V. T. Chakhesang
Nagaland,Kohima
Tribalism is defined as a way of thinking or behaving in which people are more loyal to their tribe than to their friends, their country, or any other social group. Another concept to which the word tribalism frequently refers is the possession of a strong cultural or ethnic identity that separates one member of a group from the members of another group.
Tribalism is pervasive, and it controls a lot of our behavior, readily overriding reason. Think of the inhuman things we do in the name of tribal unity. Wars are essentially, and often quite specifically, tribalism. Genocides are tribalism -- wipe out the other group to keep our group safe -- taken to madness. Tribal warfare is a typical feature of hunter-gatherer life, or an anomaly found only in certain circumstances, such as scarce resources, or among food producing societies.
Tribalism and Evolution: Tribalism has a very adaptive effect in human evolution. Humans are social animals, and ill-equipped to live on their own. Tribalism and ethnocentrism help to keep individuals committed to the group, even when personal relations may fray. This keeps individuals from wandering off or joining other groups. It also leads to bullying when a tribal member is unwilling to conform to the politics of the collective.
Tribalism in Nagaland: ‘Nagas’ in general and ‘Nagaland’ in particular is a collection of several distinct tribes, usually distinguished by the spoken dialect notably than the disparity in ethnicity, customs or tradition which shares close affinity.
Historically, among the ‘Nagas’, Tribalism was nonexistent, since time immemorial the Naga society was based within the Village. Every Village had been an independent entity with the occasional hegemony of few powerful Villages over a handful of weaker Villages within different tribes. Hence, there was no ugly head of tribalism in practice.
Origin of Tribes in Nagaland: The Naga Hills district of Assam was created in 1866 by the Government of British India. Its headquarters were located at Samaguting now, Chumukedima. Credibly, it was the British India officials who had instigated the classification of tribes according to the spoken dialect and ethnic affinity for their practical purpose. Since then, the tribes were officially recognized by the subsequent Government of Free India.
Nagaland now has 17 officially recognized tribes with the latest inclusion of Rongmei tribe, besides the 16 main tribes of Angami, Ao, Chakhesang, Chang, Kachari, Khiamniungan, Konyak, Kuki, Lotha, Phom, Pochury, Rengma, Sangtam, Sumi, Yimchunger and Zeliang.
Tribes and Tradition: A tribe is viewed, historically or developmentally, as a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states. The creation and classification of ‘Tribes’ in recent times by the colonial British India officials and their anthropologists amongst the ‘Nagas’ with its inheritance of ‘Tribalism’ had its share of advantages and disadvantages.
A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. Traditions can persist and evolve for thousands of years - the word "tradition" itself derives from the Latin tradere or traderer literally meaning to transmit, to hand over, to give for safekeeping. While it is commonly assumed that traditions have ancient history, many traditions have been invented on purpose, whether that be political or cultural, over short periods of time.
How can we Decapitate ‘Tribalism’: Many anthropologists used the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups. Undoubtedly, Naga society is a tribal society. Possibly, all the 17 recognized tribes including the others, merged as a single tribe may be rightly called ‘Naga Tribe’. Devoid of further subdivisions in the line of linguistic groups like Angami, Sümi:
1. It is an established fact that there is blood relationship among all the different Naga tribes. For instance, a member from a ‘Chokri’ Village migrated to a ‘Sumi’ Village or vice versa. There are incidence when the heritage of a member of a particular Village and tribe on his demise; the inheritance rightly belongs to someone from another Village of some other tribe. Apparently, all the Villages were formed owing to transmigration at a certain point of time. Blood is thicker than water, our ancestry is more sacred than the allegiance of someone to the so called tribes; classified by the dialects one speaks.
2. The ancestral kinship may be rediscovered among all the different linguistic groups or in the present instance within various tribes. This assertion may be corrected, but according to some the surname or clan known as ‘Tetseo’ among the Chakhesang tribe is related to ‘Zhimomi’ in Sumi tribe. Similarly, findings for the lineage in Angami, Kyong, Ao et al may well be integrated and renamed after a shared ancestor. Indubitably, research works can be instigated by the Art & Culture Department in collaboration with the Nagaland University or by various NGOs to include the entire Naga Tribes beyond Nagaland.
3. Conceivably, to the utter opposition of the present context in Naga tradition, it might be appropriate to do away with all the Tribal Hoho’s and the Tribal Churches with the exception of the Naga Hoho and the NBCC/NCRC etc. The Churches and Hoho’s can be re-organized in the lines of specific location/region. For e.g: Chokri Area Church/Hoho, Chozuba Area Church/Hoho, Khuzhathede Area Church/Hoho, Süceku Area Church/Hoho, Chizami Area Church/Hoho, Phek Area Church/Hoho etc., and not as a Chakhesang Church/Hoho. Individual dialects or language can be researched into and kept alive. However, as it is only a vehicle for communication, linguistic groups may not be contained to shape one’s ancestral lineage.
4. We are first a ‘Naga’ as German or Italian - sub-divided into clans/last names like ‘Jamir’, ‘Sakhrie’, ‘Swu’, ‘Tetseo’, ‘Ezung’ et al (such as Schneider, Hoffmann, Klein; or Rossi, Ferrari, Lombardi) and discontinue the custom/tradition to label oneself as Ao, Angami, Sümi. The usage of clans/surnames according to one’s ancestral lineage will be the greatest factor to benefit and strengthen the fabric of Naga society. In addition, we may have a common language that can be English/Hindi/Nagamese or invent a Naga language which perhaps is on the anvil.
In conclusion, this deduction is meant to provoke the minds of the present generation ‘Naga Tribesmen’. To finding a solution to decapitate the ugly head of petty “Tribalism” among the various ‘Tribes’ distinguished by the spoken dialect. Recently, created and classified by the colonial British India officials and their anthropologists. Thanks to the Westerner for being the harbinger of modernity among the Naga society. Candidly, ‘Nagas’ are matured enough to delve and create our own future customs, traditions and a common history.
(This piece of writing is provoked by the incident of 31st Aug, 2012 at Kohima and the domino effect on 1st Sept, 2012 at Dimapur)
