Ethnobotany of lower Subansiri District (Nishi Tribe) of Arunachal Pradesh, India

Ethnobotany is a subject which deals with the direct traditional and natural relationship between societies and plants. Man has depended on plants from time immemorial. This traditional relationship which now forms the core of the interdisciplinary science 'Ethnobotany' attracted much attention, not only due to its great academic or historical importance, but also due to many economic applications.;The Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh, i.e. the area of the present investigation, comprises of thickly populated forest area covered upon quite a number of small hills. The area is mainly inhabitated by a homogeneous community called Nishis. Most of the Nishi villages are located in and around the forests. The 'Nishi' do not have any written tradition and they believe that they have descended from "Abo-Tani", a mythical ancestor. They migrated from 'Supung' which, they say, exists somewhere in the far Eastern Himalayas and consequently settled in their present locality.;Studies on the vegetation and floristics of Lower Subansiri district and also the anthropology, ethnobotany, linguistics and therapeutic practice of the Nishis were made by spot study, verification and collection of materials in the form of herbarium. The general procedure for gathering the data comprised of either interviewing the informants and also by witnessing the actual utilization. The data were verified with all earlier important publications in under to bring out the significant findings.;The North-Eastern parts of India, particularly Arunachal Pradesh, situated of the foothills of Himalayas, contains a huge number of plant resources and these plant resources are utilized traditionally by the variety of tribes residing in these region from primitive time. Unfortunately, very little organized ethnobotanical work has been done in North-Eastern India despite of the diversified ethnic cultures and plant wealth of the region. The Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh, inhabitated by a primitive and important tribe 'Nishi', has so far received very little attention regarding their relationship of floristic components. The present investigation was therefore undertaken to have a detailed study of the Nishi tribe in relation to their ethnic culture and also scientific approach to the evaluation of the floristic composition of that area, especially the plant species of ethnic importance.