Tigers are Our Brothers: Anthropology of Wildlife Conservation in Northeast India

Contents: 1. Introduction. 2. My journey in the land of rising sun. 3. Mishmi social worlds: animals, humans and spirits. 4. The thin red line: living on the Sino-Indian border. 5. Mithun out and takin in: shifting ecological identity. 6. 'Amra and Apiya'': tiger conservation and its predicaments. 7. Conclusion.

The Idu Mishmi people of Dibang Valley, Arunachal Pradesh, believe that tigers are their elder brothers. Killing tigers is, for the Idu Mishmi, a taboo. While their beliefs support wildlife conservation, they also offer a critique of the dominant mode of nature protection. Tigers Are Our Brothers places the Idu Mishmi experience at the centre of a global network of cultural, economic, and political tensions to contribute to our understanding of human-non-human relations.

This first-ever ethnographic study of the Idu Mishmi is well-placed to consider questions of nature and culture, set against the real-world consequences of policy decisions. It argues for an inclusive, culturally informed, and people-centric approach to wildlife conservation.