Living on the edge

They are river people, whose lives ebb and flow with the waters of the Brahmaputra in a timeless rhythm. But now, hydroelectric projects and homogenising exercises raise uneasy questions in the Mising tribe about notions of ‘belonging’.

 

Catching fish in a waterhole in Dhemaji district.

A Mising woman tends to silkworms feeding on mulberry leaves, in Dhemaji district.

The Misings have a rich tradition of weaving. Seen here, preparing yarn for the loom, in Bokakhat district. Living in flood-prone areas of Assam with no other sustenance options, the Mising women have upgraded their traditional weaving skills and adapted to the needs of the market.

A WOMAN sifts crushed rice to prepare Apong, the traditional elixir of the Mising.

dried chillies are smoked in a traditional Mising kitchen.

Pounding paddy in a ‘kipar’, or wooden grinder.

Displaced Mising villagers construct a house with strips of bamboo on the banks of the Brahmaputra in Majuli district.

A villager in Bokakhat district indicates the level to which floodwaters rose in 2021. The Mising live in houses built on stilts, to cope with frequent floods.

T he catch of the day. A Mising fisherman shows off an Ari, or long-whiskered catfish.

1 / 0

Fishing nets put out to dry. The Misings are expert fishers.