Akangjungla
The Indigenous People around the world identify their existence based on their lands, cultures, livelihoods, distinct beliefs, language and ethnic genesis. In all these, food is something everyone can relate without difficulty. Food has the powerful ability to create its own emotional experience relating to a particular person, place or instance, and also create stories and memories of its own. In the Indigenous communities, gathering around a table of food is an act of respect and coming together. Indigenous food embodies traditional knowledge and symbolises deeper cultural meaning. Beyond the ingredients and traditional recipes themselves, Indigenous foods are instilled with other aspects including the cultural continuity, the ‘idea of sustainability, food security, nutrition, healthy living, agricultural practices and adaptive response to climate change.’
The fast process of interaction and integration among people globally and the increasing cultural contacts have interrupted the food practices among the Indigenous People. This has raised concerns among the advocates of Indigenous People and also scholars engaging them in discourses, policy development and pushing for promotion and preservation of this cultural heritage.
Storytelling is an important part of Naga Indigenous People and culture. Today, the storytelling has shifted from the welcoming sitting around the kitchen fire to a narration form where one or few voices share their stories across the screen. In a positive trend, many Nagas are reviving and taking forward the Indigenous food system through the medium of social media.
A self-taught vlogger, Kent registered his first YouTube channel in August 2018 and till date he has over 454K subscribers and uploaded 158 videos. In his attempt to share the Naga culture and food habits to the world, Kents Vlog shows how Nagas eat and their very way of life and most of his videos are shot in his village (Sendenyu). Through his channel, Kent shares about food such as axone, bamboo shoots, grasshopper, snail, crab, king chilly and also some traditional practices like primitive bee hunting without any protection, harvesting and fermenting bamboo shoots. In Instagram, Naga home cooks are gaining popularity for their contents as ‘Food Influencers.’ cooking_with_li (Naga home cook), the_rumbling_spoons_ (Nagaland Pickles and Naga Food), etssoyu (authentic dishes from tribal kitchen) and few others have been sharing content on easy recipes of Indigenous Naga foods, the process smoking meat, fish, harvesting the kitchen garden produce and preserving seasonal items etc.
Their purpose and content might not be of the institutional resilience approach, however, they are contributing to the movement to reclaim and restore the Indigenous food of the Naga people by showing the ways of Indigenous food that is thoughtfully harvested and prepared with much reverence. By merging the ancestral knowledge and recipes with modern-day techniques, many forgotten traditional ingredients and recipes are forging a path for Indigenous food to take its rightful place, not just in the Naga kitchen but anywhere else in the world. Indigenous foods which were viewed as inferior and unfit for consumption are now being celebrated as culinary delights.
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