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Sep 27, 2022

US Embassy Launches Wesbite to Document Arunachal Pradesh's Tribes

The move – with one eye on China's claims on the region– has geo-political implications and is seen as the US's overt support of Indian sovereignty over Arunachal Pradesh.
Representative image of an Apatani woman. Photo: Saurabh Chatterjee/Flickr CC BY NC 2.0

New Delhi: The US Embassy on Tuesday launched a website to celebrate the cultural history of Arunachal Pradesh’s indigenous tribes as part of the celebrations of 75 years of bilateral relations between Washington and New Delhi.

The move – with one eye on China’s claims on the region– has geo-political implications and is seen as the US’s overt support of Indian sovereignty over Arunachal Pradesh. Beijing claims the entire northeastern state, which it calls south Tibet.

The US Mission in India was joined by representatives from the Ministry of Tourism’s Northeast Regional Office and UNESCO’s International Information and Network for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific (ICHCAP) at the event, which celebrates “the intangible cultural heritage of the indigenous tribes of Arunachal Pradesh”. The website has a wide range of resources.

In December 2021, the United States launched a programme through the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation to work with tribe members from 39 villages across the state to preserve and document their heritage through a series of short documentary films.

Speaking at the event, US acting deputy chief of mission Brian Heath said, “As the US and India celebrate 75 years of diplomatic relations, it’s important also to highlight the wealth of stories and experiences that come together to make our societies what they are today. The United States is proud to support Arunachal Pradesh’s culture, ensuring preservation of its intangible heritage.”

ICHCAP director general Jisung Kim commented, “Safeguarding the cultural heritage of the communities is an essential and necessary requirement for sustainable development. In addition, documentation and video recording is becoming important as a means of education for future generations along with the development of technology. Through film, we can remember and preserve the lives and voices of our ancestors much better.”

This event took place as part of a series of ‘Azadi Ki Amrit Mahotsav’ and US-India 75th anniversary celebrations organised by Kolkata-based nonprofit Contact Base, in partnership with the Northeast Regional Office of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.

The US Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation supports projects to preserve a wide range of cultural heritage, including historic buildings, archaeological sites, ethnographic objects, paintings, manuscripts, and indigenous languages.

Over the past 20 years, the Fund has aided in the documentation, conservation and restoration of 21 key historic sites and intangible heritage in India – including the restoration of Sunderwala Burj, the Batashewala Mughal Tomb Complex and the Arab Serai Complex Gateway at Humayun’s Tomb in New Delhi.

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