Tribal festival of Nagaland
By: Longsen Luckpan
Tags: Dance, Festivals, Feast, Tribal, Nagaland

Tribal festival of Nagaland

has a whole year Tribal festival, from January to December the Tribal festivals goes celebrating as every Tribe has its own unique way of festivals basing on their beautiful culture, Tradition and their way of life .

1.Angami Naga Tribe.

Sekrenyie; it is also locally known as Phousanyi. it is a 10 days long festival. it is the festival of purification. it is celebrated in the month of February. Terhuni is another Angamis festival celebrated on 9th December. Angamis tribe’s supreme spirit in pre-christian days was Kepenuopfu or Nunupi. Rutzeh was their Death God. both Angamis and Chakhesang’s traditional faith was called pfustana or also Medanyi.

2.Ao Naga tribe.

Moatsu; it is pre-harvest festival of Ao . it is celebrated in the first week of May for 3 days. it is celebrated after the sowing in fields is done.

Tsungremmong ; it is celebrated in the month of August. it is observed to beseech the blessings of tsungrems (God/spirits) for a bountiful crop.

3.Chakhesang Naga Tribe.

Sukhruhnye; is the chakhesang counterpart od sekrenyie of the Angamis Nagas. it is celebrated for 4 days in the month of January starting from 15th January. during its young boys and girls are sanctified through religious ceremonies and rituals. there is also another festival called tsukhenye for chakhesangs. it is celebrated in April just before the sowing Khukhu is a pre harvest festival of chakhesang Naga. it is celebrated in August. thuni festival is also observed by the Chakhesang Nagas.

4.Chang Naga Tribe.

Naknyulem; it is a Chang festival celebrated in the month of july 29th to 31st July every year. the word ‘’Naknyulem’’ has two different parts, ‘’naknyu’’ means the mother of darkness’ and ‘’lam’’ means a festival. it is considered as a pre-harvest festival seeking the triumph of the good over dark spirits and also good harvest.

5.Khiamnuingan Naga Tribe.

Tsokum; it is a Khiamniungan festival celebrated as a post harvest festival in the month of October every year. Miu is their pre-harvest festival. it is celebrated in the 1st week of May every year. Biam is another festival of the Khiamniungans. it is celebrated in the month of August every year.

6.Konyak Naga Tribe.

Aoleang Monyu; it is the most important festival among the Konyak tribe’s of Nagaland. it is celebrated in the first week of April every year from 1st to 6th of April. Holi Lah Nyih, Yin Mok Pho Nyih, Mok shek nyih, Lingha nyih, and Lingshan Nyih are the 6 days of Aoleang Monyu celebrations respectively. the first public feast is organised by Konyaks after the weeding is done in the field.

this heavy feasting of particularly, the weeders, is called Ouniebu.

Lao-ong Mo; it is another important Konyak festival. it is celebrated on 28th september every year. it is a post-harvest festival.

7.Phom Naga Tribe.

Monyu; it is a pre-harvest festival’s of Phom Naga tribe. prayers and sacrifices are given to Paosijhiniu or Kao-niu (the Phom people’s ancestral deities). it is celebrated for 6 days between 1st to 6th of April every year. A public feast called the Mongchemba Hahying is organised by people during this festival.

Moha, Bongvum and Paangmo are the other festivals of the Phom Naga Tribe’s of Nagaland.

Oha is a traditional song of the Phom tribe. it is performed during Monyu and Moha festival.

8.Pochury Naga Tribe.

Yemshe; it is a festival of the Pochuri Naga tribe. a post-harvest festival, it is celebrated in September-October every year (actual ceremony is on 5th October). the literal meaning of Yemshe is as follows. Yem in Pochury dialect is a house and she or ushe means odour. thus, it means the preparation of best dishes by the households during this festivals. the other important festival of the Pochuris is Nazu festival. it is celebrated every year in the month of February.

9. Rengma Naga tribe.

Ngada; it is a Rengma post-harvest festival. it is celebrated every year in the month of November, it is an 8 day long festival celebrated towards the end of November 27th to 28th November.

10.Sangtam Naga tribe.

Aomongmong; it is a Sangtam Naga pre-harvest festival. it is celebrated in the month of September every year for 6 consecutive days (actual ceremony is on 3rd September). togetherness is the best word to describe about the significance of this festival in a single word. the last day of the celebration is called Singkitshaa.

Hunapongbi is another significant Sangtam festival. it is celebrated in mid-August.

11.Sumi Naga tribe.

Tuluni; it is the most respected festival among the sema Naga tribe. it is celebrated on 8th July as a pre-harvest festival. A special rice beer called ‘’anni’’ is prepared by the households during this festival. Prayers and offerings are dedicated to Litsaba their pre-christian supreme deity.

Ahuna; it is a sumi post harvest festival. it is celebrated on 14th of November. it is the official festival of the sema Naga, traditionally, it is an agricultural calendar end Tiqhetini festival.

12.Yimchunger Naga tribe.

Metemniu; it is a Yimchunger festival celebrated in the second week of August. it is a 5 day long between August 4th and 8th, festival observed after the millet crop. the Metemniu ceremony shall be inaugurated by the village elders called ‘’Khiungpu’’.

Tsungkamneo and Wuntsuneo are the two other festival of Yimchunger naga tribe.

13.Lotha Naga Tribe.

Toku Emong; Toku means a feast in Lotha dialect. Emong means a rest day. thus, Toku Emong signifies heavy feast during a rest time of the season. it is an annual post-harvest festival of Lotha Nagas. it is held between 7th November and 15th November every year.

these days cock fight, bamboo rifle shooting, tug of war etc. have become regular parts of Toku Emong festival.

14.Kuki tribe of Nagaland.

Mimkut; it is a kuki festival. it is celebrated on 17 January every year, the Chavang Kut is the post-harvest festival of the kuki tribe, it is celebrated on November 1 every year.

15.Kachari tribe of Nagaland.

Bishu Jiba; it is the Kachari pre-harvest festival. it is celebrated in the last week of January.

16.Zeliangrong tribe of Nagaland.

Hega; it is a Zeliangrong festival. it is celebrated between February 10 to 15. other festival of these people are Meileingi (March), Longsimngi (October) these are other Zeliang naga tribe’s festival.

17. Tikhir tribe of Nagaland;

Tsonglaknyi; is their prominent festival. it is a post- harvest festival. they celebrate it on 12th October every year.

Hornbill Festival.

Hornbill Festival is also known as Festival of Festivals. it was first organized by the Government of Nagaland in 2000 at the state capital Kohima to revive, protect, sustain and promote the rich cultural and traditional heritage of the Nagas.

Hornbill is a beautiful and most admired bird for its noble breed and high quality of alertness, charm and grandeur. it has been adopted as the mascot of the festival that is being organised since 2000.

the Hornbill festival has been designated as the ‘’Festival of festivals’’ by Government of Nagaland in 2009. initially, the venue was at Kohima town. now its shifted to Nagaland’s Heritage village Kisama on 1st December, 2003. in the beginning it was celebrated as a 5 day long festival up to 2004. in 2005 the festival was made 7 day long pompous exercise. since 2013 it is being organized as a 10 day long festival.

References;

Nagaland study books/-Tapanjit Sinha@- if you want more click here