Like most tribes in Arunachal Pradesh, there is an inherent lack of authenticated records regarding the Apatani tribe's history. However, history has been recorded and remembered through the tribe's oral traditions or representations, performances, and culture. These representations are complex and diverse in nature. 

Mainly, there are two oral genres — miji and migung. In miji, priests chant while sacrificing animals like cows, chickens, and pigs, called a ritual performance. These performances explain past interactions with gods or spirits and highlight origin myths. Migung is a bit more historical and is narrated through prose. The stories describe the tribe's origin, genealogy, migration, and urban legends connected to their occupation (weaving).

Cotton, also known as 'empya' by the Apatani tribe, is abundant in their regions. To begin weaving the textile, raw cotton is spun to create a thread. In order to do this, the fibers are separated from seeds using a thin stick called lekho. This process is known as 'ginning.' The fibers are then shaped into a ball with a tafo, a spindle used to combine and twist the fibers together, creating thread or yarn. Once cotton fibers have become yarn, a wooden frame made of bamboo called hornanii is used to make loops. At this step, dyes can be added as per the desired outcome. Generally, vegetable-based dyes are made from plants like tamin, which provides a red-orange color, and sankhii, which produces a brown-yellow color. Balls are formed with the loops using a spinning wheel called piirii-e, and the yarn is finally ready to be woven into the beautiful Apatani textile with a back-strap tension loom.

The main tools for weaving are simply a collection of bamboo and wooden sticks that form a framework. First, a warp is formed by stretching the yarn between two parallel bamboo sticks. The warp is then passed on top of the bamboo, then under and over the lower end, and up and over the bamboo placed on the bottom.

This step is repeated until there is enough thread for the tribal women to weave with. Finally, the weft is threaded through the warp using a bamboo tube shuttle called lokho,' and a round stick is known as 'gochi nanii' is attached underneath the warp to support the woven fabric.