The Memba are a people of

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares int ...

. The Memba population is currently around four to five thousand. They mainly live in the districts of Shi Yomi,

West Siang West Siang (Pron:/ˈsjæŋ or ˈsɪæŋ/) is an administrative district in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in India. History In 1989, territory was given from West Siang to the East Siang district. Since 1999, this territory has been in the new ...

and Upper Siang. Some also in nearby

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

. The religious life of the Memba revolves around the Mechuka Gompa, similar to the

Monpa The Monpa or Mönpa () is a major tribe of Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India. The Tawang Monpas have a migration history from Changrelung. The Monpa are believed to be the only nomadic tribe in Northeast India – they are totally dependen ...

West Kameng West Kameng (pronounced ) is a district of Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India. It accounts for 8.86% of the total area of the state. The name is derived from the Kameng river, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, that flows through the district ...

and

Tawang Tawang is a town and administrative headquarter of Tawang district in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The town was once the capital of the Tawang Tract, which is now divided into the Tawang district and the West Kameng district. Tawang c ...

. Local genealogies suggested that they came from

and settled in the region several centuries ago. The Memba are agriculturalists and grow maize, millet, potato, cereals and paddy. Boiled rice and millet flour are staples in the Memba diet. All Memba villages have their own watermills. Their homes, like most of the other

Tibetan Buddhist Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

tribes, are made of stone and wood. The house is raised above the ground and the floor and walls are made of wooden planks. Corrugated aluminum has replaced wood as a roofing material in recent years. The Membas follow

Nyingmapa Nyingma (literally 'old school') is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It is also often referred to as ''Ngangyur'' (, ), "order of the ancient translations". The Nyingma school is founded on the first lineages and transl ...

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

and have their own script, Hikor, which is derived from the

Tibetan script The Tibetan script is a segmental writing system (''abugida'') of Brahmic scripts, Indic origin used to write certain Tibetic languages, including Lhasa Tibetan, Tibetan, Dzongkha, Sikkimese language, Sikkimese, Ladakhi language, Ladakhi, Jire ...

.Colonial contact in the 'hidden land' (Pg 4)
/ref> In every village, there is a small

Gompa A Gompa or Gönpa ( "remote place", Sanskrit ''araṇya''), also known as ling (), is a Buddhism, Buddhist ecclesiastical fortification of learning, lineage and sādhanā that may be understood as a conflation of a fortification, a vihara and a ...

presided by a Buddhist Lama. As devout

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

s, they follow all the intricate details of rituals of Buddhist puja, hoisting at least a

prayer flag or a string of small Buddhist prayer flags in front of every household. Festivals that are celebrated by the Memba include

Losar Losar (; "new year"William D. Crump, "Losar" in ''Encyclopedia of New Year's Holidays Worldwide'' (McFarland & Co.: 2008), pp. 237-38.) also known as Tibetan New Year, is a festival in Tibetan Buddhism. The holiday is celebrated on various d ...

and Choskar.

References

External links

Asia Harvest ethnic profile

Blackburn migration
{{authority control Tribes of Arunachal Pradesh