ABSTRACT
WHILE the Apa Tanis’ economy and political system are without parallel among the tribal populations of the North-East Frontier Agency their religious practices and ideas conform in general to an overall pattern common to such tribes as Abors, Miris and Daflas. This similarity between the world-view of as stable a community as the Apa Tani tribe and the insecure and turbulent society of the Daflas must appear as a challenge to the theory that religion is basically a reflection of social situations and suggests the possibility that an ideology rooted in a specific cultural background can persist with little modification in societies of very different structure and character. Yet, before the theoretical implication of this situation can profitably be elaborated, both Apa Tani and Dafla religion needs to be investigated much more intensively than it has so far been done. My own inquiries among the Apa Tanis, often overshadowed by political and administrative preoccupations, were least intensive in the sphere of religion, a sphere in which mere observation yields few results, and nothing can replace the insight gained by long and undisturbed work with selected informants. Such work was seldom possible, and the following observations are offered as a preliminary sketch of an apparently very complex system of ideas and ritual practices.
