Guwahati: Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein on Friday said that the state’s indigenous cultural history remains largely undocumented and inaccessible, even decades after attaining statehood.
Speaking at a national seminar on Interpreting Cultures and Traditions: Shifting the Lens in Roing, Mein said that while Arunachal Pradesh is rich in indigenous cultures, ancient manuscripts, and biodiversity, efforts at systematic documentation and digitisation are still insufficient.
He stressed that cultures and traditions may evolve over time but should remain rooted in indigenous customs.
He added that the cultural history of Arunachal Pradesh’s indigenous communities has not been comprehensively written or made accessible to audiences within and outside the state.
The Deputy Chief Minister also warned about the rapid decline of animal and bird species, noting that the loss of biodiversity could affect cultural identities linked to nature.
He cautioned that if action is not taken now, future generations could lose both biodiversity and the cultural traditions associated with it.
The seminar was organised by the non-profit WorldFishTAC in collaboration with the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies (MAKAIS), Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU), the International Centre for Cultural Studies (ICCS), Arunachal Pradesh University (APU), and the Indigenous Faith and Cultural Society of Arunachal Pradesh (IFCSAP).
In his keynote address, Professor Yashwant Pathak from the University of South Florida pointed out how colonial frameworks disrupted indigenous knowledge systems globally and emphasised the need to reclaim native perspectives for preserving traditions.
The seminar included two plenary sessions and 21 research paper presentations. A total of 44 papers were presented by scholars from India and abroad, focusing on indigenous cultures, traditional knowledge systems, and the challenges of cultural preservation in a changing world.
The event underlined the urgent need to document Arunachal Pradesh’s diverse cultural heritage through research, policy support, and community participation to ensure its preservation for future generations.