UK scholar makes digital archive for Arunachal Pradesh tribe’s folktales

Folktales of the Wancho tribe in Arunachal Pradesh’s remote Longding district would be documented and preserved in digital archives, thanks to the efforts of a UK-based researcher. The tribe’s folktales would have been lost otherwise with lack of documentation, as these stories are mostly told and not written down.

Tara Douglas, a cultural researcher and filmmaker from the United Kingdom, spent over three years with community workers and the elders of the tribe to document the folktales and prepare the digital archive. She even worked on the project during the Covid-19 pandemic.

With recommendation of Stephen Morey, a linguist specialized in the study and documentation of various languages of the region, Douglas also stored the Wancho folk tales in the Pacific And Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures (PARADISEC)—a digital record of some of the small cultures and languages of the world.

“The Wancho people have a rich tradition of oral stories, memories and songs. The knowledge of the ancestors that has accumulated over generations is the history of the cultural practices and rituals,” she told DH.

According to the researcher, the elders also have the precise knowledge of livelihood practices, of plants, animals, the climate and the geography. “It is the collective memories of the community. But the young generations now find no time to listen to the oral folktales and thus they are facing the threat of disappearance,” she said.

The Wancho tribe, with a population of nearly 57,000 members, inhabit mostly the Longding district that borders Myanmar.

Douglas was introduced to the community when she first visited Kamhua Noknu village in 2019. Since then, she has been working with local project partners to record, translate and catalogue the material.

Jatwang Wangsa and Banwang Losu, two local teachers, who also run Wancho Literary Mission, helped Douglas by facilitating introductions to storytellers and in their translation into English.

“The archive will be expanded to include more stories from Kamhua Noknu and the neighbouring villages. The primary goal is to safely preserve material that would otherwise be lost,” she said.

Some of the Wancho elders, whom Douglas met and recorded their oral stories, are the late Ngamchai Wangsa and Nyemnoi Wangsa, Tangkaam Pheam, Wanjay Losu, Phawang Wangham, Gamlong Gampa, Wanghom Losu and Wanchan Losu from Kamhua Noknu, Chaidang Dangam from Nyinu and Ngompha Wangsa from Longkai village.