Tigers Are Our Brothers Anthropology of Wildlife Conservation in Northeast India

About this book

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.

Contents

List of Tables
List of Figures
List of Appendices
Glossary

Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. My Journey in the Land of Rising Sun
Chapter 3. Mishmi Social Worlds: Animals, Humans and Spirits
Chapter 4. The Thin Red Line: Living on the Sino-Indian Border
Chapter 5. Mithun out and Takin In: Shifting Ecological Identity
Chapter 6. 'Amra and Apiya'': Tiger Conservation and its predicaments
Chapter 7. Conclusion

Customer Reviews

Biography

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