Naga Identities - Changing Local Cultures in the Northeast of India

The Naga tribes inhabit the south-eastern foothills of the Himalayas - the border region between India and Burma. Feared as headhunters and shunned by the inhabitants of the plains the Nagas developed a unique material culture and oral tradition. By around the mid 19th century, however, British colonial rule and Baptist missionary activities brought far-reaching changes to Naga culture. After 1947i the Naga Hills were forcibly integrated into the newly formed Indian Union. The result was a bloodywar that raged for more than fifty years - largely unnoticed by the public eye. Only recently the region has been reopened to foreign visitors. The present volume assembles essays byNaga and Western authors, interviews and pictorial contributions dealing with the cultural history and changing identity of the former headhunters.

The Naga tribes inhabit the southeastern foothills of the Himalayas in the border area between India and Burma. Feared as headhunters and avoided by the inhabitants of the plains until around a hundred years ago, they developed a highly particular material culture and oral tradition in isolation. British colonial rule and Baptist missionary activity brought about far-reaching changes in Naga culture around the middle of the 19th century. After 1947, the Naga hills were forcibly integrated in the new Indian state. The result was a bloody war that raged for more than fifty years, largely hidden from public opinion. Only recently has the region been reopened to foreign visitors. This volume is a collection of essays, interviews, and pictorial essays by Naga and western authors on the culture, history, and changing identity of these former headhunters.