“It was so strange: this mix of tribal identity and Christianity
which is a little on your face. Even largely Christian countries, including
ours, is not……so Christian.”
It was early morning in Nongriat, Meghalaya, and a few backpackers,
including me, were sitting in Byron’s verandah waiting for the sun to peek from
the hills and him to serve us his amazing porridge breakfast. The topic of
conversation, as in most backpacking gatherings, had turned again to travel
experiences (and thankfully not to Game of Thrones!). While all the travelers
dispersed after the sumptuous breakfast, I stayed on at the homestay nursing a
sudden bout of back pain and weak knees and thinking of what the Australian
couple had said about Nagaland. It had piqued more than my curiosity, it set
the tone of my travel onwards to Nagaland.
I spent Christmas with M’s family in the pretty village of Mima
attending Christmas Mass in the village’s Baptist Church filled with people
dressed in the best of their attires – both western and oh-so-pretty
traditional ones with distinctive Angami colours and patterns – and followed by
a delicious community feast of rice and pork and some more pork. Moving out
from the ‘city’ of Kohima and traveling further north and south, the
contradictions that the Australian couple had talked about, became more
apparent. Most parts of Nagaland are now highly westernized, both in lifestyle
and attire, perhaps a little less in local and clan traditions and customs.
Unlike Arunachal Pradesh where tribal culture, lifestyle, attire and traditional
homes, are still very much prevalent, in Nagaland one gets just glimpses of a culturally
rich past mostly during religious and social occasions. H, who works on tourism
and community development, said with a bit of regret that Christianity has erased
most of the tribal lifestyle and culture as it’s now considered a taboo. His
grandparents are the last generation of ‘Pagans’ or people who followed the old
ways of animistic living.
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| Christmas at Mima, near Kohima |
As my friend J explained, Christianity came to Nagaland after the
British almost 150 years ago. The Baptists have been there since the beginning
while Catholics and Revivals came much later. Unlike the European ones, the
American missionaries did not accept any of the tribal culture, considering
anything to do with animism, a taboo. From head-hunting and tribal warfare
days, people have come a long way in terms of modernization, largely due the
influence of these missionaries. As N in Khonoma pointed out, the last few
regions who live the ‘Pagan’ lifestyle (mostly eastern Nagaland) are still
largely poor. With visible improvement in lifestyle and economic advantages
arising out of mainstreaming, generations have consciously let go their tribal
past, even refusing to talk about it. H, who has experienced such a transition
since his childhood, said that earlier hygiene and sanitation practices were
abysmal and it was especially bad with pigs, chickens, mithuns and people all
roaming around the village freely, reminding me of the conditions still prevalent
in many villages across India. Akole from North East Networks (Chizami), who
was wearing a traditional mekhala
when I met her, felt that it was easy for people to adopt Christianity as there
were a lot of similarities with the Pagan belief systems.
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| High heels in a village - western with the traditional |
It is however the youth – the fourth or fifth generation Christians –
who are beginning to question their socio-cultural identity just like they are
doing with their political identity. Fashion conscious and so effortlessly
stylish that they can easily put our metro fashionistas to shame, the youth are
looking at different ways to resolve their ‘crossroads’ moment. A section of youth
want to reaffirm their identity by going back to their roots, by understanding
their ancestral history and keeping their heritage alive. AVT, a TISS Mumbai
graduate, who met us in Kohima, took us down narrow bylanes past old houses to
a decrepit place which served the local rice drink Dzutho. Any form of alcohol
is officially banned in the state including the local rice drink. Sipping the
rice beer and watching the sun go down across the valley, AVT enthusiastically
talked about tribal practices and customs he knew of and showed us burial
practices that existed before. He rued the fact that there were too many
western influences in the society now. C, who took me to the forests around
Khonoma on New Year’s day, said that the youth want to know more about their
roots but parents are not really interested in telling as it’s against their
religion to talk about taboos. He felt that his generation is the last who can
do something to retain their rich heritage, after which everything will be lost
forever. L, who took me around the fields of Khonoma and narrated all the
stories/folktales related to the village’s history and monoliths scattered around,
is passionate about his village’s past and want to write down all the folklores
and stories of his village.
The other section of youth is going back to religion in order to
forge and strengthen their identity. Like my friend K, they feel that it is
religion which has helped them through decades of conflict and improve their
lives. It is also finding oneself and others through religion that will help
them resolve future issues and bring them together as a strong Naga community.
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| A Totem put up by an ex-hunter at Khonoma |
Walking around the forests and the fields of Khonoma, I could not
shake the feeling of being watched by ‘somebody’ amongst the gnarled alder
trees, the sudden shriek of a bird, secluded ponds, and the mellow sun
filtering through the trees – making me want to believe all the nature spirit
stories that I heard there. It was magical. Perhaps it is a bit of this magic, faith
in Christianity and the inherent strength of the people who have held on
despite odds stacked against them that has made Nagaland a beautiful and
distinctive place like no other.
