Indigenous Healing Traditions of Arunachal Pradesh: An Overview

Among the people of Arunachal Pradesh, the concept of illness was basically rooted in supernatural cosmology (Elwin 1958: 256). The concept of disease or ailments of any sort occurring as a result of breach of the balance with natural and supernatural forces among the animistic communities of Arunachal Pradesh thus made the traditional priest (healer) the curer and healer of disease. The priest was the sole negotiator to safely retrieve the diseased soul of a person from the offended spirits and gods. The traditional priests are known by various names across the communities of the state depending on linguistic variation. They however perform similar functions and fulfil same objectives. The indigenous traditional healers for surgical and chiropractic cases are different from the traditional priests amongst the communities of Arunachal Pradesh. Sickness-carrying raid was part of the belief system of some of the communities of the state which even affected relations between the people of the hills and plains.