An elderly Nyishi lady weaves a traditional shawl, in Ziro

From the archive record

An old Nyishi woman weaves on a loin loom in Ziro village of Arunachal Pradesh, India. The Nyishi tribe is one of the principal inhabitants of Arunachal Pradesh in north-eastern India. Nyi refers to "a man" and the word shi denotes "a being", which collectively means a civilized human being. They are spread across six districts of Arunachal Pradesh viz., Papum Pare, part of Lower Subansiri, Kurung Kumey, East Kameng, parts of Upper Subansiri, the recently created district Kra Dadi and are also found in the Sonitpur and North Lakhimpur districts of the neighbouring state of Assam. Their population of around 300,000 makes them the most populous tribe of Arunachal Pradesh, closely followed by the combined tribes of the Adis and the Galos who were the most populous in the 2001 census.[citation