Ink and Identity: A Comprehensive Study of Tribal Scripts Designs in Northeast India

Abstract: This study investigates the indigenous writing systems of Northeast India’s tribal communities, home to over 220 ethnic groups with vibrant yet marginalized cultural legacies. Focusing on constructed scripts such as Koch (Kocha or Koch Rabha Tribe), Wancho (Wancho), Toto (Toto Tribe), Ruanghiak (Raungmei Naga), Tangsa (Tangsa Tribes), and Naga Scripts (Naga Tribes), the research repositions these systems as dynamic embodiments of cultural resilience, operating within liminal spaces of transition that mediate between tradition and modernity. Functioning as tactile, performative interfaces, they challenge colonial-era erasure and misclassification, embodying a liminal transition where heritage and resistance coalesce. The study examines sociocultural histories, design strategies, and revitalisation efforts using ethnographic methods like field visits, participatory observation, and interviews with script creators, community leaders, and youth.
Key inquiries address:
(1) historical-political contexts shaping script emergence;
(2) their role in identity reclamation and sustaining cultural continuity through liminality;
(3) design adaptability and sociocultural cohesion driving Toto, Wancho, and Tangsa adoption; and
(4) Typographic interventions to amplify marginalized scripts like Koch and Ruanghiak.

By framing these scripts as liminal bridges, the study underscores their dual role in visual communication, intergenerational knowledge transfer, and decolonial cultural praxis.