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Traditional Attire of the Mising Tribe
The Misings, one of the largest communities in Assam, are primarily concentrated in the riverine areas of the Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Sonitpur, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Jorhat, and Golaghat districts. Additionally, a few reside around Pasighat in the East Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh. The Mising language belongs to the Tibeto-Burman branch of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages, as noted in the Linguistic Survey of India (1909). Ethnically, the Misings are related to the Adis, Nyishis, and Apatanis of the Siang and Subansiri regions of Arunachal Pradesh. They possess characteristic Mongoloid physical features and worship their traditional gods, Donyi-Polo (the Mother Sun and the Father Moon). Their original habitat is thought to have been in the river valleys of the Yangtze Keang and Hwang-Ho rivers in North West China.
Mising women are excellent weavers who showcase their creative abilities on looms by creating striking patterns against vivid, contrasting backdrops. The community maintains a deep connection with nature, which is reflected in the various natural elements woven into their fabrics.
Mising women dancing at Ali-Aye-Ligang Festival. Image source: iStock
Traditional dresses of the Mising tribe of Assam. Image source: Wikimedia Commons
Misings use the term Gamik to refer to the various designs, patterns, and motifs. The most commonly used designs are the triangular and diamond-shaped motifs with bands of lines. The triangular shapes are said to represent hills, narrow at the top and broad at the base. Floral designs on green or blue backgrounds symbolise a swamp filled with lilies. Different designs are also used to represent Donyi (sun), Péki (a dove), Takar (a design of stars), Nasoni (a dancer), Mokorang (a spider), Popir (a butterfly), Adoli (a design of fifty paisa coin), Dosnoya (a design of ten paisa coin), Pame: appun (a design of orchid flowers), Babori appun (a design of plant flower), Dumsung (a deer), Tode (a peacock), and many more.
Mising weavers have a unique style of selecting colours for both the backgrounds and patterns of their fabrics. Floral butties woven on a black background are compared to the night sky. It is believed that the black colour represents darkness, blue represents the sky, and green represents the lush pasture of nature. Colours like olive green, brown, and red are frequently set against white backgrounds. White and yellow stripes on a black background are popular among the weavers.
Gamik on a Mising Chadar. Image source: Manisha Ashraf
Patterns on a Mibu-galuk. Image source: Wikimedia Commons
Mising fabrics are primarily made of cotton, but in winter, they switch to woollen and eri-silk garments. Men usually dress in white cotton or silk, and women wear brightly coloured, intricately embroidered dresses. Mising men wear a traditional shirt called Mibu-galuk, which features an open front, short sleeves, and colourful stripes on the back and waist. Another type of shirt, the Gadu-galuk, is made of thick cotton threads and is commonly worn during the winter. Weavers add alternating red and blue stripes to create a colourful pattern. The Gadu-galuk, dyed in blue, black, and brown, features half sleeves and an open front, making it popular for ceremonial occasions.
Misings wear a lower garment called the Ugon, which is a long, thin, translucent white cotton cloth that covers the body from the waist down. Additionally, they use the Damur, a hand-woven cloth serving as a shoulder wrap, headgear, and towel, predominantly white with a striking red border. The Jinrek or Tongali, slightly longer and wider than the Damur, includes red floral and geometric motifs and is often worn as a waist girdle.
Men wearing Mibu-galuk during the Ali-Aye-Ligang Festival. Image Source: iStock
Erpob. Image source: Manisha Ashraf
During winter, Mising men wrap themselves in the warmth of the Tapun-Gasor, a shawl woven from hand-spun eri-silk yarn, usually adorned with simple motifs. The Erpob, or traditional Mising muffler, is one of the most attractive and popular aspects of Mising attire. It is typically woven in red with cross stripes of black, white, and yellow, arranged thickly or thinly across the entire cloth.
Ege or mekhela is used as a lower garment to cover the body from the waist to the ankle. It has two or three folds at the front of the waist. There are different varieties of eges, such as mosang ege, geging ege, tapum ege, etc. Mising women use Gero (upper garment) to tie around the waist and the chest on top of the ege or mekhela. It always contains a design woven in the centre of the cloth with red and black colours on a white background.
Women in Mising attire. Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
A Gero made of eri silk. Image Source: Manisha Ashraf
Mosang Gasor is also an upper garment (a type of Gero) worn with mosang ege, reflecting similar designs. Pe:Re is another type of Gero designed with narrow stripes of red, black, yellow, green, and white with a black or green border. However, the older women use Segreg, a piece of cloth, to wrap around the chest. It is plain in colour without any designs except for contrasting colours on its borders and both ends. The young girls dress in dupattas known as Ku:Pob, which have contrasting borders and are primarily white, green, or blue. Furthermore, the Mising women wear a lightweight cotton garment called a Seleng Gasor, which is sometimes worn in place of a ribi gaseng (mekhela chadar). Po:Tub is a type of cloth used to cover the head while performing household chores. It can be blue or green, with white borders. Moreover, during childbirth, Mising women don a special garment known as a para-rimbey.
Through their expertise on the loom, Misings weave their dreams into vivid reality. Together with their vibrant colours, Mising attire depicts folk beliefs that preserve their cultural legacy for the future generations.
Mising girls in traditional attire. Image source: Wikimedia Commons
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