The "Afterlives" of Wild Pigs:Beyond the Hunt in the Human-Animal-Spirit Worlds of the Mishmi Hills

2026-10-07 - 2026-12-31

Event Title：The "Afterlives" of Wild Pigs:Beyond the Hunt in the Human-Animal-Spirit Worlds of the Mishmi Hills
Speaker:  Ambika Aiyadurai (Associate Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar)
Moderator:  Jeffrey Nicolaisen (Assistant Professor, Department of Religion and Culture, Hsuan Chuang University; Co-convener of Sub-project IV: Multispecies Justice Research Cluster, International Center for Cultural Studies, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University）

Date & Time: October 7, 2026 (Wed.) 13:00–14:30 (GMT+8, Taiwan Time)
Format：hybrid (in-person & online)
Venue: Room 206, Miaoran Building, Hsuan Chuang University

Registration Link：https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSchgyp9wGQ6CsfgOYhRTgJ1PxDwrhJkJ56aDvijHWjjaeWOkw/viewform

* The event will be conducted in English, with Chinese interpretation provided online; for in-person attendees, please bring an internet-connected device and earphones.
* The event will be held in a hybrid format (in person and online). Participants are kindly requested to register in advance, the meeting link will be sent to registered participants before the event. 

Abstract:
In the Indian Eastern Himalayas, both wild and domesticated pigs occupy a significant position among the indigenous societies. They are not just a source of food but are socially and spiritually valuable beings. This talk examines the sociocultural dimension of wild pig hunting in the Mishmi Hills, India. I ask what happens to pigs after they are hunted, and how do the body parts of wild pigs occupy a specific place in the material culture and social worldviews? I will discuss how the agency of hunted wild pigs becomes part of human living spaces that heavily overlap with human–nonhuman and spirit worlds. Skulls and jaws of hunted pigs are not merely material remains but are regulated through social taboos. The post-life journeys of wild pigs are multi-layered, as their remains travel from forests to villages, crossing wild-domestic and human-nonhuman spaces in the human–animal–spirit worlds.

Organizer
Department of Religion and Culture, Hsuan Chuang University
Center for the Study of Buddhism in Taiwan, Hsuan Chuang University   
International Center for Cultural Studies (ICCS), National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University
Sub-Project Ⅳ: Environmental Crises and Multi-species Justice in the 21st Century: Toward Decolonization Beyond the Human

Resource & Sponsorship
National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), Taiwan
Higher Education Sprout Project, Ministry of Education (MOE) in Taiwan

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