Mao Naga Tribe (Set of 3 Books)

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Tribal Philosophy And Culture: Mao Naga of North-East

Socio-Cultural and Religious Life of Mao Naga Tribe

Socio-Cultural History of Shupfomei Naga Tribe: A Historical Study of Ememei, Lepaona, Chuluve and Paomata Generally Known as Mao-Poumai Naga Tribe

Emerging globalized world is partly responsible for undervaluing the philosophy and traditions of the traditional community. This process led them to undergo cultural crisis and philosophical stigma. The outcome is the polarisation of human society and civilization into culture and uncultured, democratic and undemocratic, civilized and uncivilized, and so forth. It functions within the calculate strategy of the dominant ideologies so as to perpetuate hegemonic domination. The edited volume Tribal Philosophy and Culture: Mao Naga of North-East seeks to emphasize on relook the vitality of cultural practices and traditions to face the onslaught of this phenomenon. The study of oppositional yet phenomenal relationship of philosophy and culture will not only define the identity of a community but also may suggest alternative means when the world community at large is undergoing huge "value crisis."

While keeping this interacted liaison in mind, the edited volume, with articles from scholars across disciplines attempted to address certain topical issues from the insider perspective. The articles ranges from dwelling philosophical world of myths and narratives, social and political issues, media and education, women's issues and their role in peace building, stretching to ecology and environmental issues. Overall, the book reflects the dynamic aspects of understanding and interpreting the cultural practices of the Mao community.

ATHIKHO KAISII (b. 1975) hailed from Charanghomei (Shajouba) has completed his doctorial degree in 2005 in the Centre for Study of Social systems, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. To his credit, he has published few articles in journals and in an edited volume. In the fast meditated age, issues concerning with justice, governance and youth are some of the areas of his interest. Presently, he is teaching as an Assistant Professor in the Centre for Culture, Media and Governance, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi.

HENI FRANCIS ARIINA (b. 1978) hailed from Fürodzümei (Punanamei) is a research scholar pursuing his doctorate from the Centre for Philosophy, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Currently, he is teaching as an Assistant Professor in Miranda House, University of Delhi.

Publication of the volume Tribal Philosophy and Culture Mao Naga of North-East brings both sense of comfort and satisfaction. It epitomises the scale and vastness of the aroma of the "Celebration of 50 years; mao Nagas in Delhi (1961- 2011)" held on 15 October 2011 at Sir Shankar Lal Hall, University, of Delhi. As part of this momentous event, articles contributed by scholars from across disciplines of Mao community will not only leave deep imprints but it will also reflect scholarships of the contributors in their respective area of academic interest and proficiency.

The Mao tribe, though originally from Senapati District, Manipur, are now settled in Nagaland - Kohima, Dimapur and other cities of India such as Imphal, Guwahati, Shillong and Delhi. Bringing out this volume is important as it gives platform to diverse views from within and outside India as well and drives the point of the need to root oneself to the society as member of the community when philosophical ideas and cultural values are reeling under serious crisis. The articles are befitting for further analysis as they are of different nature that capture vital issues concerning the Maos in particular and the North East India in general.

For months, Athikho Kaisii and Heni Francis Ariina, the editors of this volume have been worked hard to make the publication to see the light of the day. Without their dedication, this project could not have been possible. I wish the editors the very best and every success in their future endeavour.

Needless to mention every contributor to the volume deserves special appreciation. Certainly, their contributions to the volume will enhance the process of making the Mao as part of the knowledge society and definitely enlighten the readers.

It is an honour and privilege to write a foreword for the book that Athikho Kaisii and Heni Francis Ariina have been bringing out as an edited volume.

The volume has emerged as a part of the celebration to mark the fifty years of the Mao Nagas' history in Delhi. In these fifty years, the Mao Nagas have grown from being handful to over thousand by 2011. A large size of them comprise of students studying in different universities in Delhi. The history of the Mao Nagas in Delhi is traced to their coming to the national capital as students. However, with the completion of their studies, process of taking up employment and joining profession in Delhi began. The Mao community in Delhi today comprises not only of students but also employees working in government and non-government sectors and their families. The fifty years of the Mao Nagas in Delhi have given rise to number of organizations among them with a view to knit the members of the community together as well as to look after the interest and welfare of the community. The earliest organization to come up was the Mao students', Delhi in 1991 followed by the Mao Students' Union, Delhi in 2003 after the Naga Students' Union, Delhi adopted a semi/federal structure. The last to come up was the Mao Welfare Association, Delhi in 1998, which is the broad based organization of Mao Nagas in Delhi.

Much of the writings on tribes in India in general and North-East India in particular have been done by the colonial administrators and the foreign Christian Missionaries to begin with. They have been joined later by anthropologists, both foreign and Indian. Other social scientists like historians and political scientists of the region too have shown interest in the study of tribes. However, in the very recent years there has been spurt in the growth of social scientists from the tribal communities. This is most evident in North-East India. Most of these scholars belong to the discipline such as sociology, anthropology, history and political science beside of course humanities like philosophy, English and tribal languages.

The volume Tribal Philosophy and Culture: Mao Naga of North-East seeks to address the phenomenal relationship as well as opposition between philosophy and culture. In a nutshell, philosophy and culture constitute fundamental elements of human life. Philosophy guides the path of life to truth, goodness and beauty. Culture nourishes and defines the philosophy of a society. Philosophy questioned the unquestioning and attempts to explain and answer the fundamental problems of life Such question in a way pacifies doubts and confusions that exist in the discourse of human life. The nature of philosophy as such are already a philosophical question, and are intimately related with what culture stands for In a way, culture provides and explains what the philosophy is questioning for. The study of philosophy and culture, therefore, envelopes every aspect of human beings - the dimension is wide, deep and the quests rarely end. What culture offers are the things that philosophy takes into account in its analytical framework. Beyond doubt, the links of philosophy and culture is well knitted.

In the aftermath of distressing consequence of industrial revolution and colonialism, globalization that cut across nations, cultures and societies has hit the human civilisation like never before that led to the emerging of a "global village. Often this trend led to undervalue tradition and view it as backward and barrier to growth. Yet tradition is closely linked with identity, culture and worldview of the people Philosophy of a society becomes the tradition of the people Tradition manifests and defines social, economic, political and religious life of a society, which explained what a culture is. Amidst this development and charge asserting of indigenous and local concerned that may be interpreted as resistance to globalization is also becoming more prominent.

This book is about the Maos' concept of good life in general, their vision of man, their religious beliefs and their particular notion of virtues. The affinity between the Maos' notion of good life and that of certain classical philosophers like Aristotle, Kant and the Utilitarians has also been compared. The Maos like most other tribal communities live a simple life, close to nature and with strong kinship ties among themselves. There is no visible discrimination based on colour, creed, caste, status, position or power in the traditional Mao community.

The Maos value some of the important virtues like bravery, generosity, faithfulness, honesty, wisdom, hard work, etc., which they link with happiness and good life. According to their moral vision, a virtuous person will be leading a meaningful life. Their elaborate religious belief system, rites and rituals are discussed along with the moral embodiment in their belief system.

M. DANIEL is from Kalinamai village, Senapati District, Manipur. He did his schooling from Model English High School, Mao, Manipur. His Pre-University (Science) was from Raid Laban College, Shillong. He obtained his graduate degree from Manipur University and Post- Graduate, from North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, in 1998 and 2001 respectively. He was awarded Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy for the research work on the concept of the good life in the traditional thought structure of the Mao Naga tribe, by the North- Eastern Hill University, Shillong in 2004. This book is an edited version of his doctoral thesis.

Before joining Department of Studies in Philosophy at University of Mysore in Karnataka state, he taught Philosophy in Raid Laban College, Shillong, Meghalaya.

**Contents and Sample Pages**

The book, "A Socio-Cultural History of Shüpfomei Naga Tribe" deals with the origin, migration and departure of the different Naga tribes and particularly the four kindred groups namely, Ememei, Lepaona,

Paomata and Chüluve. In the past other Naga tribes knew these four groups as Shüpfomei but today they are officially called the Mao and the Poumai tribes. The term "Shüpfomei" was used in pre World War I era, followed by the decadence and the post-World War II, which witnessed the emergence of a new nomenclature called "Mao Naga Tribe". Initially, in the official record used by the Government of India, the term "Mao- Maram" was used. But slowly such a term "Mao-Maram" is much less used and though older generation did use it when making certain references in the office.

Shüpfomei Naga Tribe-concerning their oral traditions, socio-cultural, socioreligious, socio-politics and socioeconomic life. And further more, their untold and unwritten history of Shüpfomei tribe expressed through dance, music, folktales, folksongs, etc.

FR. WILLIAM NEPUNI is a Visiting Professor at Orien's Theological College, Shillong and at Don Bosco College, Maram teaching Cultural Anthropology and South East Asia in the department of history. He has translated the Mao Holy Bible, published Mao language dictionary and literature on Mao culture and religion. At present he is the Parish Priest and School Principal at St. Joseph, Tadubi (Manipur).

The dawn of a new millennium should usher in a new beginning, bringing races, cultures, peoples, nations, and tribes to a harmonious blending of globalization. Working together, sharing and building a world of unity without dominating either in economic, social, political, religion, or ecological, but as equal partners, giving room for every group to carve out their identity, at this juncture, the world is moving towards ethnic re-grouping and we focus an ethnic group who are yet to taste and experience the basic achievements of modern science and technology. And therefore, A Socio-Cultural History of Shüpfomei Naga Tribe A Historical Study of Ememei, Lepaona, Chüluve and Paomata, generally known as Mao-Poumai Naga Tribe is the outcome of the many questions raised by younger generations regarding their true identity in the sea of human race, colour, people, cultures and outlook. The search for words and lack of materials to respond to the questions becomes a crying need for educated people as well as for the coming generations.

There are many books written on the Nagas by foreigners. Indians and Naga scholars and did mention about as a reference to Mao tribe, but only once or twice I did found the word or term Shüpfomei was mentioned. With many scholars as social thinkers, philosophers, writers and social workers I feel the need to have a written history, a document which will pass on to the coming generations for their reference and study materials With the transitional phase of the modern society and much more the Naga society, such felt need is much stronger because each society and tribe is trying to assert its presence in the political, social, cultural stage Thus, the point of meeting will be when each group with their ethnicity bring their indigenous culture and history and shed their light to the others.

It does not necessary mean that tribes without written records do not have history. They do indeed have history which is stored in the memory of the people. For the study and reconstruction of the history of such people, one has to rely on oral history. Commenting on the special nature of oral traditions as historical sources, Prof. Jan Vansina, a noted French historian writes thus: "Oral traditions are historical sources of a special nature. Their special nature derives from the fact that they are "unwritten" sources couched in a form suitable for oral transmission, and that their preservation depends on the powers of memory of successive generations of human beings"

Dr. Fr. William Nepuni has adopted the methodology set down by Jan Vansina and his present book is mainly based on a critical study of Shüpfomei Naga's Oral Sources-Opfo ope lo. To supplement these sources, Dr. Nepuni has made intensive and extensive study of source materials collected through personal interviews with those who are well-versed in the oral folk literature and also other secondary published books and articles on the subject.

Dr. William Nepuni's book has therefore provided a deep insider's view into the processes of transformation which is taking place in the Shüpfomei Naga society today. Caught between the two waves of traditionalism and modernism, the Shüpfomei Naga and for that matter the Nagas in general, are now exposed to the new social forces in the form of new economic order and philosophical modern values. For a research scholar and even general readers, who are interested in tribal studies, Dr. Nepuni's book is a must-reading book.