Tuensang: December is almost upon us and with it, we are ready to welcome Nagaland’s world-famous Hornbill Festival, which attracts thousands of tourists from across the globe. But a lot has happened since the last year’s event, and it will impact the festival this year as well.
As you may (or may not remember), last year’s 10-day-long celebration was called off following the murders in Oting in the Mon district. Even as preparations are in full swing and numerous activities are being planned to make it a grand event, seven tribes under the banner of Eastern Nagaland Public Organization (ENPO) have resolved to abstain from participating due to the hardships faced by participants.
Also Read | Nagaland preps for grand Hornbill Festival
First, let us tell you which tribes we are talking about. The Eastern Naga tribes are Chang, Khiamniungan, Konyak, Phom, Sangtam, Tikhir and Yimkhiung. These tribes are spread across six of the 16 districts in Nagaland: namely Kiphire, Longleng, Mon, Noklak, Shamator, and Tuensang.
The Hornbill festival is a one-stop place for visitors to explore all recognised Naga tribes and other tribes at the Naga Heritage village at Kisama. However, if you wished to know more about the newest Naga tribe—Tikhir—you will have to wait.
It was only in January this year that Tikhir was officially recognised as a separate Naga tribe.
There is no doubt that the famed ‘festival of festivals’ will certainly miss out on the rich cultural and traditional displays from this region.
Also Read | Nagaland: Over 25k people visit Hornbill festival in three days
Vice president of the Chang Khulei Setshang (Chang Tribal Council), S Sipong Chang, told EastMojo that during the festival, the Chang Naga tribe usually displays their varied cultures and traditions, depending on the participating village(s).
The traditional songs, dances, and indigenous sports are some of the main highlights of the tribe. The tribe’s unique jaw-harp (mouth flute) performances, and display of artefacts from the headhunting era at the Chang Morung, he pointed out, are major attractions for tourists and visiting scholars.
During the festival, men from the tribe clad themselves with traditional headgear and hand-woven traditional attires, while women adorn ornamental pieces of jewellery to match their traditional attires.
Also Read | Nagaland civilians killed: Konyak Union withdraws from Hornbill Festival
In the past, along with their traditional way of fishing, the tribes would also demonstrate traditional methods of healing, pulling of log drums, and so on. For the Chang Nagas, the log drum, made out of a single wood, was regarded as one of the most integral parts of the Morung in the past. Young warriors were believed to beat the log drum on different occasions to relay information or make important announcements.
Eastern Nagaland Women Organization (ENWO) President, Shamthai Phom from the Phom Naga tribe, also tells us that the tribe’s cultural performances and handicrafts are major attractions for visitors at Kisama.
No doubt, the bright and colourful hand women attires of the tribe and head gears for both men and women make the tribe stand out. Like the Changs, the Phoms also practised rituals of healing in the past. But their methods differed. Over the years, the tribe also took the Hornbill festival arena to demonstrate rituals of healing, alongside warfare training, rituals for rains, and so on.
Also Read | Mon killing: Nagaland government calls off Hornbill festival
While the Konyak Naga tribe, the last of the head-hunting tribes in the state, has much to offer, the tribe’s all-women firepower display was a stunner. In the 2019 Hornbill festival, the women’s troupe’s performance of the folk dance ‘The Fearless Eastern Tigress’ where they shot fire from their muzzle-loading guns, wowed the crowd and could be missed this time around.
The Konyak Morung, which houses a huge log drum, is also one of the most sought-after Morungs at Kisama. The Naga Morungs, a structure which reflects the ancient architectural style of the Naga tribes, caters to weeklong music, art, and cuisines exclusive to the respective tribes.
The Morungs of the Eastern Naga tribes could likely remain deserted, if, as mentioned earlier, the ENPO stands by its resolution to abstain from the festival. The Government of Nagaland’s ‘cultural connect’, a cultural extravaganza presented by the Department of Art and Culture which gives a glimpse of the rich cultural songs, dances and traditions of the tribes of Nagaland, would also be incomplete without the Eastern Nagaland tribes.
Also Read | In pictures: Hornbill Festival turns sombre after civilian killings in Mon
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