Itanagar: The Centre for Endangered Languages (CFEL) at Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU) has successfully completed and submitted the Research Project titled, “Documentation of Endangered Languages, Oral Narratives, and Cultures of the Lesser-Known Tribal Communities of Arunachal Pradesh” to the NEC headquarters in Shillong.
The project was funded by the North East Council (NEC), the nodal agency for the economic and social development of the North Eastern Region.
This project focused on three lesser-known communities in Arunachal Pradesh namely the Ashing (Adi) of Upper Siang, Nah (Tagin) of Upper Subansiri, and Brokpa (Monpa) of West Kameng districts.
The tangible outputs of the project include five published books, including two monographs and three bilingual dictionaries.
These publications are “Ethnographic Profile of the Brokpa (Monpa) of Arunachal Pradesh” (2023), “Ethnographic Profile of the Nah (Tagin) of Arunachal Pradesh” (2023), “A Dictionary of Nah” (2023), “Brokpa-English Dictionary” (2023) and “Dictionary and Grammar of Ashing: A Moribund Language of Arunachal Pradesh” (2022).
The research was conducted under the supervision of Prof S Simon John, the principal investigator of the project and Dr Tarun Mene, the co-principal investigator.
The research team included Dr Tame Ramya, Dr Mechek Sampar Awan, Dr Kaling Dabi, Dr Kombong Darang and Tailyang Nampi.
“These published books and produced documentary films on lesser-known communities were the outcomes of the extensive field studies and workshops conducted by the research team of CFEL and the active participation of the studied communities,” informed Prof John.
In addition to the research and publications, various outreach programmes were conducted in different parts of Arunachal to promote indigenous languages and cultures.
These programmes were held in Bomdo, Janbo, Migging, and Nyereng villages in Upper Siang district, Noksa village and Khonsa Town in Tirap district, Taksing Circle in Upper Subansiri and Lubrang village in West Kameng district.
CFEL, under the Arunachal Institute of Tribal Studies (AITS) at RGU, is a University Grants Commission-sponsored research center that has been active since 2016.
Prof John serves as the cordinator, with Dr Lisa Lomdak and Dr Wanglit Mongchan as assistant coordinators.
The center’s primary focus is on multidisciplinary studies and documentation of the languages and cultures of lesser-known tribal communities in Arunachal Pradesh.
Before the NEC research project, CFEL had studied eight lesser-known communities and produced three documentary films, published three newsletters and ten books, including those mentioned above.
The documentary films produced by CFEL and directed by Dr Kombong Darang include “Ngok Miri Dekke Yoyo-Gaga Goktuanam Kiding” (2018), “The Songs We Sing, The Drums We Beat” (2020), and “Fading Tongue of the East” (2022), focusing on the Tangam, Kaasik, and Meyor communities respectively.
These films have been screened at various state, national, and international film festivals and conferences.
The films on the Tangams and Kaasiks have won ‘Best Documentary Film Awards’ at the Arunachal Film Festival organized by the Film Federation of Arunachal (FFA) in 2018 and 2024 respectively.
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