Dr Eyingbeni Humtsoe-Nienu
Every festival has cultural and historical meaning or a focal element. The Naga ancestral festivals were mostly observed around agricultural practices. Hence, most of them are either pre-harvest or post-harvest festivals. Likewise, in modern times there are festival around fruits and vegetables. The famous Thanamir Apple Festival, Aliba Cucumber Festival or Rosüma Orange Festival are few instances. There is variety of the specific fruit and veggies on display, sale, and for consumption. More of such festivals are evident in recent times and excellently portrays the perseverance of the farming community and their conscious effort to cultivate, promote, and earn from the specific produce. Then there are festivals around professions and skills. The Brilliante Piano Festival is a gift from Nagaland to the rest of the world. This year it took the event to Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India, with street pianos and stage performances on the instrument. There are craft exhibitions and sales named accordingly.
Coming to the Hornbill Festival (HF), and particularly on its 25th edition, I’m really wanting to know what it really is about, particularly in connection with the name - Hornbill. Being a Government of Nagaland (GoN) initiative, the HF draws in large number of local, national, and international visitors to Kisama (HF venue) during the first ten days of December. Its hotchpotch nature is obvious to everyone in Nagaland. The website hornbillfestival.com underlines the rationale for the Festival as “to encourage inter-tribal interaction and to promote cultural heritages of Nagaland….” Then, should it not have been called by a name or a word relevantly representing that objective? But why Hornbill? What is the festival’s link to the majestic bird, the (Great) Hornbill? The same website informs that the reason for naming of the festival after the bird is credited to the Hornbill being “the globally respected bird and which is displayed in folklore in most of the state’s tribes.” So, what is the GoN trying to convey to the public in relation to this reality? Is it attempting to highlight the glory of the past wherein hornbills adorned the vast expanse of Nagaland’s forest? Is it a way of mourning the decline of the bird’s population? Is it trying to send out the message that Naga traditional heritages tied to the bird are as fragile as the state of hornbills today? Is it a message that restoration of biodiversity is an emergency response against climate change? Is it an affirmation of Christian duty towards nature as co-creators with God (Genesis 1: 28)? Why not! These (hypothetical) questions may turn out to be crucial for asking if HF is to be conscientiously different in the next 25 years.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2018 lists the Great Hornbill as a “Vulnerable” species. But many believe it’s already “endangered” in Nagaland. The elders of Wokha rues the conspicuous absence of the Hornbill from the Tiyi mountain forests due to rampant deforestation or, perhaps, the incremental effect of climate change. The GoN brands HF as ‘the Festival of festivals.’ Ironically, bearing the name of the bird has not done much for the bird’s wellbeing. The people of Nagaland are yet to see significant long-term measures and engagement for the life, health, and numerical growth of the hornbills. It's interesting to note that only in its 24th edition of the HF, a “Run for Hornbill: Against Time” was organized by the concerned Department (GoN) for committing to the bird’s conservation. It may be praised as a case of “better late than never” but such an initiative was necessary from the moment of selecting the name for the festival. At 25 we can only imagine the positive impact it could have made on the Hornbill population had such programs started that many years back!
The significance of Hornbill, for the GoN, must go beyond romanticizing the bird and its linkage to folk heritages. The fact that, as a largely fruit-eating bird, hornbills are dubbed as farmers or engineers of the forest and can grow an entire forest through its wide seed dispersing skill, should inspire pro-active programs, not just one-time events. It could be common knowledge that hornbills’ role in generating forest trees also earns them the distinction as “indicator species”. Their endangered status directly indicates that Nagaland’s green cover is at stake and vice versa. According to the grow-tress.com an environmental project Trees for Hornbill has committed itself to planting 60,000 appropriate trees in 2024-25 in two villages of Phek. The need for large scale reforestation and afforestation is crucial for hornbills to survive and thrive and, also, for gaining ecological balance. This has become more urgent with environmental disasters occurring regularly in every nook and cranny of Nagaland.
It is most frivolous to pick a nice-sounding name for a state festival and be unmindful of the fading local symbols it represents and urgent global responsibility it invokes. If a festival is to be named after an endangered bird, it is an obligation of the state Government to shift focus from entertainment to seriously consider putting the spotlight on the bird and investing a substantial portion of the festival’s return towards advocacy, conservation, and propagation of the hornbills. Then, the Festival will really have a distinct purpose and significance for the greater good of all.
The writer is Professor of Christian Theology, United Theological College, Bangalore, KA
