Kehecigwangle
The Nagas are a conglomerate of different tribes inhabiting the North-Eastern part of India. The tribes have similar cultures and traditions, and form the majority ethnic group in the state of Nagaland and Manipur. The Nagas has a unique identity of their own which distinguish them from other tribal groups in the region. Out of the numerous unique identities of the Nagas, the traditional items used by them were distinct from that of the other tribal. Such items are the conical red head-gear, decorated with wild boar canine teeth and white black hornbill feathers, the spear with the shaft decorated with red-black hairs and the unique dao with broad blade and long handle. There are sixteen officially recognised tribes in the state of Nagaland, out of which fourteen are the Naga tribes.
Nagas traditionally lived in the villages. The village is a well defined entity with distinct land demarcation from neighbouring villages. Each has a dialect of its own, which fosters a strong sense of social solidarity within the village. Almost every home rear pigs, as pigs do need much care and provide meat. The people of the village are held together by social, economic, political and ritual ties. The villages have their own identity, but not in isolation, as there are interdependent relationships with neighbouring villages. The impact of modernisation is slowly but steadily eroding the centrality of villages as a social unit, as commercial towns begin to emerge in different parts of the Naga Hills. This has brought about drastic changes in the values, lifestyles and social set up of the people.
The historical places, flora and fauna, famous villages, festivals, the landscape, local cuisines, the folklores, cultural diversity constitutes the Naga heritage. However at times, questions arise in one’s mind as to why we should worry about the value or preservation of our old, outdated house and buildings, their remains, cultural heritage and other similar things. Several people do not like even to have links with the past. This however is not right. Heritage is very important; it is the reflection of the identity the people of a nation. One identifies himself or herself with hers or his heritage, which gives a sense of pride. Own cultural heritage is a mirror of our national unity.
Our state is developing faster than anyone will have expected, though not much as compared to other states. The authorities are out to make for themselves huge financial and business centres in an effort to make our Nagaland modern and great. The authorities are destroying many symbols of Naga heritage. Some old markets are being modified with glass or clay tiles, replacing their original styles. The private owners of some heritage buildings are being given out to the government authorities, so as to enable them to make changes, completely different from the original one.
Our Nagaland needs to be saved in every sense of the word. Building more infrastructures without proper planning will only add to congestion, traffic jams and pollutions. Encroaching upon old buildings which has been preserved as our art and architecture for centuries, and giving them a new look will not make our state great. Therefore, our heritage must be left as they are, if at all, they need repair, it should be done by experts in the field, in such a way that the originality is kept intact. We must preserve the spirit of our state which is embodied in their landmarks.
From the time of our forefathers, the practice of preservation of our Naga heritage is strictly maintained. They honour and value our Naga heritage. Being the youths of the present generation, we should take care and preserve it well for the future generation as well. The maintenance of our Heritage today is more of symbolic than for real, like the Naga Heritage village, the few tourist villages and museums.
Preservations and valuation is important because the future generation must also experience and learn from what our forefathers have preserved for them and they should also learn to do all these things tomorrow. Being a Naga, we should not lose this rich tradition and heritage of ours which has been handed down to us by our forefather which is a sign of our unique identity. The preservation of such heritage will show how we honour and respect our tradition and heritage. This will make our land beautiful and popular.
To keep these things alive, we should all work together and maintain it well by keeping it clean and eco-friendly. As we all know, “Unity is Strength” we must start working without any discrimination. Nagas, no doubt consists of different tribes, however we should work together as one big extended family and make effort in the preservation of our heritage. Celebrating Hornbill Festival is one of the important measures to preserve our rich heritage. Before the beginning of the festival, the youths of different tribes were ask to repair their own morungs, so that they maintain and preserve it for the celebration every year. Awareness programmes on preservation of our rich heritage should be conducted in every educational institutions, colleges, offices and university.
The importance and value of our heritage needs to be made known to all as it needs a collective effort. Though it is considered outdated and old fashion, it is still our tradition, so we must value it and preserve it well. Many people are influenced by the western styles and our heritage is on the verge of extinction. So in order to tackle this problem, we must altogether put up some important measures by putting up awareness programmes. Preservation is very much important for our Naga people, so we should start maintaining and preserving our resources and heritage so that we may live as a proud people who still maintain and preserve our rich Naga heritage.
(The above is the winning essay written by Kehecigwangle, Patkai Christian College, Chumukedima. The contest was part of the Heritage week, conducted by Young Indians, Nagaland Chapter)
