A painting of the first woman GB Teli Kiba.
Keren Rose Ovung
Morung Express Feature
It was somewhere in the 1940’s, a complicated case had arisen in the small village of Ighanumi, the GBs were at their wits end, eventually Sir. Charles Pawsey the then Deputy Commissioner had to personally come and settle the problem. The villagers had never seen a ‘white’ person forget a highly placed official, so it was not surprising that the moment the DC and his entourage entered the village, people scurried to every corner.
A woman by the name Teli Kiba, realizing that the case would never be solved if the villagers were not present began calling out imploring the fearful villagers to come and attend the proceeding. Emboldened by her courage, the petrified villagers slowly trickled to the meeting ground. In the ensuing proceedings, none of the GBs could explain the case satisfactorily so Teli Kiba again stepped in and explained the case clearly in fluent chakhesang dialect (the DBs in the area were all chakhesang then).
The complicated case was hence solved. Charles Pawsey was so impressed with Teli Kiba that he tore a strip of the revered GB shawl and placed it on her shoulders signifying that she had been appointed as GB- a first in the history of Nagas.
Ighanumi is a Sema village situated just below Chozuba where Christianity first came to the Chakhesang area, the faith eventually spread to Ighanumi owing to proximity. Infact Teli Kiba and her husband Ghopuna Kiba GB were the first converts from their village, they sheltered missionaries inspite of opposition from fellow villagers. The couple was richly blessed and became charismatic leaders in their own right, doing a number of charitable works. They are credited with hosting the ‘Kohima Elakha Baptist Association’ in the year 1912 which was the first Baptist Association held in Nagaland.
True to the saying that ‘Behind every successful man, lies a woman’, Mrs. Teli Kiba stood behind her husband giving him inexplicable advice and assisting him in all the cases he settled. Ghopfuna relied on his wife for wisdom in settling complicated cases, it is said that whenever dispute arose between Ighanumi village and other neighboring villages, people of other villages always assumed that they would lose the case as soon as Ghopfuna appeared on the scene. Such was the reputation of the man who reigned with much respect till his death in 1936.
The circumstances as to how Mrs. Teli Kiba became a GB were purely coincidental or perhaps she was in the right place at the right time but her reputation as a GB went far and wide. Legend has it that whenever a major dispute arose Mrs. Teli would set out for her journey to Kohima (her village being 77kms away) with the red cloth of a GB on her shoulder, a prestigious necklace adorning her neck and aided by a metal walking stick, followed by her loyalist carrying rice beer and rations for the journey. It is said that
The couple was blessed with three daughters. After the death of her husband, Teli was faced with the humiliation of having her own brother-in-law remove the three stones from her kitchen hearth (signifying that she was to vacate the house as she had no male heir). A very humiliated Teli took this case to Sir Charles Pawsey himself who after proper examination of the case declared her the sole heir of all her late husband’s property with also a stern penalty on anyone who harassed her further on this matter.
During the proceedings, Mrs. Teli Kiba stood up confidently and firmly fought for her rights, the fact that she was not educated never hampered her as she was exceptionally intelligent and logical. Her confidence and wisdom even won her the respect of British dignitaries and other GBs who relied on her for peaceful settlements in complicated cases.
During her time as GB, Mrs. Teli Kiba brought reforms which were well ahead of her times and is followed by her clan to this day. Before she became GB, penalty was imposed on an animal who grazed on another man’s field other than its master’s field, Teli declared this illegal and abolished this system on the grounds that humans have reasoning power but animals have no reasoning power.
Mrs. Teli Kiba, learning from her own experience, also made some reforms regarding the status of women. She legalized women’s absolute right and liberty over her husband’s property in the event of his death unless infidelity was found in her. This right was absolute and standing even if the woman had no male heir or even remarried. Correspondingly, the right to inheritance of a female child was also declared legal if the parents happen to have no male heir. A female child until and unless married was given equal rights over her parent’s property. Any property given to a female child by her parents during their lifetime was considered legitimate and unchallengeable by any male relative.
