared. The study and interview schedule were approved by the NCBS Human Research Ethics Clearance Committee.

Before archiving the oral literature, Mansi Dhingra returned in person to speak with community members from all five villages, who were consulted regarding the creation of a digital repository at the Archives at NCBS. The Archive was introduced through a short video encapsulating the previous year’s research findings, contributors’ knowledge, and the content of the audio recordings, along with an intention to preserve and deposit these materials at the Archives at NCBS. This was followed by discussions on the content to be included, community preferences for the repository, the handling of sensitive material, and appropriate access levels. Once participants’ concerns were carefully noted, their feedback and verbal consent were recorded individually or in groups (a translated summary of the Oral History Consent Form, see:https://archives.ncbs.res.in/about). Copies of each interview were shared in .mp3 format via memory cards, either directly to participants’ mobile phones or, where necessary, to those of neighbors. When participants expressed uncertainty about the recordings, the audio was replayed or reviewed at a later time to allow for further reflection and input.

References:

Garibaldi, A., and Turner, N. (2004). Cultural Keystone Species: Implications for Ecological Conservation and Restoration. Ecology and Society, 9(3). https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-00669-090301