Abraham Lotha
Visitors to Nagaland are often amazed by two prominent artistic expressions of Nagas: shawls and music. Even though less attention is given to it these days, woodcarving was another artistic expression that played an important role in the traditional Naga society. Woodcarving was to men what weaving was to women. Many of the woodcarving objects such as the dao holders, spears, wooden dishes, mugs, and beds had utilitarian purpose. However the woodcarvings in the Morungs, village gates, log-drums, and on the front porches of the houses had social and ritualistic purpose. They were symbolic representations of the aspirations and achievements of individuals, families and the society. The non-utilitarian woodcarvings were inspired by tribal institutions such as head-hunting, men’s ceremonial houses, and the Feasts of Merit. That is why even though some of the woodcarvings were representative of the clan, village or tribe, not every man could own a house with woodcarvings.
Socio-Cultural contexts
Ethnic arts relate to a system of ideas and social order in a society. They are symptomatic of the values of the culture in which they arise and play a role within that culture. To appreciate the Naga woodcarvings better, one has to understand the socio-cultural contexts of their production. Woodcarving functioned as a way of communicating the value systems of the tribes. Behind the artistic beauty and the technical skill of the carver, there was a whole history and meaning attached to the woodcarvings. Let me begin with some of the cultural institutions and social practices that inspired woodcarving in the traditional Naga society.
Head-hunting: Head-hunting was widely practiced by all the Naga tribes. It provided the basis for many social and religious ceremonies. Social recognition and the right to wear certain ornaments and dress were conferred upon the warrior who brought the head of an enemy. Successful warriors were entitled to wear special dress, ornaments, and decorations on their weapons, carvings on the beams, pillars and house-horns of a warrior’s house. Such carvings and paintings were primarily of human heads.
Morung: Among most Naga tribes, the men’s ceremonial house, popularly known as Morung, occupied a central position in the village not only due to the location of the building but because it functioned as the axis of the social and cultural life of the village. The Naga Morungs were architectural masterpieces. The front central post, the beams, side posts, and the planks partitioning the rooms were elaborately decorated with rich carvings. A lot of effort and extreme care was taken to construct the Morung. The Morungs of the Konyak, Ao, Angami, and the eastern Naga tribes had excellent carvings compared to those of the Lotha, Sema and Rengma tribes. Some Ao Morungs, had the weather boards also carved with figures of birds and fishes, and painted in great detail with red, black, and white stripes, circles and dots. The carvings, usually in high relief, included conventional representations of tattooed men and women, warriors with spears and daos (large knives), human head, breast of a woman, mithun head, tiger, hornbill, pig’s head, lizards, snakes, monkeys and at times miniaturized elephants.
Log-Drum: Closely associated with the Morung, were the log-drums that were kept adjacent to the Morung building. They were commonly used by the northern, central and eastern Naga tribes like the Ao, Sangtam, Konyak, Yimchunger. The log-drums, carved out from a single tree trunk, were large, cylindrical shaped, hollowed out through a long slit on the top. The head end of the log-drums was carved to represent either the head of a Mithun (a type of bison), buffalo, tiger or the head of a man. At times the horns of the Mithun were exaggerated. Basically, every new log-drum was inaugurated with the offering of an enemy’s head. And heads taken later on were first brought to the log-drum and then rituals were performed there to seek prosperity and blessing for the village.
Village Gates: The Angamis and the tribes to their south did not have log-drums but they had massive, thick and heavy wooden doors at the entrance of the village which were used for defense purpose. Hewn out of tree trunks these wooden doors were decorated with carvings of warriors, enemy heads, spears, daos, hornbills, and stylized mithun heads usually with exaggerated horns and squared ears. These carvings were often painted with white, black and other colors used for dyeing cloth.
Feasts of Merit: Perhaps the most important social ceremony in a Naga society was the Feasts of Merit, a series of ceremonies performed by the men. These entitled a man and his wife to wear a certain type of dress and to decorate the front porch of their house with carvings. Woodcarvings in private homes were associated with the performance of at least the mithun sacrifice, if not the complete series of Feast of Merit. Wealthy people in the village were easily spotted because of the Y-posts, carved posts, carved house-horns, and carvings on the front porch of the house. Unlike the carvings in the morung that was associated more with the men, the carvings in the private homes were statements about accomplishments, status, wealth and blessing of the household.
Funerary effigies: Funerary effigies are another space for woodcarving in traditional Naga society. Unlike other carvings of a human figure in the Morung or the front porch of a rich man, an effigy represented the particular individual who was buried. The effigies were erected for the habitation of the soul of the deceased person. Tribes such as Angami, Ao, Konyak, erected wooden effigies over the graves of warriors and those who performed the Feast of Merit. The effigies were often life-size. According to G. Watt, among the Tangkhul Nagas, instead of personal effigies carved from a single piece of wood, memorial tombs were constructed and the platforms were eventually used as resting places. The platforms had five wooden pillars curiously carved, three in front and two behind, upon which were placed the skulls and horns of the animals offered at the great feast.
Symbolism and Significance
Ethnic arts, whether highly conventionalized or naturalistic, are symbols that convey meaning; they tell us something about the kind of society and culture in which they are found. Woodcarving in Naga society too is loaded with cultural significance. Not every design of Naga woodcarvings had special meanings attached to them. Some, like the lizards, fish, lines, had no definite meaning except for their frequent association with people, but most other representations were symbolic. The non-utilitarian woodcarvings were primary vehicles for communicating symbols and value-systems of the tribes. An explanation of some of the motifs will hopefully shed light on the symbolisms and significance of Naga woodcarving.
Human head: The head is the symbol of a person. The essence of a person is believed to reside in the head. It was believed that the more a person or village got the heads of enemies, the more they imbibed the essence of those enemies which would help to increase the prosperity of the village. Carving or painting a head in the Morung or private houses was like displaying trophies for bravery, victory and blessing. Unlike the carvings of heads near the funerary effigies or the number of heads on the necklace of a successful head-hunter, the number of heads carved on the houses did not always correspond to the number of heads taken by the individual nor did the carvings on the Morung indicate the exact number of heads taken by a village.
Woman’s Breast: The breast of a woman symbolizes inexhaustible resource for life and prosperity. The breast of a woman weans one baby after another. In like manner, its being carved on the Morung was an aspiration and hope that the village would be blessed with an endless resource for prosperity and an increase in the population of the village and the tribe.
Mithun’s Head: The Mithun is a symbol of wealth in Naga society. Its confidence, grace, robust and meaty features, gives a sense of well-being to the owner. The Mithun sacrifice in the Feasts of Merit accorded a high status and prestige to a man and his wife in the Naga society. As Sanyu says, carving the Mithun head on the Morung and the front porch of a house was a status symbol demonstrating wealth and power. Today the Mithun is the national animal of the Nagas.
Great Indian Hornbill: The hornbill is the biggest bird seen in the Naga country and is considered as the king of birds. Its magnificent appearance and graceful movements makes it is a beautiful bird to look at. For Nagas, the hornbill symbolizes valor, youthfulness, beauty (especially of men), grace, and the young men of the tribe. Successful warriors are entitled to wear the tail feathers of the hornbill to signify their bravery, one feather for each head taken. And finally, the hornbill is the symbol of the youth of the village especially the brave, young warriors of the Morung. The carvings of the hornbill on the central post and side beams of the Morung symbolized the youth of the Morung. The carvings stated a hope that the village may have many young men of valor and able leaders like the hornbill.
Tiger: The tiger is a symbol of the spirit world and also a symbol of valor and strength. Nagas are lycanthropists and they have a love and hate relationship with the tiger. There is a very strong association with the tiger in the Nagas’ belief system. According to a Sema legend, one mother had three children: a spirit, a tiger, and a man whose respective descendents still people the world. Most other Naga tribes believe that the tiger is the protector spirit of a man or a woman.
Bird: Some of the Naga tribes like Sema, Konyak, Ao, etc have carvings of birds on the Morung. In most cases there is no particular bird that is represented except in the Sema tribe where the bird called cheung is represented. This bird is chosen for representation because long ago a pair of them came and nested in the house of one Kumtsu, a forebear of one of the Sema clans.
There are other representations that can be mentioned even though they may not be a common motif for all the Naga tribes. For example, the elephant by its sheer size and strength is the symbol of power, rice plants with ears symbolize bumper crops, and the python symbolizes wealth.
What did the woodcarvings signify in the traditional Naga society? What role did they play for the different tribes? What were values communicated through the woodcarvings in the Naga society? Davenport, discussing the sculptures of Eastern Solomons says, “most works of ethnic arts are statements of faith in and adherence to the beliefs and social rituals in which the highest traditional cultural values are expressed. It is these traditional values that give motivation and direction to the entire society.” Naga woodcarving is a testament of the values and motivations of Naga society.
The Morung is the best example to begin with. The representations on the carvings were symbols that communicated the predominant values of the tribe. The front central post of the Morung embellished with carvings represented the men of the village. The tree from which the main post was cut was had to be strong, straight, tall and without blemish. Thus, the central post communicated the value of uprightness in men. These basic values of the tribe were there, displayed in the most prominent place of the Morung for every men to see and aspire for.
If the woodcarvings in the Morung represented the aspirations of the village and the tribe, the carvings in the individual homes represented achievements of those aspirations by the individuals. Woodcarvings in private homes were a status symbol - it was a symbol of prestige, honor and influence. The Feasts converted material wealth into social rank and allowed all men the opportunity to advance in social status. The Feasts of Merit both marked and created distinctions in the social status; they made symbolic statements about the wealth of the individual giving the feasts. The woodcarvings associated with the Feasts of Merit were trophies for prosperity and achievements in life.
Woodcarving was also associated with leadership. Among the Sema and Konyak tribes, woodcarvings in private homes are primarily associated with the Chief and Ang (king) respectively. Where there were no kings or chiefs, like the Lothas for instance, the councilors or other leaders were always chosen from men who had performed the Feasts of Merit. Such men had woodcarvings in their house as a proof that they had completed the Feasts of Merit. Woodcarvings, thus, had political significance too.
Woodcarving Today?
Woodcarving in the traditional Naga society had many odds against it. Constant threat of attack from enemies and frequent disastrous fires (most Naga houses were built of bamboo and thatch) discouraged the people from devoting too much of their time to wood carving work. Artisans could not depend on woodcarving alone for their livelihood. Against these odds woodcarving did flourish.
From 1872 onwards, American Baptist missionaries tried to abolish the Morung system as ‘pagan’ and banned the Feasts of Merit as extravagant and wasteful. Converts were forced to burn or bury cultural artifacts and were excommunicated from the church if they drank rice beer or participated in the traditional singing and dancing. Unfortunately, as Julian Jacobs says, “all of this implied not merely giving up ‘customs’ but also ‘opting out’ of the obligations normally attendant on every villager.” Now that 90 % of Nagas are Christians, the Feasts of Merit are extinct, and the church buildings, the most conspicuous buildings in every village, have replaced the Morungs.
In remote villages where corrugated tin roofs have not replaced the thatch or slate roofs some of the old woodcarvings still exist. But those are few. Whereas textile designs and music (very narrowly) survived the onslaught of Christianity and modernization, Naga woodcarving has been relegated to museum exhibits, antiques markets and private collections. Some woodcarving can be found in some of the artifacts produced for tourist consumption commissioned by the Naga Handloom and Handicrafts department of the State and by a few individual entrepreneurs. These products consist mostly of sculptures of man and woman, decorative arts like wooden plates, mugs, spears, dao holders and the hornbill. The present woodcarvings lack symbolisms and the basic values of the cultures that gave rise to them. They lack the authenticity and the cultural meanings that were reflected and reinforced in the traditional woodcarvings. Stripped of the spiritual and cultural elements they look empty.
The artistic creativity and woodcarving skill of the Nagas is not lost but the traditional socio-cultural institutions and practices that gave the impetus and motivated woodcarving are no more. To revive the traditional woodcarving devoid of their rituals and symbolisms would be an empty gesture. The Nagas today live in a different socio-cultural context. What other indigenous artistic expressions can the Nagas produce that symbolize, reflect and reinforce the values of today’s socio-cultural context?
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