Nagaland - Religion
Head-hunting virtually ceased with effective British control over the Naga Hills area, though it con tinued in the Tuensang region until recently. The last recorded case occurred in 1958. In former times the practice was apparently based on th, Naga belief that vital soul-matter or powerful essence resides in the human head. Taking a head therefore brought new and vital energy to the warrior and his village. As well as enhancing fertility of crops, animals and humans, head-hunting brought fame and prestige to the young warrior, increasing his choice among desirable females. Many customs formerly associated with head-hunting are st:ill found among the Nagas, including particular dances, costumes, ritual paraphernalia, symbols attesting warfare exploits, and trees for displaying trophy heads.
Some traditional institutions and instruments that continue to influence the normative framework of societal governance. All Nagas were deeply religious. God was never far from their minds and made practical sense as well as affected daily life. Often, this also made them superstitious.
Naga religion is a variation on animistic belief systems common throughout tribal India. There is a vaguely conceived supreme creator and many minor deities, ghosts and spirits of rivers, hills, trees, and the like. In effect, all Nature is considered a live with unseen forces. Priests and medicine men placate these spirits, banishing those which cause disease and attracting those which aid and protect humans and their activities. Such religious authorities take the lead in rites and festivalscalculated to ensure bounty and good fortune in crop cultivation, marriage and other ventures involving risk or vulnerability to malevolent forces. Often such religious personnel have considerable political authority as well. Ceremonial taboos, religious prohibitions and the like, collectively termed gennas, preoccupy the Naga.
All rites and festivals observed by social units within the tribe involve such prohibitions, which alter normal routine and social interaction. The term genna has there-fore come to be applied to all occasions and observances at and by which a particular social unit consolidates its activities. Each stage of rice cultivation is marked by gennas to ensure success of the crop. Tribe-wide gennas may involve temporary, periodic or permanent prohibition of certain foods or activities — or may make them mandatory. Village-wide gennas commonly relate to prevention of illness or veneration of ancestors. Gennas may be observed following a death, disaster or the return of warriors. Gennas may similarly apply to clans, households, age-groups and individuals.
Duties and responsibilities to family, clan, khel and village were stressed almost to the exclusion of individual rights. Individual feats were mostly for social acclaim and to please the gods. For instance, a successful hunter did not partake of his own kill. It would be distributed to kinsmen and relatives, especially the womenfolk and the old, while the hunter would be prepared some other food. Traditionally, Nagas differentiated between the soul, a celestial body, and the spirit, a supernatural being, believing that the human soul resided in the nape of the neck and could only be set free by beheading, while the spiritual being, in the head, brought good fortune. Heads of enemies and fallen comrades were collected to add to those of the community's own ancestors. Some tribes decorated their faces with tattoos of swirling horns to mark success in headhunting.
Trophies were hoarded in each village in the men's meeting house, or morung, which also served as the boys' dormitory. This large open hall was decorated with fantastic carvings of animals, elephant heads and tusks. Constructed of wood and bamboo, morungs were frequently destroyed by fire, along with the precious collection of heads; however, the benevolent spirits were retained by the re-creation of the lost collection in carved wood. In addition, the Naga still construct megalithic monuments, which line the approaches to villages, and come to personify those who erect them after death. Menhirs stand in pairs or in long double rows, to honour fame and generosity or enhance the fertility of a field.
Lycanthropy is elaborately developed among many Naga groups and some entire villages are believed inhabited by were-tigers and were-leopard people. Many beliefs relate to presumed intimate associations of soul or spirit between humans and tigers.
Naga notions of an after-life are vague and varied, though all groups believe the soul does not perish at death. Some groups believe in a subterranean abode of the dead. Others believe souls go to after-worlds in the directions of the sunrise (for the good) or sunset (for the bad). Many Nagas believe that souls take the form of insects after death, butterflies in particular.
Funerary practices vary greatly. Some groups (such as the Konyak) expose their corpses on platforms. Other practice burial, cremation or desiccation. Megalithic monuments are erected to commemorate the dead among some tribes (such as the Angamis) as well as for a number of other magical, religious and ceremonial purposes.
A central feature of traditional Naga ceremonial life is the giving of so-called feasts of merit. Generally these are a sequence of ceremonies, increasing in social and sacred significance, culminating in sacrifice of a mithun (domesticated bison, Bos Irontalis). By sponsoring such feasts an individual (married males only) acquires rank Emd honors, both in this world and the next, and is entitled to wear distinctive clothing and ornaments and to decorate the facade of his house in distinctive manner. The Nagas have had little interest in Hinduism, but their feasts of merit show many parallels with ancient Vedic sacrificial rites.
Conversion to Christianity, stressing personal salvation, has introduced a new individualism among some Naga groups in place of former community espirit. Christian missionary work has had considerable impact among some Naga groups, not only on belief systems but. on tribal life in general. As early as the Great War observers of Lhota culture noted that the tribe was losing many of its traditional distinctive features and was in danger of disorganization and decline due to the combined influences of American Baptist missionary work and the encroachment of Hindu culture from the neighboring Assamese and Nepali settlers on the plains. Hindu influence was more pronounced in the south. Baptist influence emanated from Impur in the Ao country, wher by the period indicated, American missionaries had already destroyed traditional stone religious monuments and grossly altered much of tribal culture.
In socio-cultural fields the advent of the Christian missionaries had a great impact on Naga tribal society. On the positive side, the missionaries brought education, introduced the Roman script, and to some extent, helped in the integration of different Naga tribes through membership of the church. On the other hand, the general attitude of early Christian missionaries to treat all tribal traditional practices and culture as ‘pagan’ created much confusion. Primacy of membership of the Church over clan and village affiliation and loyalty also began to create a new identity for the convert. The stress on personal salvation introduced a new individualism.
The Church today enjoys overwhelming influence over the Naga population. Its reach effectively extends to every village in the State. It has played vital roles in peace building in the long history of conflict and insurgency in Nagaland. Church organisations continue to work for peace, like the Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) through its Peace Affairs Committee. The recent coming together of the different church denominations under the Nagaland Christian Forum (NCF) and joining issue on the question of peace in the State has been a significant development. Since first introducing education, the churches have continued to contribute very significantly to education, health and human resource building in Nagaland. The women’s and youth wings and other structures within the Church have been involved in social activities aimed at empowering the society.
Different churches also have their frontal organisations involved in welfare and development of the people. The Church has, today and in the future, an important role to play in bringing meaningful change in Naga society and leading the individuals towards contributing positively in the changing society.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
