Lemwang Chuhwanglim
Researcher and Activist
Culture is an identity based on the primordial way of life among the Naga society. This culture is regarded as a traditional way of life, embodied in a particular band or community of customary behavior, institutions and artifacts (Ingold, 1993) among the Naga society. I understand culture as a common understanding and identification of practices, behaviors, things and knowledge that emerges from the integrated ideas of the common people in a particular society. This uniformity of thought being oneness and “sense of belonging” in a society, despite great diversity, that becomes the identity of a particular ethnic group which plays a significant role in culture. In this way, Naga people have the feeling of belonging through a cultural identity in language, traditions, artifacts, appearance and so on. When cultural identity in language is concerned, there is a notion of commonality of language among the Nagas, For instance, among the Konak tribe, each individual has the agency to identify his/her position as a younger or an older person by using a prefix when he/she addresses someone in the society. An older person is always addressed with a prefix Ajeisong (older brother), Anyasong (Older sister), Tanti (Middle sister/brother), Ahusong (older uncle), Ahuki (younger uncle), Pushong (oldest grandfather), Pishong (oldest grandmother), Kira (youngest brother/sister) and so on. The same identity of language is found among other Naga tribes. In this way, language plays a significant role in cultural identity among any ethnic group based on the commonality in the society (Friedman, 1995).
With a topic such as “saving culture is saving identity”, one may argue for obliterating some non-contextual parts of a culture, such as headhunting and a few others. Indeed there are some cultural practices among the Nagas that cannot be saved from generation to generations. However, as American socialist Dean Bell expresses, today each of us needs to regain our cultural past and a lost traditional identity (Bell, 1978). As a whole, Naga people need a deep concern on saving culture that can remain from generation to generation; both orally and written. Saving culture is important because culture is your identity that represents where you come from and to which ethnicity you belong. One may argue that identity changes; yes, the identity of a person changes when he/she gets out of a particular society to become a part of another society. However, as long as a person lives in the society of the culture in which she/he grows up, the particular culture from the commonality of the society at large remains her/his identity. This means that although social and cultural evolution takes place, the history of the particular society will remain the identity of the people in that particular society. Similarly, the French historian Jacques Le Goff expresses that in our cultural identity, we search for the primordial meanings found in the past that allow the discovery of the past to have an authentic culture in the present (Friedman, 1995). In this way, every single behavior and artifact of the Naga society has historical meaning. This meaning becomes the cultural identity of a person; both within and outside of the particular society.
I now want to focus on the significance of cultural identity through artifacts. According to anthropologist Tim Ingold, when we make something, there is always meaning in our minds about what we are going to make. Which meaning comes first before the artifact is made? For instance, when someone builds a house, makes furniture, a statue, a sculpture, dresses, costumes, and so on, the first and foremost thing that comes to the human being is the meaning. This meaning is related to the way of life of the people in the community (Ingold, 1993). To argue whether this is culture or not will lead to an unending story. This is why Fiona Cownie says that culture is not an easy concept. However, it gives the enduring tools to create perceptions and a common idea about what it means to be of a culture in a particular society (Cownie, 2004). If culture is a way of thinking, feeling and believing that is integrated intp a way of life of people (Geertz, 1973), Naga people would inevitably have common thinking, feelings and beliefs about those artifacts portrayed in different traditional costumes.
Similarly, many Naga tribes have various artifacts colorfully patterned and vibrant such as shawls, mekhala (wrap around), necklaces, hornbill bird feathers, wild boar teeth, bear fur and many others. Among these, so many artifacts, shawls, and mekhala (wrap around) are often displayed by the Naga people who wear the woolen shawl during the winter season. For instance, an Angami women’s shawl is called Loramhosii and it can also be used as a wrap around; it has one name, but it can have dual meanings and purposes. There is a slight difference when it is worn as a shawl; the tips of the Loramhosii are woven in white. When it is worn as wrap around, the tips are green in shade. The Loramhosii is worn to indicate status and how young unmarried girls symbolize and show their single status (Azo). An Ao woman’s shawl is called Angdong Su (Etsung Su) and it is a common shawl. It is woven with royal blue and black yarn and is starched. Some come with bigger black lines and some with thinner lines (ignore the smoking pipe). Osak Sü was worn in olden days. It is woven with white yarn and dyed with wild Osak leaves (which give a discolored black tint). It is still worn by women during festivals. (Angdong Sü and Züngijang, or Waro Süpedi, are commonly worn by Ao women on all occasions) (Taliakam).
Chang men’s shawls are colorfully decorated and the ornaments convey meaning to the observer as it signifies one’s identity. It also acts as a form of non-verbal communication to the people. Costumes are more than simple articles of clothing; they are aesthetic expressions of culture and identity. Amongst all its costumes, the Changs assign a great importance to their shawls. From the shawl, the public could easily make out the special status of a man. It says that in the past, a person was not allowed to wear the shawl of his/her choice, as it stood to signify the social status of that person (Benjamin Chang). Konyak shawls with red and a thin line of black color has the design of a sculpture that is adopted from sculpts found in a horizontal beam found in a Morung. Morung is the most significant and the primal house built in every village. There are many other meanings in the different artifacts from other tribes such as the Sumi, Phom, Sangtam, and so on, in Naga society.
In this way, the meaning portrayed in cultural costumes becomes the identity of the people. People in the Naga ethnic society must save this cultural identity so that it remains from generation to generation. Every single Naga should be encouraged to know the meaning of this cultural identity without relegating the historical meaning of it. It should also be encouraged to give a cultural education to young people so that he/she does not end up in mortification when such valuable cultural identity is kept unknown.
The author would like to convey a significant and a prosperous Aoleang and Monyu festivals to people from Konyak and Phom tribes who are celebrating their cultural festival throughout this week.