The Mising people are a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group inhabiting mostly in the Northeast Indian states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

The origin of the term Mising is believed to be coming from the river named Siang that connects with Brahmaputra in Assam.

Some colonial scholars argued that 'miri' referred to their status as intermediaries between plains people in the Brahmaputra Valley and hill tribes towards the north.

So when the Misings migrated to the plains they were identified as coming from the Miri pahar ('Miri hills'), whose feats of magic would have been well-known back then, and the name stuck.

Afterwards many Misings were given high positions in Ahom administration, evidence of their greater cultural contact with the Assamese compared to other hill-tribes.

Even during the Moamoria rebellion, when most hill tribes turned rebellious towards the Ahom government, the Misings or Miris remained neutral.

Although they were initially hill dwellers, they later migrated to the plains in search of fertile land and started living on the banks of rivers i.e. present day Assam.

[24] Another theory suggests that the Misings in hilly areas of the Subansiri-Siang region were subordinate to the Abors and so migrated to the plains to escape their plight.

The most prominent Mising villages in Arunachal Pradesh include Oyan and Namsing of East Siang district.

Young men and women participate in the occasion by singing and dancing at night in the courtyard of every household in the villages to the accompaniment of drums, cymbals, and a gong.

But there was a time when a harvest in summer was very common amongst them and so, Po:rag was celebrated earlier in the months of August or September also.

Another occasion called Dobur is an animistic rite performed occasionally by the village community by sacrificing a sow and some hens for different purposes.

They wear a Gero: a sheet, usually off-white, wrapped round the waist to cover the lower part of the body, or round the chest to cover the body down to the knees or so, or a seleng gasor: a light cotton sheet, worn occasionally instead of a ri:bi or a gaseng.

Other forms of clothing include the riya, a long, comparatively narrow sheet wrapped a bit tightly round the chest.

Married women will wear the segrek, a loose piece of cloth, wrapped round the waist to cover the ege down to the knees.

include a po:tub: a scarf used to protect the head, and nisek: a piece of cloth to carry a baby with.

They also created the sun (Donyi) and the moon (Polo), the wind (echar), water (aasi), fire (ímí), and other aspects of the universe.

These supernatural beings fall into four categories: uyu or ui – usually malevolent spirits inhabiting the waters, the woods, the skies, etc.

While mibus are on their way out amongst the Misings owing to the introduction of modern education and healthcare amongst them, propitiation of supernatural beings continue to mark their religious life.