Head-Hunting
Inter-village
wars, culminating in the taking of the enemy's heads, were part of
every day life among the Nagas. Head hunting was a practice which
organised out of a belief that the soul-matter, on which all life
depended, was stored in the head of human beings. So whenever a person
was beheaded and his head taken to another village, the soul matter
inside the severed head was also transferred to that village. The
recipient village, it was believed would gain in prosperity, its
population would increase, cattle would multiply and the crops would be
luxuriant.
It would seem that the entire philosophy of Naga life revolved around
the practice of head hunting. It was not only the cause and effect of
war, it was also the inscription for the Naga works of art. Most of the
traditional Naga carvings and patterns on textile have head-hunting as
their motif. The village drum could not be beaten, unless a head had
been taken and placed on it. The warrior who hunted a head was entitled
to wear special kinds of dress and ornaments. A person who did not have a
single head to his credit had difficulty in getting a bride and became
an object of ridicule with the girls.
Women and children were not spared in head-hunting. In fact, a woman's
head was considered a more prized trophy, for a variety of reasons. As
women were always given the maximum protection by the village folk,
taking a women's head meant penetrating deep into the adversary's ranks
with all its risks. Another reason was probably the desire to reduce the
enemy population by killing their women folk and yet another reason
could be the desire for women's hair which was used for ornamental
purposes. Heads of children who had cut their teeth were also taken.
Because of head hunting, villagers took utmost care
in the morning, before the women and children moved out, the surrounding
areas was combed by a group of village young men to make sure that no
enemies were waiting in ambush. They went to the field in a group so as
to meet any sudden threat. While others worked, some people were kept on
guard duty. The village gate was securely closed before the men retired
for the evening.
The normal Naga method of
fighting is the guerilla way. The enemy is to be surprised and caught,
unawares, maximum possible damage is to be inflicted on him and the
attacker should beat a hasty retreat before any succour comes to the
victims. There are also some rare instances of one village having
challenged another to a fight at a particular place. Fights took place
on a number of issues such as land disputes and for not paying the
agreed marriage-price or for sheltering an offender from another village
or a customary welcome had not extended by one of the villages. A woman
whose husband had gone on a fight was expected to remain chaste, it was
believed that otherwise he could certainly be killed by the enemy.
Among the Lothas, women were also forbidden to weave, and it was
believed that any break of this rule would cause the husband's feet to
get entangled in creepers where upon he would be caught and killed by
the enemy.
Different tribes had different customs
to dispose of the heads taken. The Angamis kept the head on a certain
stone in the village, and it was welcomed with food and drink. After the
ceremonies were over, the head was buried outside the village. The
Lothas hung the head on the sacred tree of the village. The Aos also
hung the head on sacred tree for sometime; then later it was brought
down and cleaned. If the hunter was a married man he kept the trophy in
his house, but if he was unmarried it was deposited in the morung. The
Semas put the heads outside the village gate and ate and drank there
after the expedition. Then the heads were taken ceremoniously through
the village and eventually hung from a bamboo under a tree. Every
warrior who had participated in the raid also hung up a gourd
symbolizing a head. The Konyaks laid the head at the foot of the sacred
monolith in front of the Ahng's house. The head was then tied to a
bamboo which was erected near the monolith and remained in that position
for sometime. If the head hunter belonged to the Ahng's clan, he
removed the skull to his own house where it remained as long as the Ahng
was alive. After his death, the head was finally deposited in the
morung and the new Ahng was expected to begin his collection afresh.
Head
hunting ended among the Lotha and the Rengma tribes in 1880, among the
Angamis and Aos in 1905, among the Semas in 1909, among the Sangatams in
1947, among the Konyaks in 1962ss and among the Khemumgans in 1963. The
latest cases of head hunting occured in 1963 and 1969.
Refer: http://www.webindia123.com/nagaland/people/naga_society2.htm
