Extending perspectivism to India's 'last wild place': the ontology of wildlife and its flourishing and decline in the Eastern Himalayas

Engaging recent debates about perspectivism and multinaturalism this paper explores ritualised perceptions of the commodity chains linking forest animals to human hunters in the remote uplands of Arunachal Pradesh in the Eastern Himalayas 'biodiversity hotspot'. The paper will explore how the multiple perspectives of Nyishi hunters and the spirit masters upholding critical landscape processes and the flourishing of forest animals translate into property rights and the vertical division of the landscape into human-owned and spirit-owned lands.