Abrahama Lotha
Last week there were news reports in some of the local papers about the use of the new State logo by the Nagaland government. The mithun has replaced the Ashokan pillar in the new logo, and the word ‘Unity’ depicts the aspiration of the Nagas and the Government of Nagaland. Some, like the write-up in The Telegraph (June 30,2005), have criticized it as politically motivated linking it to the issue of Naga integration.
The Nagaland Congress party rejects it a DAN logo with a lame excuse that the mithun looks “sick, not authoritative and majestic” and that the words ‘Government of Nagaland’ should have been above the word ‘unity. However, adopting an indigenous logo is a step in the right direction.
The mithun as a Naga symbol of well-being and prosperity is a right choice for an indigenous logo. But the real challenge for the Nagas to be authentic and assertive of our identity is more than the use of the new State logo; we also have to be aware of the unexamined new practices in the society and work towards a political, economic and socio-cultural well-being that represents the authentic Naga society. Let me suggest three examples where the discussions can begin.
Some years ago, I gave a small gift to a cousin for her father. She immediately said, “Oh, this is the perfect time because next Sunday is Father’s Day.” I thought to myself, “What is this Father’s Day? Who is celebrating it? How, when and who began it? Why are we celebrating it in Nagaland?” The last two years, I have been a beneficiary of Father’s day celebrations in Nagaland.
Two years ago, at a Father’s Day celebration in the Cathedral parish, Kohima, I heard the M.C. read out the history of Father’s Day. Inspired by the efforts of Sonora Dodd who began celebrating Father’s Day in 1910 to honor her father, President Lyndon Johnson, in 1966, signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as national Father’s Day. In 1972, President Richard Nixon signed the law making it permanent. As I sat and listened to this history, I asked myself, if Father’s Day was meant to be a national celebration for the people of United States, why are the people of Nagaland also celebrating it? Why are Nagas celebrating someone else’s national holiday?
Such thoughts led me to ponder on another recent practice in the Naga society: Mother’s Day. In Nagaland, Mother’s Day has been celebrated in Baptist churches for quite a number of years. Now it is celebrated in almost all the churches in Nagaland even in the remote areas of the State.
On a number of occasions I asked people, pastors included, why they were celebrating Mother’s Day but never received a satisfactory answer. A day for honoring mothers has been celebrated in various parts of the world in different ways – form the Greek celebration dedicated to Rhea, the mother of many deities, to Mothering Day in England. In the United States, President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day on May 14, 1914. The second Sunday of May has become very popular in the U.S. as a day of honoring mothers by their children in appreciation for their love and motherhood.
So far, both Mother’s Day and Father’s Day celebrations in Nagaland have been confined to churches and it may be about time that Nagas become aware of blind celebrations. In the Naga culture parents are respected tremendously perhaps even more so than in American culture. Mothers, like the Naga Mothers Association, are a formidable and positive force in the Naga society for combating social evils. Can the Nagas, then, come up with something original to celebrate and honor mothers and fathers instead of imitating American national celebrations? I am not suggesting that we stop honoring our mothers or fathers. If anything, honoring parents should be a life-long duty. But can the Nagas celebrate motherhood and fatherhood in an indigenous way?
The third example concerns the Naga national anthem. Every time I am at a function in Nagaland when people sing, “God Bless my Nagaland”, I cannot but feel ashamed that Nagas have to adopt as their anthem the unofficial national anthem of United States. The song “God Bless America” was written by Irving Berlin in 1918, and popularized by singer Kate Smith who introduced the revised version during her radio broadcast on Armistice Day, 1938. “God Bless America” is a quintessentially American song. This anthem, with its history, is meaningful for Americans, but does not resonate with the Nagas. How can the Nagas stand up and sing with pride a borrowed song? Whenever I hear “God Bless my Nagaland” being sung, I suffer from a feeling of disconnectedness. Where are the prairies of Nagaland? What “ocean white with foam” are we singing about? Our political leaders make so much ado about the uniqueness of Naga identity and history, yet our anthem is a copy of another country’s song that does not relate to the Naga reality.
To plagiarize an American song and use it as our national anthem defeats our claims for a rich culture and unique history. It only shows a lack of talents and originality. It is a national shame. Imagine how absurd it would be if Naga festivals like Tokhu Emung, Sekreyni and the Hornbill festival were celebrated in the United States as national holidays? Or, what if a popular Naga folk song was adopted as the national anthem of United States? It might inflate the ego of the Nagas, but to the people of United States, it would be not just stupid but unthinkable.
Is Naga culture a culture of imitation? How can we begin to reclaim our pride? The Nagas are musically very talented people. Can we sing our own original anthem? Can the NSF or Naga Hoho or the State Government initiate a process to have our own original anthem? The real question is: Can Nagas be original?
The writer is a Father in a Parish in New York and is also currently pursuing his further studies.
