The Wancho are Naga indigenous people inhabiting the Patkai hills of Longding district in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. Culturally Naga, they are ethnically related to the Nocte of Arunachal Pradesh and Konyak of Nagaland. The Wancho language belongs to the Tibeto-Burman family under Northern Naga languages
Religion
Unlike other Naga, the Wancho, together with the Nocte and a small minority of the Konyak, still retain the belief of Animism. These Animist Wancho believe in the existence of two powerful deities, Rang and Baurang.
Christianity has gained some followers among the Wancho, many of whom belong to the Baptist or Catholic denominations. Acceptance of Christianity has largely to do with comparative influences from the Nagas of Nagaland as well as changing perspectives towards headhunting. However, this has also resulted in the decline in many aspects of their traditional culture, which has strong associations with religion.[2]
At the 2001 census, just 10% of the Wancho were Hindu and another 16% were Animist (2.55% Hindu and 0.55% Animist as per 2011 census).