Identity and Globalization: A Naga Perspective

Temsula Ao

TEMSULA AO  is a poet, short story writer and folklorist. She is a professor in English at the North-Eastern Hill University. Currently she is the Dean of the School of Education and Humanities. Her latest story collection These Hills  Called Home: Stories from a  War Zone published by Zuban and Penguin, India is highly appreciated and critically acclaimed.

Identity is a word loaded with meanings, evocative of multiple  interpretations  and in  today’s  context, implicated in a vociferous cry for assertion. The word means different  things to different  people at different times.  It  changes significance over the time-space continuum  and either accrue or shed meanings all the time.

Assigning a common identity to the ethnic groups now collectively known  as the Nagas, comprising of many different tribes, speaking many different languages and within a distinct linguistic group, many different dialects is problematic. For a Naga, identity  is a many-layered concept. In order to understand the implications of identity in the wake of globalization in the Naga experience, the discussion will focus on some primary contexts of its conceptualization with  certain specific examples from the Ao-Naga tribe.

Existential
The existential identity  of the Nagas is immersed in mythical lore¯ how they originated, the location of their origin and why they come to live at different places or inhabit the geographical area called Nagaland and outside the state in some places in the adjoining states. There is no concrete “historical” or material support for the myths of origin; however, these myths have been accepted by people as an inalienable principle of their tribal history. Each tribe with its distinct language, social customs and dress codes has continued to live as an identifiable ethnic entity within the group collectively known as the Nagas. The viability  and continuance of this principle  can be illustrated, for example, among the Ao-Naga tribe regarding the clan divisions and adherence to exogamy. According to their origin  myth,  three men and three women who belonged to three major clans emerged out of rocks at an ancient site called Lungterok.  The myth goes on to say that the marriage among the six people took place with those from clans other than their own. The clan division as well as the practice of exogamous form of marriage among the Aos can be traced to the myth and is prevalent today. There are similar myths of origin in the lore of other Naga tribes, which have become the accepted oral history  of the tribes as well  as the principle of social ordering among them.

Locational
Within the tribe a Naga’s identity is deeply rooted in the village of his birth and residence. Being a citizen of a particular village is the most important aspect of a Naga’s existence because this identity is marked within a specified ethnic and linguistic space. The identity  affiliated to a village draws attention  to clan affinity, possession of ancestral and other  properties  in  the form  of land holdings, and underlines one’s responsibility  to the community  in the form of participating  in community rituals, celebrations, and in the governance of the village polity. A Naga who is banished from his ancestral village for political, social or criminal offenses is like a person without a country. There can be no greater humiliation for a Naga than this fate that strips him of this symbolic identity and he is thus disaffiliated from his origin and tradition. At an inter-village level the antiquity and the size of a village lend a certain aura of superiority  to a citizen of such a village. For example, a villager from Changki, when addressing a gathering of village representatives of  the  Aos,  begins his  speech by introducing himself, as “I am Changki, the father of thirty villages.”  By this he means that he can claim seniority over others by virtue of the antiquity of his village. In a culture  that respects age, such an introduction immediately enhances the speaker’s identity among his peers. On the whole, the combination of ethnicity and territory  gives a Naga the most dynamic definition of his identity.

Artefactual
Art  and its various forms never existed in the Naga context for its own sake. Whatever art forms identified with or assigned to the “Naga” today has evolved from utility items. When houses, village gates, textiles, tattoos and other household items became personalized through extra ornamentation or addition of colours or symbols, the ordinary artefacts began to acquire new significance and became a new set of identifiers within a local context. In men’s wear the most famous example among the Aos is the “Mangkotepsu” or “Tsungkotepsu” shawl, which traditionally could be worn only by men who had taken heads in warfare or given feasts of merit. Such shawls therefore would automatically be identified with persons of high status in society. Such identity markers abound in all the Naga tribes.   Again, the structures and decorations or the lack therein on houses also evince status difference within a given community.

The notion of identity  among the Nagas in relation to the three main contexts is indivisible from the community to which they belong. It is this sense of belonging within these parameters of any given group that validates their individual identities.

Subsumption of Identities
When it comes to being identified, for example, as an Ao, the locational identity  as a member of a particular village is blurred when it merges into the broader identity of the tribe or group. But at this stage, within the group called Ao, the clan divisions remain distinct cutting across village boundaries. The process of subsumption which begins at this stage continues its spiral ascent as it  sweeps aside the local identities  of being an Ao, Angami or Sema etc. when it culminates at the apex point of being identified as a Naga. While the tribal identity is not altogether erased, s/he has to assume a different persona of belonging to a greater whole where all the contextual parameters of her/his identity  become irrelevant. However, even across tribal boundaries certain clan affinities have remained recognizable and are respected. So if an inter-tribal  marriage is being contemplated, care is taken to avoid an incestuous marriage between couples belonging to the same clan.

The progress of an identity  from this point towards a national one blurs all existing parameters and offers a Naga an amorphous identity  based solely on a geographical affinity of residing within the boundaries of the sovereign state of India, which is coincidental. The definitions of this identity are derived from political and economic dependencies rather than any cultural, traditional  or linguistic  affinities.  The Indian  identity therefore becomes a total disclaimer of all that a Naga has conceived of himself to be through generations. His being a Naga, and a citizen of India has to be readjusted in that his existential moorings have to be reinvented in a new context. In the absence of commonalities there can be no assimilation and without assimilation there can be no hybridization. Of necessity it then becomes a question of subsumption of lesser by the stronger force. In the Naga context, the acceptance of the new identity is a matter of political expediency and in the process of accommodating this duality; the people are inexorably pulled towards the forces of globalization.

Globalization
This purely economic theory being peddled to supposedly bring in unity and prosperity to the people will  have to be assessed on the cost that it will  extract from its adherents. The impact of globalization will be most felt in the area of indigenous  cultural  products because to meet global standards, the products will have to be modified,  re-designed and at times even be distorted. The identities embodied in cultural products will  thus be eliminated  for greater marketability.  For example, the famous Ao-Naga shawl called “Mangkotepsu” is a male attire but these days one sees that jackets made out of it have become unisexual and are sold at tourist spots with its lore and history totally ignored. Other handicrafts, dance forms  are also being manipulated to ‘fit’ into the required mould. This process of de-identifying native cultures and their products for the sake of global recognition and economic expediency will  inevitably  lead to a hybridization of identities  in cultural artefacts.

Hybridization implies the subsumption of original features that results in a new product. This inverse process of de-identification begins from the extrinsic domain of visible ethnic identifiers.  But this cannot be dismissed as an isolated phenomenon because the extrinsic markers are an extension of the intrinsic identities.  The loss of the visible distinctions in cultural products will eventually deplete much of the lore and history of the people so that a time will  come when the product will account for writing a “‘de-humanized” history for the people.

The cultures of North  East India  are already facing tremendous challenges from education and modernization.  In the evolution  of such cultures and the identities that they embody, the loss of distinctive identity markers does not bode well for the tribes of the region. If the trend is allowed to continue in an indiscriminate and mindless manner, globalization will create a market in which  Naga, Khasi or Mizo communities  will  become mere brand  names and commodity markers stripped of all human significance and which will definitely mutate the ethnic and symbolic identities of a proud people. Globalization in this sense will eventually reduce identity to anonymity.

Globalization and the Mizo Story

Margaret Ch. Zama

Margaret Zama is a translator of repute and professor in English at Mizoram University, Aizawl.  She has translated many works of fiction  and short stories for Katha. She has introduced Heart of the Matter, a collection of stories in English translation from Northeast India, published by Katha.

Any study on the society and the culture of the Mizo, cannot be completed without the mention of the year 1894, which was a turning point in their history.  It was the year that two English Baptist missionaries of the Arthington Aborigines Mission, J.H. Lorrain and F.W. Savidge, founded their way in to the then Lushai Hills, now Mizoram, to begin their missionary work with “this bloodthirsty race.” They introduced literacy to the Mizo by giving them their alphabet. Lorrain puts it thus, “It therefore fell to our lot to reduce the language to writing in such a way that our system could be readily adopted by the people themselves. For this purpose we chose the simple Roman script…” (1973: V).

That this zealous effort on the part of the missionaries provoked a fast-forwarding  of the socio-cultural history of the people in the region is no exaggeration. The initial fears of the white man soon vanished as they quickly established friendly ties with the locals. The conversion of a war-like animistic tribe from its pre-state and pre- literate culture into Christianity was surprisingly smooth though it was not without some initial resistance from its detractors. The resultant benefits of education and the exposure to some degree to the Western culture for what it was worth, took only a few decades to be strongly entrenched into the Mizo psyche.

The years that span 1894 to present day Mizoram add up to a little more than a century, yet the gains as well as the price paid within this brief period by the Mizo, for becoming enlightened, are  now emerging as a highly explosive topic of study and debate within the state. When this aspect is taken in conjunction  with  a study of the impact of globalization on the culture of Mizoram, a number of interesting issues come to the fore.

Globalization  is controversial  because the term  has different meanings for different people. Broadly speaking, it is the expansion and intensification of connections and movements, of people, goods, capital, ideas and culture, between/among countries. This has given rise to growing interdependence between people of all nations. While this may be beneficial to world economic development, the flip side also shows it to be the cause for an increasing inequality within and between nations, threatening employment,  living standards and thwarting social progress, especially for the less privileged  nations as well as helping  to dilute cultural identities. An attempt has been made here to examine whether any of this has posed a challenge to Mizo identity and culture.

The Mizo identity  is indeed undergoing through an intense introspection. The nostalgia for a romanticized past, crowded by visions of a once brave and honourable people, who practised the code of “tlawmngaihna”1  in letter and spirit,  is strongly nurtured, while the present day notion of a progressive and enlightened Christian society is being brought under a scanner by the people themselves, and is not faring too well under its close scrutiny.

Politically, the dream of Greater Mizoram was first demanded at the first International Mizo Summit called at the behest of MNF  supremo Laldenga in 1965, at Kawnpui, Manipur. This top-level conference demanded for the integration of all Mizo-inhabited territories under one administrative unit. Thirty leaders of various Mizo tribes attended it from India, Burma and the erstwhile East Pakistan.  This idea still persists in a somewhat milder form and is deliberately nursed by all political parties in the state more for political mileage, it would seem, than out of any genuine conviction of its fruition. Even attempts to merge the people of Zo descent or “Zo- hnahthlak” under the common identity of “Mizo” appears to be an uphill  task due to the long-standing linguistic as well as psychological divide between those hailing from Mizoram, Manipur and Myanmar respectively.
The perceived strength of the Mizo society of the past and present lies in it for being community-based since their history can be traced. While this tradition  is still cherished and maintained, the demands to conform to rules arbitrarily  framed by community  leaders for the common good, has begun to clash more often in recent times with the culture of independent individualism that has taken roots into the society. This clash of interest has given rise to controversy at various levels. Even an apparently  minor issue of selecting a name for oneself or one’s offspring,  has become a contentious issue in some quarters. The addition of a “westernized” name causes the so-called guardians of Mizo culture to raise their hackles and they start questioning the cultural roots and identity  of the individual concerned, and this, it may be noted, is within a community  that is blatantly influenced  by Western culture  in dress, mannerism, music and ideas.


An interesting development that has taken place in recent times with the advent of the cable TV is that the Mizo, who would never have openly admitted to watching or liking  Hindi  movies before, is now loathe to miss an episode of the Hindi  serial Kasauti Zindagi Kay of the Star Plus channel, conveniently  dubbed in the Mizo language by the local channels. Condemnation of this has appeared frequently  in local dailies and jokes circulated to poke fun at the fans, but to no avail. One local daily even carries out a translated update of the serial for its readers. The organizers of the recent Peace Fest 2006 held on 20 April 2006 to celebrate two decades of peace in the State had to backtrack on their plans to invite Manoj Bohra, the popular “Prem”  of the Kasauti serial, as the students’ body, the Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP),2 threatened to take action. Their objection was that “Prem” and the serial itself, are a threat to Mizo culture and an unhealthy distraction for the student population.

More interesting perhaps is the mutation that continues to take place in the practices of the Church community in Mizoram. While religious revivals coming in waves, so to say, is not unique to the Mizo experience — the four major revival movements in Mizoram having taken place in 1906, 1913-14, 1919-23 and 1930-37 respectively (Kipgen 1997: 219-242) — yet it is interesting to note how the television evangelization of the West, courtesy cable TV, has had its impact on this Christian state in recent years. The year 2002-03 saw the community gravitating en mass, regardless of denominations,  to line up  at church services and crusades, to be “slain in the spirit” or otherwise to receive “anointing of the spirit”, locally termed “khawihthluk”, similar to the manner of the Benny Hinn  ministry. “Praise and Worship” sessions modeled after the Billy Graham ministry, is also fast gaining popularity and the music videos produced make brisk business especially amongst the Christian youth organizations.

Simultaneously, juxtaposing this is the determined efforts of certain sections to indigenize and acculturate religious practices today. The early efforts of the first Mizo Christians in doing so is seen in the case of the use of the traditional drum to accompany singing and dancing, banned earlier, but introduced during the 3rd Revival (Kipgen 1997:270). Not satisfied just with  this and the translated hymns in western tunes that predominated, original compositions of devotional songs sung to popular traditional tunes called “Lengkhawm zai” came to the fore. Of late, attempts have been made by groups of people to introduce dance steps in church and religious meets, similar to the traditional  “chheihlam.”  Strong objections have been raised in some quarters who see it as unchristian  for  it  harks back to the pre-Christian hedonistic days of festival celebration that were inevitably accompanied by “zu”, the traditional  rice beer. On the other hand, such attempts may be interpreted  as symptoms of the desire to return to one’s own roots even in forms of worship,  which is common to many other cultures as well.

This emphasis on one’s tradition and culture also acquires another dimension besides the genuine fear of loss or dilution of one’s roots. It gives birth to the emergence of power-elites or groups with “vested interest in resurgence and revivalism… Interest in culture becomes often vicarious, gratuitous, a part of the search for the new dynamics of acquiring and sustaining political power and status.”5   It is true that overemphasis on ethnicity  has also “encouraged  cultural  myopia  and ethnocentrism”  which  soon leads to a drying  up  of resources (Mahapatra 1983:29).

In Mizo context, the clarion call by the YMA6  regarding the dress code, behaviour, disapproval of marriage outside the community, expressions of concern and fear over assimilation and hybrid-identities and so on, have not quite succeeded in stemming the flow of change and transformation.  This has been facilitated by exposure to movement of peoples, inter-state travels, the internet and yes, the IT revolution  too, which is beginning to have its impact on governance and higher education amongst other things.

Even traditional dance-forms and indigenous handloom designs have not  escaped this transition.  To cite an example, the popular “Cheraw” or bamboo-dance has mutated through the years to introduce more intricate steps, and the traditional  “puanchei” and “kawrchei” enhanced and upgraded so to say, for the purpose of appearing as attractive and colourful, if not more so, than other cultural groups from other states. So sometimes, changes are caused by reasons as innocuous as the desire to “keep up with the Joneses.” Again, traditional ethnic handloom designs of the Mizo puan (wrap-around woven cloth) and shawls have undergone their share of changes and borrowings from outside their region, to respond to market demands.

The need for co-existence and space sharing are to be taken up with  a more serious note by cultures of the northeast without compromising on traditional  values or endangering territorial boundaries. After all, culture and tradition  are alike in that they are both created by human beings and human experience. They are subject to change with  the passing of time, though this could well be a subject for further debate.

Endnotes
1.  An idealistic code that seeks to render all help possible to those in need, even to the extend of laying down one’s life,  without expecting any returns.  The Mizo  believes that this is a tradition  unique to them.
2.  The Young Lushai (later Mizo)  Association founded  in 1935, now  a powerful  non-governmental  organization that has firmly  staked its claim as a representative of the true Mizo  identity  based on its unique  code of “tlawmngaihna.”

References
Kipgen, Mangkhosat, Christianity and the Mizo Culture, Mizo Theological Conference, Aizawl,  1997, p193.
Lorrain,  J.K. Dictionary of the Lushai Language, The Asiatic Society, Calcutta, Reprint 1973, (v).
Vergese, C.G. Thanzawna, R.L., A History of the Mizos, Vol II,  Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi, 1997. p248.
Mahapatra, Sitakant, The Awakened  Wind,  Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi, 1983. p26.