Dogs hold important cultural significance in Apatani tribe and they are regarded as part of the family. They are recorded in folklore for carrying rice grains to our ancestors to grow (species that grows in Ziro Valley) and their roles vary across different cultures.
Bloodletting in one of the oldest medical practices in the world. In this historical document shot by anthropologist Fürer-Haimendorf in 1944-45 and made available online by Digital Himalaya, the bloodletting devices used by Apatanis are small bamboo tubes called take-birii. A female traditional healer applies them to face, nose and leg of a number of women of different ages who have come to her for bloodletting. They submit their affected parts to the suction of the bamboo tubes. The blood oozes into the tube and the healer then comes round to collect it - she sucks it out and spits it into a bowl.
It is interesting to remember that in Europe, for centuriesfever was commonly relieved by removing an excess of blood up to the late 19th century : suction cups, pumps, and leeches were used to suck out the infected blood. Medieval medicine in particular was based on a theory that human activity was regulated by a balance of four elemental fluids resident in the human body-blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. When the fluids were in balance, the person was healthy physically and psychically. Any overabundance of a fluid produced characteristic symptoms that could be controlled medically by releasing the superfluous fluid; consequently, a fever was relieved by removing an excess of blood… Although today it is well established than bloodletting has no or very little beneficial effect on health,it would be interesting to know the set of ideas that were underlying this practice among Apatanis.
These are a collection of Tanii photos from olden days (taken in 1954), digitally stored at the Anthropological Archives of the Smithsonian Institution and available at this link :
I thought it would be worth displaying them in my blog, as these pictures are rarely seen nowadays. they have been taken by foreign anthropologist Verrier Elwin in our grandparents' time. Looking at these photos, it's hard today to imagine how their life was.
This is a view of ‘taper panii’ (imprisoned man) with heavy wooden stock. During those days, when anybody was found guilty of some wrong-doing (for eg. a theft), he/she was inflicted a public sanction by having ‘taper’ (wooden log) put around his/her leg.
Tanii woman fetching drinking water in bamboo container (olden practice). I’m a bit confused with the name of this bamboo container...it must be called ‘yassi dije’ or ‘sulu
Photo of ‘boa benii during the ritual called ‘babo achanii’ in the month of myoko. The ‘babo’ is this long wooden post standing in the centre of the picture .‘Boa benii’ is the kind of acrobatics performed by Tanii men around this mast during this ritual to mark their skill, but this is not without danger, one has to risk his/her life.
Apatani women sitting at ‘simbya’ (verandah of Tanii house). This photo shows the typical dressing of ladies in olden days with nose plucks and tattoos. They are wearing ‘kente aabi’ (a skirt-like hand woven lady wear) surrounded by bunch of ‘tasang’ (beads), and are wrapped in a ‘kente pulye‘ (hand woven shawl).
Picture of a Tanii couple. The woman is carrying a ‘yatii’ (a local version of umbrella) made of splitted cane or bamboo covered by leaves of a special tree. The man is carrying elyo (a kind of sword) and a loin belt of cane matted hanging from the waist like a tail, ‘ahu-yari‘, which was a traditional outfit of grown-up males.
I am thankful the person who has captured such a memorable photos of Tanii of olden days. These scenes can not be seen in the present generation. Nobody prefers to carry water in bamboo container, it’s an obsolete practice.....it has been replaced by the use of plastic buckets or metal containers. ‘Yatii’ is replaced by modern umbrellas. ‘Ahu-yari’, ‘kente pulye’, ‘aabi’ etc. are no longer worn by Taniis.
