Tigers are Our Brothers

Description

The Idu Mishmi people of Dibang Valley, Arunachal Pradesh, believe that tigers are their elder brothers. Killing tigers is, for the Idu Mishmi, a taboo. While their beliefs support wildlife conservation, they also offer a critique of the dominant mode of nature protection. Tigers Are Our Brothers places the Idu Mishmi experience at the centre of a global network of cultural, economic, and political tensions to contribute to our understanding of human-non-human relations.
This first-ever ethnographic study of the Idu Mishmi is well-placed to consider questions of nature and culture, set against the real-world consequences of policy decisions. It argues for an inclusive, culturally informed, and people-centric approach to wildlife conservation.

About the author:

Ambika Aiyadurai is assistant professor in the department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, India

Table of contents

List of Tables
List of Figures
List of Appendices
Glossary
Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION
Nature, Conservation and the role of Communities
Unpacking 'Nature'
Nature and Wilderness
Indigenous people and Nature
Nature and Neoliberalism
Nature of 'Community' participation
Imaging Nature and the Nation
Theme and Chapters
Chapter 2. MY JOURNEY IN THE LAND OF RISING SUN
Going beyond Questionnaires
Getting There and Starting Work
Living Among the Mishmi: Debunking Stereotypes
Where is your team? : Stereotyping the researcher
Challenges during Fieldwork
Writing the 'right' things? : Expectations from Mishmi
Producing Texts
Chapter 3: Mishmi Social Worlds: Animals, Humans and Spirits
Humans and Animals
Mishmi: A brief introduction
Wildlife Hunting
Hunting Methods
Hunting Rituals and Taboos
Code Names for Animals
Women and Wildlife Hunting
Mithun: A Ceremonial Cattle of the Mishmi
Mishmi's relation with Animals
Wildlife Conservation
Commentary
Chapter 4 THE THIN RED LINE: Living on the Sino-Indian Border
Mishmi: A Border Community
Geopolitical Significance
From the Chinese side
The British and The Mishmi: Imagining and shaping people and territory
'Making up People': Tribes, Scheduled Tribes and Indigenous People
The Story of Yaaku Tacho
The Story of a Hunter on the Border
Biodiversity Conservation on the Border
Hunters as 'Border Protectors'?
Commentary
Chapter 5 MITHUN OUT AND TAKIN IN: Shifting Ecological Identity
Nature as an object of Identity
Adi-Mishmi Relations
Caring for the 'wild and rare'?
Mithun Out and Takin In: Why?
'Racism' in Wildlife Conservation
Nationalizing and Federalizing Wildlife
Gibbon replaces Mithun
Adi-Mishmi conflict over Hunting
Role of Urban Mishmis
Influence of 'Hinduism'
Commentary
Chapter 6 - 'Amra and Apiya'': Tiger Conservation and its predicaments
'Tigers are our Brothers'
Tiger as a National Animal
Dibang Tigers: Indian or Chinese?
Different 'Avatars' of Tigers
Friction?: When Researchers met Mishmi
Mediating Voices
Commentary
Chapter 7 - Conclusion
'Sociological Emptiness'
Does tiger being a 'brother' help the tiger?