The Nagas are ethnic groups comprising of 54 tribes occupying parts of Northeastern India and part of Northwestern Myanmar. Despite their diversity in language and landscape, they are bonded by a common culture and similar traditions. The tribe is known for its notorious history of headhunting and its numerous festivals. All the tribes of the Nagas celebrate their own festival with folk dance and folk songs. The Nagas are also not short of art and crafts. Some of the exquisite art and crafts of the Nagas are:
1. Pottery
Pottery among the Nagas is mostly practiced by women. Over time men have also started taking part in it. Unlike others, the Nagas make earthen pots with their hand without using the potter’s wheels. It is mostly made with black, brown, and red clay. However, in Longpi (Nungbi) village, it is made with a mixture of brown clay and serpentinite. It is believed that meat, especially pork, tastes better when cooked with earthen pots of Nungbi village.
Earthen pots being made out of clay
2. Weaving
Weaving is one of the most beautiful artworks of Nagas. It is mostly confined to the womenfolk. In some villages, with the passing of time, some men have also started practicing weaving. The Nagas weave almost everything from shawls to women wrap around, and bags. Before westernization, the Nagas depended on weaved traditional attires. Each tribe has its own unique design and colors. The Tangkhul tribe also has women wrap-around attire, dedicated to individuals so that their stories are not forgotten. For example: The Luingamla Kashan.
A Tangkhul woman weaving
3. Bamboo/cane work
Baskets and other articles made of bamboo or cane are essential household goods of the Nagas. The smaller baskets are generally used for keeping vegetables, and crops, while the larger ones are for carrying firewood and other essentials when going to farms, forests, or paddy fields. Now it has become more of a showpiece rather than an essential item. In villages, the majority of the adult males make bamboo baskets for themselves for domestic use. As bamboo is abundant, bamboo articles are more common.
Bamboo basket weaving
4. Traditional ornament
The Nagas were never short of creativity. This is evident in their traditional ornaments. It is worn by both men and women especially during festivals, weddings, and celebrations. The ornaments are usually designed from ordinary to semi-precious stones, ivory, metals, boar's teeth, etc. The most common ornaments used by the Nagas are necklaces, earrings, armlets, and bracelets.
Traditional ornaments worn by women
5. Wood carving
Wood carving is primarily expressed in three ways: through headhunting, ornamentation of Morungs (men's communal residences) or houses of the rich or the nobles and kings, and through the erection of funerary figures for prominent people. The carvings in houses and Morungs are mostly of Mithun heads, human heads, hornbills, tigers, elephants, pythons, and others.
Wood carvings on walls of houses
6. Blacksmith
Blacksmith is one of the most important crafts of the Nagas. The smiths create dao, axe, sickle, knives, spears, and other weapons. The Rengmas are the most skilled Naga blacksmiths. Rengmas were possibly the only Naga tribe who melted iron by boiling and heating stone containing iron-sand in the past. Nagas have a strong bond with their weapons like the Dao and the spears which differ in shape and pattern depending on the tribes.
In the olden days, the spear is used for hunting, war, and defense. However, now spears are used mostly in ceremonies. The dao is a weapon that can be used for a variety of purposes. It's used for chopping meat, carving wood, and murdering adversaries, as well as cutting trees and fowls. It is made up of a blade and a wooden handle.
Dao made out of steel
7. Embroidery
The beautiful embroidery reflects the rich artistic caliber and rich cultural heritage of the Nagas. Each tribe has its own unique design of embroidery. In the Tangkhul tribe, one of the embroidered shawls for women is known as Ravait Kachon, which is usually worn during weddings and celebrations. It signifies pride and honor.
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