War dances are performed mostly by men and are athletic and martial in style. Dances are usually performed at festivals and religious occasions. įolk dances of the Nagas are mostly performed in groups in synchronized fashion, by both men and women, depending on the type of dance. As a result, translated versions of Western hymns were introduced, leading to the slow disappearance of indigenous music from the Naga hills. The early Western missionaries opposed the use of folk songs by Naga Christians as they were perceived to be associated with spirit worship, war, and immorality. Seasonal songs describe activities done in a particular agricultural cycle. Naga folk songs are both romantic and historical, with songs narrating entire stories of famous ancestors and incidents. The oral tradition is kept alive through the media of folk tales and songs. Naga cuisine is characterized by smoked and fermented foods.įolk songs and dances are essential ingredients of the traditional Naga culture. Designs for shawls and wraparound garments (commonly called mekhala) are different for men and women. Weaving is an intricate and time consuming work and each shawl takes at least a few days to complete. One of the common features of Naga shawls is that three pieces are woven separately and stitched together. Weaving of colorful woolen and cotton shawls is a central activity for women of all Nagas. Ĭraftwork includes the making of baskets, weaving of cloth, wood carving, pottery, metalwork, jewellery-making and bead-work. They have made their own cloth, their own hats and rain-coats they have prepared their own medicines, their own cooking-vessels, their own substitutes for crockery. Verrier Elwin, these groups made all the goods they used, as was once common in many traditional societies: They use beads in variety, profusion and complexity in their jewelry, along with a wide range of materials including glass, shell, stone, teeth or tusk, claws, horns, metal, bone, wood, seeds, hair, and fibre. Clothing patterns are traditional to each group, and the cloths are woven by the women. The Naga people love colour, as is evident in the shawls designed and woven by women, and in the headgear that both sexes design. According to the Burma Gazetteer, the term 'Naga' is of doubtful origin and is used to describe hill tribes that occupy the country between the Chins in the south and Kachins (Singphos) in the Northeast. However, over time 'Naga' became the commonly accepted nomenclature, and was also used by the British. The present day Naga people have historically been referred to by many names, like 'Noga' or 'Naka' by the Burmese and Ahoms which means 'people with pierced ears', 'Hao' by Manipuri and 'Chin' by Burmese. They each speak distinct Naga languages often unintelligible to the others, but all are loosely connected to each other. The Nagas are divided into various Naga ethnic groups whose numbers and populations are unclear. The Nagas are closely related to the neighboring Chin and Kachin people of Myanmar and northeastern India. The groups have similar cultures and traditions, and form the majority of population in the Indian state of Nagaland and Naga Self-Administered Zone of Myanmar (Burma) with significant populations in Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in India Sagaing Region and Kachin State in Myanmar. The Naga people ( Burmese: နာဂးလူမျိုး) are various ethnic groups native to northeastern India and northwestern Myanmar. Naga, Northern Naga, Nagamese Creole, EnglishĬhristianity, Buddhism, Animism (including Chapriak, Heraka, Krüna/Pfütsana, Rangfrah and Tingkao Ragwang) For other uses, see Naga (disambiguation). This article is about the modern ethnic group.

Endo warrior jewelry