Mishmi people


The Mishmi or Deng people of Tibet and Arunachal Pradesh are an ethnic group comprising mainly three tribes: Idu Mishmi ; Digaro tribe, and Miju Mishmi. The Mishmis occupy the northeastern tip of the central Arunachal Pradesh in Upper and Lower Dibang Valley, Lohit and Anjaw Districts. The three sub-divisions of the tribe emerged due to the geographical distribution, but racially all the three groups are of the same stock. The Idu are also known as Yidu Lhoba in Tibet and often referred as Chulikatas in Assam. The Idus are primarily concentrated in the Upper Dibang Valley and Lower Dibang Valley district and parts of the northern part of Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh in India. Taraon, also called Digaru Mishmis, are distributed in the hill and the foothills between the Dibang, Digaru and the Lohit rivers. Kamans are also known as the Miju Mishmis; they live between the Lohit and the Kambang rivers in the foothills and in the Mishmi Hills on both sides of the Lohit river right up to the frontiers to Rima. There are around 30,000 of them in Arunachal Pradesh.

In China

The Deng people are not officially recognised by the government of People's Republic of China. They live in nine villages in Tibet's Zayu County and virgin forest areas between the Himalayas and the Hengduan Mountains at an elevation of 1000 meters. Bradley reports 800 ' and 200 ' in China, one village in Burma where they are known as Taraung, and the Taraon, Tayin, or Tain in northeastern India. Many of them have migrated from China to India.
In 1985, the Chinese government tried to have an expert study the Deng, but the 10th Panchen Lama said "All the people in Tibet should be Tibetans" and "To recognize any new ethnic groups is to split our Tibetans." As a result, the project has been abolished.

Creation myth

This is a story among Deng people. They believe their ancestor is Ajiani.