Rev Dr Wati Aier, addressing the valedictory session at the 5th National Naga Culture Symposium held at North East Christian University on December 5. (Morung Photo)
Morung Express News
Dimapur | December 5
Emphasising on the significance of stories, Rev Dr Wati Aier today, said stories are key ingredients of culture, as some may even argue it to be the “very essence of culture itself.” Because stories have the power to “allow us to honestly reflect about ourselves,” while securely facing others, if a story is to be told, it will surely upset some of our conveniences, remarked Rev Aier.
“And, culture itself is not monolithic. Culture is ontological. Culture lives. To be alive is to see, think, and move. A backward-looking view of culture situates its adherent to the past. Historical adherents cannot move forward by looking backward,” he elucidated.
Addressing the valedictory session of the 5th National Naga Culture Symposium at North East Christian University (NECU), as the keynote speaker, Rev Aier recounted about how something within told him that the sense of Naga cultural identity and ethnic belonging would regress, not because of actors and agencies from without, but because of “our own cultural lag.”
Expounding it further, he pointed out that ‘our story’ of cultural identity and heritage has not kept pace with the changing world of science and technology and geopolitics.
Accordingly, he highlighted three points that take a proactive view of cultural heritage, especially as it relates to the Nagas. Naga cultural identity and heritage must remain healthy and move on without leaving. To this end, he remarked that the image of conquest and colonization is not adequate to describe the relation between the globalizing world and the Naga culture. “For the globalizing culture is not simply an intruding power that one has to resist. It is a space in which we are living,” he added.
Secondly, he pointed out that Naga cultural identity and heritage must not be associated with the psychological "warrior instinct" or Carl Jung's "collective unconscious." After all, all social beings are predisposed of the warrior instinct. In this, he stated that Nagas are not the "barbarians" of the European history, while underscoring the need to remain academically vigilant of colonial anthropology under the garb of postmodernism, going around in supposedly objective and neutral ways to justify superficially constructed narratives.
Observing that the postmodern world provides great opportunity to the cultural communities towards engagement to mend the world and to foster human flourishing, Rev Aier noted that each cultural group can project itself towards transforming initiatives, where each group must engage in society with their whole being.
According to him, culture, as an ontological concept, encompasses all dimensions of cultural pluralism. He held that cultural engagement must go beyond the superficial to touch the “very essence of a shared vision of the good,” which he professed, calls for a responsible interaction with all dimensions of other cultures, guided by the principle of human flourishing.
He maintained that this would involve carefully reflecting on how various cultural groups can collaboratively pursue and enhance a shared vision of the good, fostering the well-being of individuals and communities. Embracing this mindset would cultural communities to actively contribute in shaping creating a more harmonious and inclusive world in the complexities of the postmodern era, noted Rev Aier.
Earlier, the second session of the Symposium was held on the theme, ‘Identity, Heritage & Globalisation.’
LD Miller Pou, PhD Scholar, Nagaland University presented his paper on “Language and Identities of the Nagas in the Globalised World.”
Pou maintained that the Naga identity is a complex construct embedded in rich cultural traditions, practices, and interaction at crossroads, “grappling with the paradox of maintaining their cultural heritage while adapting to the contemporary landscape of modernity.”
Pou said the term ‘Naga’ is “obscure,” that the word itself embodies fluid and multifaceted expressions. He emphasised that it was crucial to examine the narratives of the Naga identity “as we assert our identity by tracing back our roots and embracing our unique cultural heritage,” expressing who we are in the eyes of others and understanding their perceptions.
As the Nagas embark on the journey of (re)negotiating identities, he reflected upon the language playing a decisive role in identity expression to portray similarities and differences.
Nonetheless, he pondered whether in the midst of embracing and accepting global experiences, “the so-called Nagas are able to identify themselves as 'Naga' completely.” “If it is the language that tells us we are all just frameworks of words, which has the ability to control our identity regardless of who exactly we are.”
Presenting her paper on, “Interrogating Culture as a Complex Whole: Towards transformational culture change,” Akumla Longkumer maintained that culture is a complex whole that need to be understood analytically and holistically. Quoting the noted British cultural theorist, Stuart Hall and author Jon Gordon, Longkumer said that in order to understand cultural complexity,one needs to look at some major culture concepts which address the cultural realities of indigenous people around the world in general, and of the Naga tribes in particular.
For addressing the Naga contemporary social issues, she stressed on the importance of looking at cultural system analytically and strive for transformational change within the cultural system by specifically addressing the cultural forms and by joining hands– patriarchs and matriarchs to challenge and transform it from within. Meanwhile, she maintained that even as we deal with the cultural form and values, that we take care not to compromise on its values.
She highlighted three areas that need critical approach towards cultural preservation and transformation – holistic contextualization, holistic development and holistic cultural transformation.
Implying that patriarchy in itself is not evil, she said there are good patriarchy. “We should not try to destroy as some western radical feminists wants to destroy patriarchy, but I say we should first have transformational change from within,” she added.
She reminded the gathering that each participant here are agents of change, while encouraging them to let it be transformational, “the change that is not just outward but from the inner mind and behaviour that will benefit everyone.”
