NAGA CULTURE: PAST AND PRESENT

Introduction: To begin with, “What is culture?” The Oxford dictionary defines it as ‘the customs and beliefs, art, ways of life and social organizations of a particular country or nation.’
In other words, culture is the creative expression of a people’s thoughts and philosophical worldview. This worldview of a nation is expressed through social organizations, art, music, dress etc and in the context of Nagas, even in festivals of various kinds.
Now, animals do not have culture. They live their lives under the dictates of their God given instincts. They have no social organization nor do they weave beautiful shawls to adorn themselves. They also do not know what is true and what is false or what is right and wrong.
On the other hand, humankind knows what is true and what is false and what is right and what is wrong. This is because, unlike the animals, mankind has been created in the image of a personal God. This personal God has not only created us in His image but has also written his moral laws into our hearts and consciences (See Deut: 30:11-14). With this knowledge of right and wrong, different nations have created their respective cultures throughout the flow of human history. Because of this divine image of God in us, cultures are dictated by moral laws. This means cultures have a connection with God and divinity. Sadly, not all nations on earth have heeded the voice of conscience and have subsequently produced cultures that have discriminated humanity into castes, classes and even gender persecutions.

Past Naga Culture: Our Naga forefathers- though they never read the Bible- paid great attention to the voice of their conscience. As a result, they produced a culture that was very similar to the Biblical culture commanded in the Old and New Testaments. What they produced was a culture that imposed taboos, genas and festivals of worship and thanksgiving. It was also a culture where obedience to parents and elders was observed. It also extolled hard work, honesty, courage, courtesy, generosity and self independence as virtues. These virtues were woven into the very fabric of our cultural organizations like men folk and their Morungs, women fraternities and young age group organizations, etc. A spirit of competition to outdo one another in the pursuit of these virtues was always present in all these organizations. The result of the evolution of all these qualitative virtues was the creation of a classless society in the form of a purest democracy. It was a society where Kingship and Royalty was unknown. Even  the word ‘Your Majesty’ or the word ‘Sir’ did not exist in our vocabulary. It was also a society and culture where no family ruled over no other family or any clan over any other clan. Every village was and independent democratic republic with its own set of unwritten laws to govern itself. No individual paid any tax to any village authority and no village paid any tax to any other village. The sense of independence and self sufficiency was therefore woven into the very warp and woof of our Naga society and culture. In this independent society and culture, the measure of a man was not counted in terms of certificates or professional degrees but in one’s ability to defend, provide and care for his family. In the Naga culture of yesteryear, independence began at the individual level and was practiced through all levels of clan, khel and village societal co-existence. As for our economic system, it was agro-based and therefore deeply rooted in the soil of the land. Our people lived from the produce of the soil which was procured through their honest toil and sweat. It was a society and culture that never produced or tolerated beggars.
With this formidable culture as the bedrock of Naga society, we Nagas have defied foreign aggression and invasion all down our chequered history. We fought the Ahom kingdom for 600 intermittent years (1228 to the later part of the 19th century) and never surrendered one single village to the Ahom kingdom. We also intermittently fought against the Burmese kingdom, the Kachar kingdom, the Manipur Kingdom and the Tripura kingdom for many years through out our history. Coming to the modern era, we fought the mightiest imperial power- Britain from 1832-1947. Then on their departure, we have fought the Indian and Burmese invasions from 1947 to the present.

But where are we Nagas today both politically as well as culturally?
Present Naga culture: With the coming of Christianity and modern education, the Naga world and the Naga culture came under severe attack- this time not from an invading army but in the form of a cultural invasion. In this context, however grateful I am to the American missionaries for all their sacrificial works, I cannot but disapprove their total disregard for our culture and ways of life. Some of them perhaps thought that ours was a pagan culture that had to be uprooted and replaced by an American Christian culture. Many of them did not realize that all cultures have a divine connection to God. They did not realize that our culture was much more Bible based than their own 17th century born culture.
One thing led to another, and by the time my generation was born (1950’s) – except for those raised in village environments and Morungs – my generation who were born in modern towns grew up with a total disregard for our culture and ancient ways of life.
Then in 1954 came the military invasion of our lands by India and Burma. This was not a cultural invasion in the true sense of the word but the “Money cultural” invasion that came with it caused greater damage than the physical invasion of our land. With the inauguration of a state in 1963, a class structure was for the first time established in Naga society. Those who co-operated with the Indian Government suddenly became millionaires overnight. Today some of them are even multi-millionaires with hordes of their supporters (chamchas) becoming crore patis and lack patis. With money culture overtaking Naga culture, Naga society today is a class ridden society where millionaires with thick stone compound walls and steel gates are living in mansions alongside neighbors who can hardly pay for their children’s school fees.
If the present trend is not checked and God’s justice is not re-established in Nagaland, I will not be surprised if I see a bloody revolution in my lifetime where the rich will be the first targets and victims. It happened in England, in France, in Russia, and China in past history. Coming to modern history,it happened in Cambodia, Sierra Leone, Nepal, etc. Presently it is going on in Sudan, Rwanda, Kenya and even India in the form of the Nexalite movement.

Conclusion: In recent times we have seen a cultural revival taking place throughout the length and breadth of Nagaland. This movement has been enthusiastically sponsored by the State of Nagaland. But please remember that a cultural revival that is confined to warriors and damsels dancing, attired in all their tribal regalia is but an empty outward show of a people’s culture. Fellow Nagas, a true cultural revival is much much deeper than that. A true cultural revival should uproot artificial plastic cultures and replace them with a culture of justice, honor, integrity and equality in an environment of freedom and liberty.