The North East Indian Linguistic Society (NEILS) was formed in 2005 by Jyotiprakash Tamuli (Gauhati University), a specialist in Assamese, and Mark Post (then at La Trobe University, now University of Sydney), who works on the Tani languages of Arunachal Pradesh. They were soon joined by Stephen Morey (La Trobe University) who had been working on Tai and Singpho languages in Assam since 1996.

It was decided between them that a forum should be provided for the growing number of international and local scholars working on the languages of the North East, with a focus on typological and descriptive linguistics. The first international meeting of the newly constituted NEILS was thus held at the Phanidar Dutta Seminar Hall, Gauhati University, Assam, India on the 6 and 7 February 2006. [Source: NEIL vol. 1, p. v]