PASIGHAT, 23 Apr: Noted writer and academic Prof Joram Yalam Nabam urged the younger generation of the Tani tribes to take pride in their cultural and ethnic heritage.
She asked them to shed notions of inferiority that, she said, are often imposed from outside and gradually internalised by the tribal communities themselves.
Prof Nabam was speaking at a special lecture on ‘Tani Darshan’, organised jointly by the Hindi department of the Arunachal Pradesh University (APU) and Jazinja here on Thursday.
Prof Nabam, who is the head of Rajiv Gandhi University’s Hindi department and chairperson of Jazinja, is a distinguished author and cultural voice whose works include Sakshi Hai Peepal, Junglee Phool, Gai-Geka Ki Auratein, Nyishi Janjati Ka Samajbhashik Adhyayan, and Tani Kathayein.
A recipient of the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan Samman and the Ayodhya Prasad Khatri Smriti Award – the first writer from Northeast India to receive the award – she was also recently conferred the Femina Game Changer Northeast 2026 Award for excellence in academics and cultural research.
She anchored her lecture in the worldviews of the Tani tribes of Arunachal Pradesh, speaking on themes including tribal identity, religious explorations, authentic documentation of indigenous folklores, and the need for a balanced approach to contested questions of cultural and religious identity.
Speaking on the growing confusion around tribal identity among the youths, Prof Nabam urged her audience to actively seek out the ancestral wisdom that, she said, remains accessible to those willing to make the effort. She stressed that confidence in one’s cultural roots is not only possible but necessary.
Earlier, APU’s Hindi Department Head and Jazinja general secretary Dr Ing Perme outlined the rationale and objectives of the organisation.
The speaker was felicitated by APU Registrar Narmi Darang, who also addressed the gathering during the programme.
An interactive session was also conducted with students and faculty members.
