Nyiha (Niya) is one of the sons of Abo Tanyi, which is the first perfect human being, and the Nyishi are his descendants.

The Nyishi are geographically concentrated around the Dafla Hill range, located in the northern part of the Papum Pare district.

Previously, they were referred to as Dafla, a term replaced by "Nyishi" through the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Act of 2008.

The principal crops raised include paddy (rice), toppu (maize), mekung (cucumber), tak-yi (ginger), aeng (yams) and temi (millet), thumpe (pumpkin), perring (bean) and some leafy vegetables as their self-subsistence products.

Nowadays It is being supplemented by beaks made of cane or other materials and the entire headgear/cane helmet itself is readily available in the market for purchase.

The clothing of the men consists of two types of sleeveless shirts (letum) and with black and white stripe (pomo) made from thick cotton cloth, striped gaily with blue and red together with a mantle of cotton or wool fastened around the throat and shoulders.

Strings made of beads in varying sizes and colours are also worn, mainly for decoration purposes and to show the wearer's status.

They also carry a machete or dao (uryu) in Nyishi) (short sword) and a knife (chighi) in a bamboo sheath that are mostly covered with animal furs.

Their ornaments consist of a spear with an iron head, a large sword (uryu), and a bow and arrows which are tipped with poison (um-yu).

The Nyishi women generally wear a sleeveless mantle of striped or plain cloth, its upper part tucked tightly over the breast and enveloping the body from the armpits to the centre of the calves addition with different colour tops worn underneath among which red (jwle / jwlang) is generally used .

The Nyishis, who traditionally wear cane helmets surmounted by the crest of a hornbill beak (known as pudum or padam), have considerably affected the population of this bird.

Nature reserves, such as the Pakke Sanctuary, are being set up to protect the birds, while artificial materials, such as fiberglass, have been introduced as an alternative to the hornbill beak in Nyishi dress.