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Traditional Foods of Monpa Tribe of West Kameng, Arunachal Pradesh

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Traditional Foods of Monpa Tribe of West Kameng, Arunachal Pradesh Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge Vol. 6(1), January 2007, pp. 25-36 Traditional Foods of Monpa tribe of West Kameng, Arunachal Pradesh Ranjay K Singh1*, Anamika Singh2 & Amish K Sureja3 1Department of Agriculture Extension 2Department of Food Science & Nutrition, Mahila Mahavidalaya, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh 3Department of Vegetable Science, College of Horticulture and Forestry, Central Agricultural University, Pasighat 791 102, Arunachal Pradesh E-mail: [email protected] Received 30 August 2006; revised 23 October 2006 Learning about edible plants, processing of foods and medicine using location specific wisdom and conservation of food related resources has been in the large part due to incremental and cumulative learning among the societies living in close connection with nature. Looking to the importance of location specific traditional knowledge in processing of foods, a study was conducted among Monpa tribe of Thembang and Dirang circle of West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh. Data were collected using the participatory and conventional tools. The study demonstrates that Monpa tribe prepares a range of alcoholic beverages from finger millet (Eleusine coracana Gaertn.), maize (Zea mays Linn.), barley (Hordeum vulgare Linn.) and rice (Oryza sativa Linn.). Traditional foods are mainly based on yak milk, soybean (Glycine max Merrill.), buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench), Amaranthus, maize, barley, chilli and various indigenous of fruits and vegetables. The foods consumed by Monpa tribe are nutritionally rich and are compatible with their ethnicity. The variability in the altitude, diversities in the socio-cultural and ecological edges affect the preservation, selection and use pattern of ethnic foods. The types of foods used in daily diet also signify the knowledge and learning network of women, governed by many institutions like mila, lakpa & barter system and elders of society. Diversities in the culturally and nutritionally important foods have made possible the conservation of indigenous biodiversity. Social gathering and cultural occasions provide opportunity in sharing the foods and learning the related knowledge systems. Keywords: Arunachal Pradesh, Beverages, Biodiversity conservation, Ethnic foods, Fermentation, Monpa tribe, Traditional Foods IPC Int. Cl.8: A61K36/00, A01G1/00, A01G17/00, A47G19/00, A23L1/00, A23L1/06, A23L2/02, C12G Humans living in close proximity to their intensive use, and latter on reaching to the point of its environments are capable of observing, identifying, rational use in food, nutritional security and curing monitoring, and reacting to variations in resource several diseases3-6. This type of experience is the very availability, ecological relationships, food access and mechanism whereby people learned to differentiate use, and biological responses to particular between food and medicine. Furthermore, circumstances1. Such knowledge can be acquired in observations leading to ecological understanding can the same way as other important knowledge for be positive, just as tasting and learning about certain survival, such as of food and medicine. Learning foods can be a positive experience2 and also an about edible plants, processing of new foods and important approach to understand the types of medicines, and how to prepare and process them ecological relations and food access patterns of a safely and effectively, has been in large part particular community5. incremental and cumulative among the societies Arunachal Pradesh is considered one of the richest living in close connection with nature1,2. Just feeling botanical regions in India, where people depend much sick from eating a small amount of a plant, or on shifting cultivation and forest based food products detecting a bitter taste (e.g. eating Solanum for their food and nutritional security. The state is rich khasianum C. B. Clarke emend. Sen Guptafruits for in traditional foods and beverages and methods of first time) or some temporary hallucinogenic effect, processing various forest and agricultural products by would have been sufficiently remarkable to engender the tribal communities with their rich experiences. further experimentation or trial or to ward off more Different beverages and fermented foods are used in —————— various combinations with traditional beverages for *Corresponding author the food and nutritional security5. A diverse 26 INDIAN J TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, VOL. 6, No. 1, JANUARY 2007 knowledge system exists among Monpa women to state is skirted by Bhutan in West, Tibet and China in prepare the fermented foods, boiled foods, beverages North and Northeast, Burma in East and Assam in and nutritionally rich traditional foods from various South. It is the largest state area wise in Northeast indigenous crop plants, forest products and meat of region of India. Barring only 12 towns, entire area is wild as well as domesticated animals. These foods rural where an overwhelming 94 % of its population form integral components in day to day food package lives scattered in 3257 villages grouped under 48 and diet, and at different socio-cultural and spiritual integrated development blocks. The state is divided occasions6,7,8. These fermented foods are not only rich into 16 administrative districts, of which West in nutrients and but have also certain curative Kameng is one. The name of the district is derived properties against many diseases and disorders,7,9. from the Kameng river, a tributary of Brahmaputra There is often little differentiation between the that flows through the district. The district lies traditional foods and medicines consumed by various between 91°30' to 92°40' East longitudes and 26°54' to tribes of Arunachal Pradesh. Traditional food is used 28°01' North latitudes. The Bomdila subdivision of to maintain the good health and traditional medicines the district is divided into three circles, namely to cure some diseases like diabetes, high blood Dirang, Bomdila and Thembang. These circles are pressure, malaria, jaundice, diarrhoea and dysentery6. predominantly inhabited by Monpa tribes, who are Monpa tribe of Arunachal Pradesh are non-vegetarian Buddhists by religion with close cultural and religious in food habit and prepare many non-vegetarian affinities with Bhutanese and Tibetans. The economy traditional foods from various sources like fish, crab, of Monpas is basically agrarian and rural based. They pork, yak, duck, chicken, hunted wild animals and practice both permanent and shifting (Jhum) type of different insects collected from river and forest5. The cultivation. Maize, paddy, millets, buckwheat, wheat, new generation of Monpa community has undergone barley, soybean, French bean, chilli, potato, cabbage, significant changes in their diets over the past 30 cauliflower, apple, etc. are some of the major crops years due to intervention of modern crop varieties, grown by Monpa tribe10. materialistic life and current trend towards the 7 To achieve the objective of study, Thembang and increased use of commercial processed foods . For Dirang circles of West Kameng district (Fig. 1) were tribal people around the world, traditional food use selected based on the ethnicity, dependency of local transformation has been radical, as people have people on natural resources. To understand better and moved, often over the course of a single lifetime, get reliable information, the help of local guide was from a diet in which the majority of nutrients drawn taken throughout the study. From each circle, 4 from local food, to more generic diet of store-bought villages (total 8) were selected for conducting this food, most of which are produced and processed for study. With the help of village extension worker and away from locality and even prepared in metropolitan 3,6,7 Gaon Burha (GB), list of potential knowledge holders cities . Introduction of fast foods through (women and men both) were prepared and selected globalization process, accompanied by decrease in the randomly. Thus, from 8 villages, total 120 women and use of traditional foods of local tribe has resulted in 40 men respondents were chosen. The women were many diseases most notably diabetes, heart disease 3,7 interviewed about collection and processing of foods, and stroke, and other disorders . while the supplementary information pertaining to the This study demonstrates the exploration of varieties types of vegetation & animals and their relationship of nutritionally and culturally important ethnic foods with the ecology, agriculture, animals and food and its future prospects among Monpa women of systems, were obtained from men. The Focus Group West Kameng district, Arunachal Pradesh. Discussion (FGD) was adopted to discuss the complex issues like processing variations, Methodology methodology of traditional foods preparation, sources Arunachal Pradesh, the land of rising sun, is of collection of indigenous materials, etc. of unique situated in the Northeastern tip of India between traditional foods. The intention was to develop a 26°.28' and 29°.31' North latitude and 91°.30' E and consensus result for further analysis and interpretation 97°.30' E longitudes. It comprises of mountainous and of data5,11,12. Participant observation was major tool to sub-mountainous portions of the Himalayan system in record the methods of preparing rakshi and lohpani its extremity, covering an area of 83,743 sq km10. This from barley and maize. For the welfare and equitable SINGH et al.: TRADITIONAL FOODS OF MONPA TRIBE
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