The Tutsa people, also known as the Tutsa , are a Tibeto-Burmese

ethnic group An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

inhabiting the western parts of Changlang and Khimiyong circles and the eastern part of Tirap districts of the Northeast Indian state of

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...

. Ethnically, the Tutsa are closely related to the

Tangsa The Tangshang people or Tangsa, are of Tibeto-Burmese ethnic group of the Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. They also reside in Sagaing Region and parts of Kachin State of Myanmar. In Myanmar they were formerly known as Rangpang, Pangmi, and Haimi. ...

and were classified as members of the Tangsa in all census records until 1981. As of 2001 their population stood at 25,000.

Culture and beliefs

Along with the

, Tutsas believe in the existence of a supreme being called '

Rangfrah Rangfraa is synonymous to the term God in Tangsa, Tutsa and Nocte languages. The followers of Rangfraa are called “Rangfraites”. The idea behind “Rangfraism” is to bring about an inner transformation in an individual through understand ...

'. The

harvest festival A harvest festival is an annual Festival, celebration that occurs around the time of the main harvest of a given region. Given the differences in climate and crops around the world, harvest festivals can be found at various times at different ...

of Pongtu Kuh is the principal festival of the Tutsa. The festival is marked by several events like practising of Rom-Hom, a traditional chicken sacrifice for producing fire by rubbing a bamboo stick in the hay to forecast whether the year would prove prosperous for them or not. The Tutsa are traditionally followers of Animism. Some Tutsa have also embraced Christianity. The sizeable Christian Tutsa community have formed the Tutsa Baptist Churches Council (TBCC).

References

External links

Ethnologue profile

Tribes of Arunachal Pradesh Naga people {{ArunachalPradesh-stub