Nose Plugs Of The Apatani Women

The first contact with the Europeans occurred in 1897, when British officials came to stay in the valley for two days; six similar brief visits were later held between the 1920s and 1930s. In 1944, after a temporary government outpost was set up by an anthropologist-administrator, the Apatani came in contact with minimal government presence for the first time. When a second, permanent outpost was constructed by the Assam Rifles in 1948, stationed there to protect the land, the Apatanis attacked. The officer in charge retaliated by burning two of their villages.
Most Apatanis are loyal followers of the Danyi-Piilo faith, who pray to the Sun (Ayo Danyi) and the Moon (Atoh Piilo). Abotani is revered as the sole ancestor of all Apatani and other tribes in the surrounding regions. When a misfortune occurs, they believe that it is caused by certain evil spirits, and thus they make appeasement by sacrificing chickens, cows and other domestic animals. MYOKO, the festival of friendship and prosperity, is celebrated in a grand manner lasting for all of March each year. Dree Festival, celebrated in July, is the main agricultural festival of the Apatanis.