@ayellowbirds Thank you for this!!

A few small corrections:

1. ‘Hynñiew trep’ (seven huts) is a part of folklore and refers to a place from which two tribes emerged: the Khasi and the Jaiñtia. Contemporarily, a region in eastern Meghalaya is called Ri Hynñiew Trep, where both the Khasi and the Jaiñtia tribes reside. It it does not refer to people and we do not call ourselves Hynñiew Trep.

2. Root bridges are not just located in Sohra (Cherrapunji is the colonial name of this town), but rather all throughout Meghalaya, particularly in the southern part. The earliest record of root bridges was in 1844, which happened to be the ones found in Sohra. Both Khasis and Jaiñtias have made root bridges for generations.

ALSO I’d like to point out that the root bridges and the environment that surrounds them are in danger due to tourism. Excessive advertising of these structures as tourist spots have caused stress that the roots have never had to endure even two decades prior. From being used by just the local residents, quite a few root bridges are now seeing hundreds of tourists everyday. There’s not only undue strain on the structures, but also pollution; people throw trash, are noisy, and do not respect the environment.

If you do visit the root bridges, please be respectful. Despite the prominent promotion of these bridges as tourist spots, people ought not to treat this as a structure available for consumption. People and other beings that use the root bridges are losing a very useful part of their lives; routes that have been around for centuries.

Why I have cred: I’m half Khasi