~ Detail Photos ~

A fine example of the warrior's cap from remote tribal areas in North Eastern India, woven of rattan strips, which now have acquired a lovely patinated sheen.  The hat features a horn bill beak segment and the talon of another unidentified bird - though clearly a bird of some size. The hornbill is a revered "power animal" among the many tribal groups in the North East, and the right to wear hornbill regalia is a very clear sign of high status .  Similar hats are worn by other tribal groups such as Hill Miri,  and on occasion by Apatani.  Nishi are avid forest hunters, and now days agriculturists.  They had a reputation for being reclusive and prone to war, often raiding the more urbane Apatani villages to steal livestock and capture brides.

The Nishi people live in elevated long houses, typically multiple families or for wealthy men of status... the different compartments of the long house belong to his multiple wives - each maintaining her own cooking hearth.

The Nishi, like the Hill Miri, Apatani, and Adi tribes' traditional religion is oriented around the solar and lunar divinities - Donyi-Polo

Below is a still taken from video I shot of a Nishi man wearing a similar headdress in a remote village in Subansiri district, Arunachal.