The Chugpa are one of the few smaller tribes of Arunachal Pradesh

Arunachal Pradesh

Arunachal Pradesh is a state of India, located in the far northeast. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south, and shares international borders with Burma in the east, Bhutan in the west, and the People's Republic of China in the north. The majority of the territory is claimed by...

, living in the West Kameng

West Kameng

West Kameng is a district of Arunachal Pradesh in India. It accounts for 8.86% of the total area of the state. Under Chinese sovereignty claim, West Kameng falls under the jurisdiction of Cuona County of Shannan Prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region...

 district around Dirang. They are a tribe of the Monpa.

Like other Monpa, they are also adherents of Tibetan Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...

. However, like the Lishipa

Lishipa

The Lishipa is a tribal group found in the Dirang area in the West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh in India. They are ethnically related to both the Chugpa and Monpa, in which they are officially classified as a tribe of the Monpa. However, the relative affinity of their linguistic origins to...

, they are considered just as inferior to the Monpa as both groups are descended from the early waves of immigrants from Tibet

Tibet

Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

 via Bhutan

Bhutan

Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...

 or from Tibet

Tibet

Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

. Like most Buddhist tribes, they built houses based on stones and follow a Tibetan Buddhist culture, though they might not be as advanced as the Monpa. Their language belongs to the Tibeto-Burman group.