Published Paper Details:

Arunachal Pradesh, situated in India's northeastern frontier, is home to a range of indigenous tribes whose cultural practices remain deeply rooted in oral tradition. Beyond transmitting communal history and values, these oral narratives have long functioned as mechanisms of resistance, conflict resolution, and peacebuilding within tribal societies, a role oral tradition has played in societies around the world wherever communities sought to express dissent against dominant powers. Where written records were inaccessible or actively suppressed, marginalised groups have often turned to oral narrative to preserve cultural heritage and carry collective memory forward as a resilient form of resistance. Among the tribes of Arunachal Pradesh, myths, legends, folk tales, songs, and customary laws passed down across generations continue to serve several purposes at once: preserving cultural heritage, transmitting communal history, and, importantly, offering mechanisms for resistance, dispute resolution, and the maintenance of peace. This paper examines oral tradition as a dynamic and adaptive practice among the Idu Mishmi of Arunachal Pradesh, focusing in particular on Abbelah, a traditional mechanism for addressing disputes through mediation and negotiation. It considers how oral traditions sustain cultural norms, articulate collective rights, transmit customary knowledge, and structure processes of mediation and reconciliation, arguing that by reinforcing community-based practice and shared social norms, such traditions have historically underpinned social cohesion and conflict resolution through customary law and community consensus. At the same time, the paper traces the changing dynamics of Abbelah in contemporary Idu society, considering how shifting social values and attitudes, greater exposure to external institutions, and the growing reach of modern legal mechanisms have reshaped traditional approaches to conflict resolution.