Nagas
The Nagas (with an estimated population of 3.5 million in 2000) are a group of tribes inhabiting Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, and Nagaland states in northeast India and neighboring areas of Myanmar (Burma). The 1971 census conducted by the Republic of India identified sixteen major Naga communities, namely the Angami, Ao, Chakhesang, Chang, Chirr, Khiamngan, Konyak, Lohta, Makware, Phom, Rengma, Sangtam, Sema, Tikhir, Yimchunger, and Zeliang. Of Mongoloid stock, Nagas probably migrated to northeast India from central China. Every Naga tribe speaks its own language, and sixty spoken dialects have been identified. All Naga languages belong to the Tibeto-Burmese branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family.
Naga tribes have their own distinctive shawls. The older people of some communities of eastern Nagaland have elaborate tattoo marks. Among different Naga tribes, the forms of government, polity, and modes of law enforcement vary. Southern Nagas, such as Angami and Chakhesang, still practice tribal democracy at the village level, while despotic chieftainship prevails among the Konyak and the Sema.
Nagas traditionally believed in a benevolent female Supreme Creator, Kenopfu. Significant religious functionaries included the kemovo, who directed public ceremonies, and the zhevo, who performed personal rituals. Nagas today are overwhelmingly Christians (92.97 percent in the 1981 census). The American Baptist mission has been particularly active in the region since the nineteenth century. Nevertheless, Nagas continue to observe traditional life-cycle rituals, cosmological dogma, and tribal religious beliefs.
Literacy among Nagas is higher than other tribal groups in India and varies between 45.58 percent (according to the 1981 census) among Angamis and 64.10 percent among Aos. They practice shifting cultivation ( jhum) and terraced agriculture, growing crops both for trade and their own consumption. With education, many have taken to trade, government services, and other professions.
Traditional village councils continue to play a crucial role in their social life. Tribal polity and chieftainship have not been disturbed to any great extent. Postindependence statutory panchayats (councils) generally deal with development activities. The Village Development Board (VDB) conducts the development process at the grassroots level.
At India's independence in 1947, the Nagas were unwilling to accept New Delhi's rule and demanded independence. In 1955 the Naga secessionist movement developed and was suppressed by the Indian security forces. The creation of Nagaland as a fully fledged state of the Indian Union in 1963 failed to meet the demands of the extremists, and the dream of independence persists. Recently, several insurgent groups have coordinated their activities under the banner of the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), and sporadic acts of violence continue.
Further Reading
Hodson, T. C. (1911) The Naga Tribes of Manipur. London: Macmillan.
Yomuo, Asoso. (1984) The Rising Nagas: Historical and Political Study. Delhi: Manas Publications.
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