Indians For Guns

I got this one on a trip to Arunachal Pradesh, somewhere near Tipi. A well used blade but I loved the clever sheath and the fact that it was an Indian knife. Who khows what it has helped bring down.
Seems like mild steel, 4 mm X 28 mm, bone/wood/copper handle
Probably a Miji tribe knife.
Think it was called 'dao' locally. Any of you guys know for sure?

28 cm

All 7 north east states tribes has their own knifes. So we have lotz of different kind of knifes for various uses. That knife in pic is not "dao". Dao is a traditional knife of assam. Generally used for day to day activities. Not for hunting or attacking or self defense. The knife in pic is a nyishi traditional knife called "Ryukchak" And there is no tribe called miji exist in arunachal pradesh.

Hi gogo,
> Nice looking blades
> It certainly isn't a Daw - As basically Daws do not sport a point - the tip normally looks like an awl without the curvature (blade aficianados can correct me)
> The Kukhri is a nice piece...
> Happy collection.... waiting to see more of them
Briha

Thanks Brihaji.
I am only calling it a dao as a placeholder. The guy who sold it to me called it a dao, but I know that it could not be one as other Miji dados were indeed not pointed, although they had a similar sheath. I was unable to get the local name then so remain ignorant.
Btw there is some excellent fishing in Tipi.

Hi
In Arunachal Pradesh there are 3 major tribes Nyishi, Adi & Apatani. These blades are called "Dao" & their size vary according to the hierarchy of each tribe. I have seen Nyishi tribe Dao ranging upto 3 feet & my friend had hard time taking it out from sheath in one go & believe me they are heavy. In Nyokum festival (Nyishi tribe) they sacrifice Mithun (Yak n Cow,hybrid if i am not mistaken) with a single strike. This is probably an Apatani "Dao" used for multipurpose works. You would be glad to see some fancy sheath with Hornbill beaks & feathers to it, treated as status symbol. Arunachalis are very passionate about their "Dao"s, I have seen every friend of mine were in possession of one. Though the present generation doesnt carry with them any more, but if you happen to visit Itanagar, Nirjuli or Naharlagun you can see elderly people carrying it with pride.
regards Moulindu

Hi never seen one like that... You got some good collection mate...
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Awesome find Gogo........ Any pics of the shops that sell this.... Thanks

Regards
Moin.

I actually called a friend in Arunachal to seek more infor but no luck. He maintains that all arunachali knives are daos! Will keep pursuing more info.
@Moin I got this off a villager I met while fishing near Tipi, not from a shop. I do have some pics of the fishing trip but no shops, sorry.