Yazali: The age-old tradition of ‘Manyañ’ (as termed by Apatanis) and ‘Manayang’ (as termed by Nyishis) was revived at Arunachal Pradesh’s Takam Passa village here on Friday.
The Manyañ/Manyang is a system of social bonding between Apatanis and Nyishis that dates back to time immemorial, with reciprocity of barter system, friendship, and commitment to help and protect each other.
As part of the reunion, a trek was organised to look for a stone reportedly installed by an Apatani man at Takam Passa, Yazali. The trek turned into a joyous reunion of the Dassar Taba clan of Nyishi and Nada clan of Hija Apatani village.
80-year-old Taba Begi, son of Taba Tekhi, said that while he was a child, four men from Nada clan of Hija village, who were their Manyangs, came to visit his father Taba Tekhi, son of Dassar Taba, at Takam Passa with goodies and exchanged mithun as a gift.
The Taba clan had gifted a black-colored mithun and the Nada clan had gifted a white-colored one whose horns were almost the same size, measuring 5 inches.
Taba Dol, an active social worker who organised the trek, said that they had heard a story from their elders that Nada Chobing, Nada Tomu (Tamu), Nada Roja (Ruja), Nada Tajum (Taking) had come to visit them with four porters each with gifts.
Before leaving, they had installed a monolith of friendship (Dapo Pogyañ) measuring almost 70 cm with their promise that Tabas are Manyangs of Nadas, and if anyone threatened Tabas, it would be deemed that Nadas were challenged, and the latter would stand in support of Tabas no matter what.
Taba Nyiya, an elder briefed that from Takam Passa, the Nadas also visited other sons of Taba Dassar, namely Taba Tacho at Kebi village and Taba Jobi at Chullyu village. From Chullyu village, they proceeded to Ziro through the Pitapool area.
Nada Rika, the grandson of Nada Chobing, expressed gratitude towards the organisers and villagers and invited the Taba clan to Hija village when an appropriate programme is planned.
Dani Sulu, son of Dani Kunya, the first Agency Council Member representing undivided Subansiri who happens to be the uncle of Nadas, appreciated the reunion and expressed that the trek and the meet were only the first of many more meetings and programmes. Both the Taba and Nada clans promised to preserve the sacred Dapo Pogyañ area as a heritage site.
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Nani Bath, a professor of political science at Rajiv Gandhi University, who also witnessed the reunion, said, “The revival of the Manyañ/Manyang system has helped to strengthen the bond between the Apatanis and Nyishis and has opened up the possibility for more such reunions in the future.”
“It has also highlighted the need to preserve the cultural heritage and traditions of the region,” he said.
The reunion of the two clans was also witnessed by senior advocate Tatup Tana Tara and Dera Natung Government College assistant professor Nending Ommo and others.
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