Miji lady

The Miji, who are also known as Sajolang or Damai, inhabit in the districts of West Kameng and East Kameng in Arunachal Pradesh. Their population of 5,000 are found near the lower parts of the sub-Himalayan hills bordering Assam.

Due to the fact that they are of Tibetan and/or Bhutanese origin with some Assamese intermarriage, they have considerably fairer complexion than the plains people but darker than the Monpa and the Sherdukpen. They also have reddish-pink cheeks, despite the fact that they are living on the lower altitudes of the sub-Himalayan hills.

The dress of the Miji women wear a long white garment which reaches up to the ankles, though an additional outer red garment is worn ove it. Handicrafts of beautiful patterns are also sewn to the outer garment, in order to enhance the appearance of the dress, which would have been very plain without it. The rich Miji women wear a pretty fillet of silver chain-work round the head. They wear large ring-shaped earrings made of silver and necklaces of coloured beads. A cream and lipstick called lingchong made from the extract of pine-resin used by the Aka women.

They sustain their livehood through agriculture. Jhum, the local name for shifting cultivation of the crops, is widely practised among the Miji.

The Miji are traditionally followers of the Animistic Donyi-Polo faith, although some Buddhist influence is evident in their rituals. The Miji have recently adopted the Roman script as they do not have a script on their own.