In the lowland rainforests of Arunachal Pradesh in north-east India, tigers, clouded leopards, eagles and hornbills dot the landscape. The area is also home to the Nyishi community, the largest Indigenous tribe in the state, where the men traditionally don a byopa, an elaborate handwoven cane cap with the upper beak and casque of a great hornbill attached to the top edge, and an eagle’s claw at the back. They also wield a machete fitted either with the short, squat jaw of the clouded leopard or the much larger one of a tiger.
“The tiger rules the jungle. The eagle rules the sky. Wearing their parts implies inhabiting their mighty spirit, protecting the people. It’s a status symbol,” says Nabam Bapu, an entrepreneur from the Nyishi tribe based in the state’s Papum Pare district.
