Deking Piichang: Vanishing Clay Pottery Tradition Among the Apatani of Arunachal Pradesh

This chapter attempts to highlight the long-lost practice of clay pottery in a particular village of Ziro valley in Arunachal Pradesh in the context of huge and diverse pottery tradition in India. However, in the context of the Apatani tribe of Arunachal Pradesh, witnessing pottery was rare for those from other villages yet on the other side it was a part of daily lives for those individuals of the village where pottery making took place. The essence of pottery making by input of Indigenous knowledge portrays that culture and nature is a close-knit intertwined realm where Indigenous knowledge gives shape to new creativity. However, plight of such creativity needs to be understood within the emerging wider socio-historical context as Apatanis like many other tribes are passing through the phase of transition because of their exposure to various forces of change.