The Puroik are a tribe of the hill-tracts of Arunachal Pradesh in India. They speak the Puroik language. The Puroik people are found in an estimated 53 villages in the districts of Subansiri and Upper Subansiri, Papumpare, Kurung Kumey and East Kameng along the upper reaches of the Par River. They number more than 10,000 people according to latest survey.[1]
They are a "Scheduled Tribe" in India. They claim kinship with the Khowa (Bugun). Economically, they are at a transitional stage between a hunter gatherer lifestyle and agriculturalism. They retain their traditional religion, with some adherence to either Hinduism or Christianity.
- ^ Joshua Project estimates 7,000, with about 400 living across the Chinese border. SIL Ethnologue estimates 5,000 speakers of Puroik as of 2007. Some Puroik use Nishi as their primary language. Population estimates were somewhat higher in the 1990s, with 10,000 to 12,000 reported in the 1991 Indian census. Chaudhuri, Sarit Kumar; Chaudhuri, Sucheta Sen (2005). Primitive Tribes in Contemporary India: Concept, Ethnography and Demography. Mittal Publications. pp. 367–368. ISBN 978-81-8324-026-0. Retrieved 12 April 2012.