ECOLOGICAL JURISPRUDENCE AND KINSHIP ETHICS: CUSTOMARY LAW, FAMILY SYSTEM, AND ENVIRONMENTAL BONDING AMONG THE NYISHI TRIBE OF ARUNACHAL PRADESH

Abstract

This paper critically examines the interconnections between customary law, kinship systems, and ecological bonding among the Nyishi tribe of Arunachal Pradesh, India. It foregrounds how indigenous jurisprudence and family structures act as frameworks for environmental sustainability and cultural continuity. The Nyishi, a major tribal community of Arunachal Pradesh, embody a patrilineal and patrilocal kinship model wherein inheritance, marriage customs, and family obligations are governed by orally transmitted customary laws. These legal-ethical codes extend beyond interpersonal relations to include non-human entities, forests, rivers, and landscapes. Drawing on ethnographic studies, anthropological reports, and ecological literature, the study illustrates how Nyishi customary law incorporates ecological ethics through ritual practices, taboos, and ancestral belief systems. Practices such as widow inheritance, clan exogamy, and patrilineal succession are shown to intersect with ecological responsibilities, particularly in the regulation of land use, shifting cultivation, and forest management. The paper adopts an ecocritical lens to argue that the Nyishi worldview constitutes a form of ecological jurisprudence in which spirits, sacred groves, and taboos serve as normative agents limiting ecological exploitation. At the same time, it recognizes that Nyishi customary law is under stress from modern legal systems, religious transformation, and market economies, leading to tensions between traditional ecological knowledge and contemporary developmental pressures. The analysis concludes that the Nyishi family system and customary law, when understood through ecological jurisprudence, offer valuable insights for environmental conservation, indigenous rights, and sustainable development. By acknowledging both the strengths and challenges of these systems, this paper contributes to wider discourses on legal pluralism, ecocriticism, and indigenous ecological ethics.