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„That a woman’s place was in the home and revolved around the family economy and she was not to venture beyond this realm meant that she had no say in matters relating to the village or tribe. They were not even allowed to be anywhere near in the sitting platforms where men gathered every evening to socialize and discuss various topics. Even in the home, being in a subordinate position, a woman could not take part in any discussion in the presence of male visitors. In this way, women were denied the right to express their views, a tool which could have sharpened their thinking. However, J. P. Mills observed that the Lotha man may say, ‘What does a woman know about such things?’“[1]
When I lived in Delhi, I used to spend my weekends at the National Museum. Part of their ethnological collection consists of a modest series of black and white photographs documenting the life of the Naga Lotha tribe. The people in the photographs so caught my eye that I knew I had to go there to see them.
My neighbor in the North Campus of Delhi, who is from Nagaland, listened to my plans with politely concealed doubt. Nevertheless, he and his wife helped to arrange my stay in the village of Yikhum.
The lives of rural Naga women are filled with hard physical labor in the fields, forests and homes. My lazy Western body could not keep up with even the eldest of them in the hills, and my school knowledge was useless in the village.
Besides participating in their daily activities, I asked them to tell me about their lives. Most of them spontaneously decided to share their stories of giving birth. Behind these simple, unpretentious accounts hides the reality of a materially difficult and marginalized life, which they face with admirable dignity and lightness of spirit.
I sincerely hope that the task of representing Naga women in the historical and social contexts of contemporary India will be taken up by the next generation of Indian historians, sociologists and anthropologists and will be undertaken truthfully and fairly.
[1] Rosanna Kikon – Mahua Bhattacharjee. A Study on the Naga Women of the Traditional Lotha Society of Nagaland, North East India. South Asian Anthropologist. Volume 15, No. 2. New Delhi: Serial Publications, 2015. p. 198-199. ISSN 0257-7348.
