This wooden box, tinder, which is found in the Mizo tribe in Mizoram, is a traditional house item used for lighting fire. This simple but very aesthetic piece is a reflection of the practical lifestyle and indigenous knowledge of the Mizo people. Its rectangular box shape, made of one piece of wood, has two little knobs, each with a tiny hole—most probably for ventilation or spark-making.This box opens from the middle feature to store the most useful, essential equipment for making fire such as flint stones, and the iron striker was used purely as one of the traditional thumb methods of the Mizo people to ignite the fire with the spark. All those were once used before hiccups and matches were introduced to the Mizo tribes. It's a compact, easy-to-handle, and easy-to-carry box for everyday usage and travel in this hilly area, mostly used for outside and agri work.
This tinderbox is not merely a functional object but a product of tribal craftsmanship. It reflects how resources are used creatively, along with deep knowledge about natural resources, for the Mizo people. Fire was central to everything-cooking, warmth, and cultural rites. For this reason, it became a vital household item.Such objects are now actioned as cultural relics. They are a window into the Mizo self-sufficient way of life as well as the material culture. They are housed either in museums or in family collections and continue to speak of a bygone age whereby the tender passion of mastering fire was transferred from one hand to another.