Editor,
Every year on 1 December, Arunachal Pradesh celebrates the Indigenous Faith Day, honouring the ancient belief systems that have shaped the identity, culture, and worldview of indigenous communities around the world.
Indigenous faiths, unlike organised religions, were not created by any single founder. These beliefs were handed down orally from ancestors to their descendants, and preserved through stories, rituals, and traditions that evolved naturally from life close to nature. They arose from the forests, rivers, mountains, and the mysteries of creation, teaching people to live with respect, harmony, and balance.
Across the world, every indigenous community developed its own unique faith practices. But one truth remains universal: Religion does not make a person indigenous – heritage does.
A person may embrace any religion -Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, or the indigenous faiths themselves – but their indigenous identity is determined by their roots, their lineage, their culture, and the community they belong to, not by the religion they follow.
Just as following an indigenous faith does not make a non-indigenous person become indigenous, embracing another religion does not erase the indigenous identity of those who were born into it.
This understanding is not only cultural but also constitutional. India recognises indigenous communities (Scheduled Tribes) based on ancestry, ethnicity, and historical continuity, not on the basis of religion. Faith may shape personal belief, but heritage is carried by birth, tradition, and collective identity.
As Arunachal celebrates Indigenous Faith Day, let this occasion become a reminder of the wisdom of our ancestors, the richness of indigenous traditions, and the importance of unity among all indigenous people, regardless of the religion they choose to follow.
On this day, we honour our roots, our dignity, and the timeless heritage that no faith can erase. May the spirit of our ancestors continue to guide and strengthen us.
Rev Rabi S Chakma,
Founder,
Changhma Baptist Fellowship