Richungmong T
BA 5th semester, Don Bosco College Kohima
“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots” it will be blown away.
Today I stand here as a voice on behalf of the dying and suffocating Naga's culture and tradition that are being threatened to endangerment because of the influence of other's culture in our own blood and in our own land, which many Nagas are terming it 'Modernization' while i also consider it a mere 'Ignorance of reality'
Having your attention listeners, the topic of my speech is “Endangerment Of Naga Culture: Outer Influence”
Endangerment, literally means 'the action of putting something or someone at risk or in danger'.
And Culture, means 'the ideas, customs, practices and social behaviour of a particular people or group' and thereby the term cultural endangerment that follows.
All Glory to God, who has blessed the Nagas with the most vibrant and celebrated cultures of its creations. And those cultures being practiced by our pioneers, 'We Nagas' today, have come a long way from our forefathers and ancestors, but the question is, have we bought along what they gave us?.
The answer is yours to follow.
Ken Hale, in his speech stated the following; “6000 languages are spoken in the world. 3000 aren't spoken by children. And every week, an elder goes to the grave carrying the last spoken word and the last practiced tradition of that culture'. And now, language and tradition being prominent features of the culture, we Nagas are sadly facing the above circumstances yet we are all looking away from that scene, even more the UNESCO now has reported and listed almost all the Naga's languages in the category of 'vulnerable' and 'endangered' and for which we are to blame for ourselves and for our actions. As Deborah Carter once said; “You have to taste a culture to understand it' but sadly, we are now in the generation where we are not interested in tasting it nor are we feeding it to our children and thus we see our culture getting diminished and vanishing.
And the root cause of our cultural endangerment, not only language or tradition, is because of the influence of other cultures in the form of Westernisation, K-pop and Pop cultures. Westernization in the name of modernisation is dangerous. In the name of modernization, We Naga's are losing in tune with our indigenous culture, heritage, arts, crafts, customs, ways of life, relationships, attires, and family structure etc. Today, it has become a fashion in Naga society to talk about Naga identity while cutting the roots of every component that constitutes genuine Naga identity. Today traditional Naga attire, dances, and other cultural symbols can be seen only during important occasions and in celebrations like the Hornbill Festival. But are the outer trends like casual dating, eating out every weekend or copying their every ways of life and socialization considered being modern? I doubt that. Following some fruitful other cultures is a good thing in itself but believing that everything 'Western is Modern' or 'Everything Outer is Modern' is a flawed ideology and irrelevant. Even more Naga's at times feel that our culture and tradition are full of ignorance. And that's our point to support adopting other cultures. But it should be noted that when I am standing here talking about 'Naga Culture' I'm not only talking about those headhunting practice, those barbaric rivalries or those primal and savagery acts which does not even constitute half of our culture, but I'm also talking about those vibrant languages, those melodiously shooting folk songs and dazzling steps, those amenable duties and character, those rainbow like bright-coloured outfits, those bold and courageous pasts and those garden variety festivals of ours and even many more, which we never seem to recall when we talk about 'Culture', and for which we are to blame for ourselves for being so blinded to this.
My fellow Nagas, how have we reached so far and yet so far away from our own? Who is to blame? Please let us reconsider our actions.
'In the name of Fashion, let us not face away from our Culture'.
Some people might argue that I'm in total opposition to the promotion of other cultures, which is a completely wrong and a misunderstood concept. I being a student from political science discipline believes that Globalization has turned the world into a global village and therefore it has not only established political or economic integration but also social integration of almost every nations and it's wonderful and democratic, yet culture as a subject is that distinct identity which makes us different and unique from the rest and therefore what is culture? if it's diluted, what is modernization? if it threatens the core values of our identity and our belongingness. Therefore let us not blindly follow what others are doing, let us not simply walk because they are walking because one day we might reach a place where we have no idea about or no idea of where we came from and returning back would be already late. I know we are gaining something from them but what are we losing in return?
It's not just our culture we are losing, it's our identity, it's our history, it's the part of you and me, we are losing. Now are we feeling any sense of guilt for that? I sincerely hope so by now. But sometimes 'We people are so blinded by what we think is right rather than what is right'. It's very disheartening.
Dear fellow Nagas, now it is a humble appeal and call, let us not suffocate our culture, our history and our pride by blindly following others, for the more we run after them, the farther we are running away from our home. It is rightly said “You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them” and thereby if we stop reading and practicing our culture we better have to find an answer for our children and our forefathers for being so ungrateful for everything. 'Let us be a change'. Let us go hand in hand with modernity, development and our culture.
Long live – Naga.
This speech was adjudged the winner of the ‘Kohima Youth Talk’ organised by Don Bosco College Kohima (DBCK) during its 4th Inter Collegiate Competition on September 3.
