Indigenous relations with wildlife

PhD Student: Kirina Melo
Program: Eastern Himalaya Program, Nature-Culture transitions
Guides: Dr. Priya Tamma, Dr. Sahil Nijhawan, Dr. Jeebanlata 

Indigenous communities in Arunachal Pradesh share complex and dynamic relations with forests and wildlife, shaped by taboos, cosmologies, and cultural practices. However, these relationships are undergoing rapid change due to the expansion of regular formal education, religious transformations, infrastructure developments, and wider processes of modernity. While education is often seen as a pathway for social mobility, it also transforms Indigenous knowledge systems and alters long-standing practices related to the nonhuman world, such as hunting, taboos, and overall cosmologies. 

Despite the growing recognition of Indigenous knowledge in conservation, there remains limited research on how regular formal education systems influences Indigenous relations with wildlife. Understanding these shifts is crucial for both biocultural of the land and the continuity of Indigenous knowledge systems.

My doctoral research addresses this gap by exploring how regular formal education influences Indigenous worldviews, with a focus on wildlife taboos and hunting practices among the Miji community in Bichom district of Arunachal. Grounded in Indigenous methodologies, the study combines ethnographic and ecological approaches. Methods include participant observation, interviews, life histories, and hunting surveys, integrated with ecological approaches such as camera traps to understand actual animal’s world and human–wildlife relations in depth. 

The research seeks to document changing relations with nonhuman beings, assess the persistence or erosion of taboos, and explore the cultural and ecological consequences of these transformations. By doing so, it aims to contribute to debates on Indigenous knowledge, education, and biocultural knowledge systems in the Eastern Himalaya, while foregrounding Indigenous perspectives and epistemologies.

This research aims to generate insights into how regular formal education reshapes Indigenous relations with wildlife in Arunachal Pradesh, with particular attention to taboos, hunting practices, and shifting worldviews. By examining the intersection of cultural practices, worldview, ecological knowledge, and educational experiences, it seeks to provide a comprehensive understanding of the socio-ecological transformations occurring in Indigenous communities.

The study will shed light on whether formal schooling accelerates the erosion of taboos, alters human–wildlife relations, or creates new forms of knowledge and engagement with the nonhuman world. Such understanding is critical for recognising both the opportunities and risks posed by modern education in bioculturally diverse landscapes.

Kirina is the most quiet one, often flying under the radar. She did her post-graduate studies in Zoology at Rajiv Gandhi University in Itanagar.