indigenousnagaland #2 - Mythologies that taught us morality

PHOTO CREDITS: "Kabui Jagoi Wallpaper 2012 #4", by Team E-pao. (Kabui, is a lesser known name of Rongmei - a constituent of Zeliangrong Nagas.)

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[Of the 54 or so tribes and sub-tribes, the Zeliangrongs have the last major remnants of traditional religionists among Nagas. Zeliangrong is the name of three cognate tribes, namely, Zeme, Liangmei, and Rongmei. The Zeliangrongs - unlike other Nagas who practiced animism - have a primal religion; let's talk about the Zeliangrong today, to see, in brief, how mythologies have given them a lofty moral standard]

The Zeliangrongs

The Zeliangrongs do not randomly choose a particular site for settlement just because it looks favorable to them. Certain signs and omens, inevitably, factor into their decision-making regarding whether a particular land would be suitable for them or not.

OMEN OF FIRE & SMOKES

"If this place would be prosperous and flourishing, productive and give a long and enduring life may the smoke billow up toward the sky". A select elder would offer a prayer in a loud voice to God.

(A) If the FLAME burns properly, they take it as a good sign.

(B) If the SMOKE goes straight up to the sky, without any deviation or inclination to different directions, it is taken as a good omen.

If the fire burns properly, the next step then is to read the omen of smoke, for which they would go to the other side of the mountain to have a clear view of the smoke.

More Omen And Signs

They'd continue to read an omen by killing a pig. They would cut open the pig and see if the spleen is healthy and without any defect. If it is so, it would be considered as a good omen. Or, they may also dig a well and offer a prayer to God.

"If this place would be prosperous and flourishing may this well be always filled with water". They would then leave the well and come back after five days to see if it is still filled with water. If it is so, they would take it as a good sign. Like they take an omen from water, the omen of paddy is also done. Then they would finally construct a village gate known as "Raang".

Village Gate

This gate is the main entry of the village. After the completion of all the formalities, before the real entry to the village, all the villagers - except the land owner and old people that could not move easily on their own - along with their belonging, have to move out of the village before dusk and sleep outside the gate. The next day, early in the morning, a select elder would open the gate and ask the question to the villagers as to who had spent the night at the gate.

'Araang bang khou bam mei thou cho?' meaning who is there at my gate?

The villagers gathered there would respond by saying "Nampoule, aniu guai hei nang name khou lung loume, tuna guang pui tuang nge, zeihaang phung puigin humme, ramping puigin humme, ndaap tripui gin de" which means "landowner, we came here to live in your village, we are not a guest tainted with blood, nor a guest who fled from fear, but a hungry and thirsty guest". Then they would be allowed to enter the gate. While entering the gate each individual must touch a necklace that is hung at the gate.

First Kitchen-Fire

As they enter, there would see - at the center of the village - a bonfire, lighted by the flame of that same omen fire that was deemed a good omen/sign. Every household must picked up a piece of burning firewood or light it from that bonfire and make the first kitchen-fire to cook at their homes. That fire is known as "Maaihthan" which means "new fire". The question of who should be the "landowner" or "head of the village" is different in some villages.

One Method Of Selection Of Chief

To find out who should head the new village, each of all the clans would take a rooster outside the village-gate. They would spend one night in front of the gate. At the break of the dawn, the rooster that crows first, shall make its owner the founder of the new village. That's how the will of God is ascertained. To avoid all unnecessary controversies in future, the headship is established/announced through a general consensus.

Good Beginning

From then on, the founder of the village would perform several rites, rituals or ceremonies to accomplish all the formalities required in establishing the new village. Irrespective of the differences in selection procedure, the selection is deemed crucial because, in rarified cases, for an alternative to death sentence, the land owner will say to the culprit " Nangtho amaaihkhou njuanna guangpui meide". It means "you are just a mere person who followed the smoke of my fire". That's the administrative process of expulsion from the village. Capital punishment was not practiced among them.

Secular And Religious Functions

Their villages usually have dual functions: secular and religious. Nampou usually looks after the secular affairs of the village and Tingku (Chief priest) is the head of religious affairs. In some villages, the Chief priest is assisted by an assistant known as "Tinku Kiakza". The Pei or Council is a constitution of Nampou, Tingku and all the members from different clans. They are empowered to execute the entire required affairs of the village. From the historical point of view, it may not be wrong to say that the Zeliangrong villages were in the form of city-states.

Shungbam

There is also a court of justice - independently of the council - known as "Shungbam". When a dispute of any kind could not be solved by the council/Pei, the case is handed over to Shungbam. This court gives the final verdict to criminal of whatsoever crime. Among the Zeliangrongs how gruesome the crime may be, the severest punishment is in the form banishment and excommunication from the village. They don't have capital punishment.

Muh (Shaman)

Amongst the Zeliangrongs there is also one important feature known as "Muh" (Shaman) which occupies an important place in the society. He or she is not selected or ordained by the people. Their knowledge and skill in medicines is not acquired through training, but are inborn, so to speak. They are said to have vision, foresee things including the knowledge of medicine. They are usually known as medicine men.

Historically speaking, they live an isolated life without much or very rare contact with other communities. They do not seem to have much contact with other communities other than during their migration or feuds and wars.

Role Of Women

In critical situations, the advice of women is sought. Women can take part in public affair if they desire. They can be witnesses in any conflict or dispute. She acts as a priestess also. When the warriors plan an attack, if a woman, by her dream or premonition or by concrete information knows that something will go wrong, she can stop the warriors by shaking her skirt. She can also shake her skirt to stop bloodshed between two parties in a conflict situation. In such cases, women are more sagacious and more powerful than menfolk.

As any other community would be, the Zeliangrong community also believes that the concept of anything they uphold is simply the best.

Mythology

The Zeliangrong creation mythology said, the omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient God (Ragwang/God king), created the heaven, the universe and then man.

To make a place for human habitation and all living creatures, God summoned his two servants Newmeiduan and Newlotiap; the two servants then transformed themselves into crows and perched on a plant called Chakhung, on earth.

They transformed themselves into a giant frog again - as the earth was filled with water - so that they could maneuver on the surface of water. The two servants happen to notice a huge earth worm. They wanted to eat it, but the earth worm requested them to spare his life with a promise that he would do anything for them. Then the two servants asked the earthworm to drill out mud from beneath the ocean, which the earthworm complied. It is through such mechanism that land and water got separated and it became a place conducive for the habitation of all living creatures. Dampapui and Dampapu, the first female and male were molded in shape from the clay of an anthill of the earth. Then God himself breathed life-soul on them that they came to life.

So, man is a being made out of both dust and God's breathe, a unique and special creation.

The Zeliangrong mythology speaks of gods, human beings and animals living together. According to their mythologies, man always tries to follow the footsteps of gods in their way of life. Their beliefs, culture and traditional practices are believed to be the continuation of what they once were following when they were living together with gods and animals. In all activities, starting from the daily household chores, cultivation, festival, etc, the Zeliangrongs make it a point that it is in tune with their religious ethos. W.C. Smith's view (although not articulated specifically for the Zeliangrongs) is precisely true of the role of religion among the Zeliangrong Nagas.

Smith writes,

"The religion of the Naga is intensely practical. He performs his rites lest the mysterious powers about him brings calamities to his door; he refrains from work on certain days that he may have good crops; he goes through the appropriate ceremonies that he may have water in the spring; and he sacrifices at the village gate lest the dread pestilence comes stalking boldly in and ruthlessly claim both hoary age and stalwart youth as his victims."

Their concept of religion may appear polytheistic in outlook. But they believed in one supreme God which they called 'Raguang' (Ra-God, Guang-King; King of gods) or 'Tingkauh Raguang' (God of heaven).

[Difference between “worship” and “appeasement”: Worship has something to do with love and reverential fear while appeasing is absent of love but instead fear of harms; in Pre-Christianity Zeliangrong, they offered gifts and sacrifices, so that no harm would come to them but in no way did they worship those spirits; many visitors misinterpreted these practices and even some Zeliangrongs themselves misinterpreted these practices as signs of polytheism.]

In every significant undertaking they always offer a sacrifice to invoke God's blessings. Namthiubuiyang Pamei termed the religion which the Zeliangrongs imbibed before the advent of Christianity as a "primal religion", in contrast to the opinion of others who termed it as "animist", "savage", "heathen", "primitive", etc.

The Zeliangrong religion has all the features of a primal religion as given hereunder:

a) Belief in the spiritual world, of power stronger than man himself.
b) Concept of the supreme god above all powers.
c) Belief that the spirits of those who have died live on.
d) Dependence on dreams, visions and myth.
e) The use of rituals as means of communication between the world of spirit and the world of the living or between the world of dead and the living.
f) Prayers and offering to god featured prominently in the rituals.
g) Medicine men and the priests played an important role in the society.

Makhel, The Point Of Dispersal

T. C Hodson says,

“At Makhel is to be seen a stone now erect which marks the place from which the common ancestors (of the Nagas) emerged from the earth, Makhel is regarded as the centre from where the migration took place.”

From Makhel the ancestors of the Zeliangrongs went westward and took a temporary shelter at Ramting Kabin, old squeezed land. Then, they went south ward and settled in a place called Chawang Phungning (or Gwang Phungning) where the concept of Chawang (or chieftainship) was developed in a rudimentary form.

Chawang Phungning is identified with the present village of Oklong (in north Manipur). From this place, some migrants took towards the northeast and arrived at Makuilongdi (which literally means "rounded big mountain"). At Makuilongdi, the polity was fully developed. Religious beliefs and social customs flourished. The houses in Makuilongdi reached the magical number 7777 and people reached the zenith of their long and peaceful, socio-cultural life.

Makuilongdi became more or less the Jerusalem of the Zeliangrongs because it is from there that they began to expose themselves to others or the outside world.

The Rongmei of the Zeliangrongs moved southwards and settled down for many generations at Kajinglong. According to prof. Gangmumei Kamei, “Kajinglong was well known for the conflict between men and spirits. Many legends grew up among the Rongmeis about the contest between men and the spirits who disturbed the men. Men ultimately fought out and confiscated the clothes (Ra-Phei) and flower (Ra-Mun) and subjugated them.”

We may conclude from the above that Mythologies have influenced the Naga Ethos since time immemorial. Especially the Zeliangrongs!

References

[NOW DEFUNCT] https://accidentalindian.wordpress.com/the-zeliangrongs/
[WORKING] http://jaojiantheology.blogspot.com/2013/10/kerygma-model-for-zeliangrong-people.html
[WORKING] http://www.thesangaiexpress.com/origin-migration-settlement-zeliangrongs-5/
[WORKING] The Zeliangrong Concept of Meaning of life http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/61814/8/08_chapter%203.pdf
ZELIANGRONG CULTURE AND RELIGION: A PHILOSOPHICAL STUDY (By G. Darling)

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