MON, Nagaland

Main Attraction: An “Angh”

The motif represents a Konyak Naga Chief “Angh” in traditional dress used generally on ceremonial occasions like “Aoling Moh”. One of the most spectacular features of their dress as seen in the motif is the colourful head gear “suosuok”. It is made of colourful cane “Yantak” and orchid bark “Nyen” which gives a red and yellow stripe. The black hair “yiang kongmei nyei” used on the headgear is from a very rare animal in Nagaland. 

Two wild boar tusks are fixed on the front of the headgear which signifies bravery. The necklaces are of very precious beads and stones “yuknyu”. But the most interesting among the necklaces is the one with the symbolic human head called “yanshuo”. The one seen here has also a row of tiger teeth “Sah bha” hanging on each side of the shoulder.

Brief History

The name of the district Mon originated from the name of the District headquarter, namely, Mon, now an urban area and the administrative centre of the District.  

For a long time, the inhabitants of the state of Nagaland who are mainly the Nagas, covering under it various nomenclatures of different tribes and sub-tribes, mostly remained isolated from the neighbouring people on account of the geographical isolations under which they were living for centuries. Each tribe has its own area of land. Their past lives were woven entirely around their own land, their families, the clan, the khel (part of a village), and the village. The villages are generally constructed at the most commanding position on the hill tops basically for better climate and for advantageous defence position against the attack of the invading enemies which were very frequent when head hunting and disputes over land etc. were rampant in the past. Isolation from each other made the life style of the different Naga communities different from each other.

They had a self-sufficient village economy. They could make useful and artistic objects, are efficient in iron works and skilful in making baskets and other bamboo products and could make pottery articles without the use of the potter’s wheel. Their custom and dress differ from one another and this can be evident from the pattern of the clothes and the textiles worn by them till today during festivals and ceremonies. The textiles are woven by the women themselves on their simple loin looms but the designs are intricate and very artistic. The weapons consisted generally of daos (machetes) and spears. According to the Linguistic Survey of India, the languages spoken by the Nagas are broadly grouped under the Tibeto-Burman family. There are many dialects one different from the other. The dialects vary not only from one tribe to another tribe but also from one hill range to another hill range and in some cases from one village to another village within the same tribe. The physical features also differ from one tribe to another tribe.

Mon District is predominantly inhabited by people belonging to Konyak tribe. Like all other Nagas, Konyaks have Mongoloid features. They are on an average shorter in height but their lives are very active. The people are generally healthy, well-built and muscular in form and the older males wear tattoos on their face and body. Konyaks are adept artisans and skilled craftsmen. Here one can find excellent wood carvings, daos (machetes), guns, gunpowder, head brushes, headgear, necklaces, etc. made by these artisans and craftsmen. They also weave wonderful designs on their handwoven shawls. The most colourful festival of the Konyaks, "Aoling Monyu", is observed during the first week of April every year after sowing of seeds.

Majority of the people have now embraced Christianity and it has in fact, become the cohesive bond between the Nagas. Though the primary objective of the early Christian Missionaries was to spread Christianity in the area, the Missionaries were also responsible for giving the primary light of education to the people. The Nagas in general were at one point of time in constant fight with each other and the one who had the maximum skulls of his enemies was considered the mightiest and most

powerful. Konyaks still decorate their houses with skulls, hornbill beaks, elephant tusks, horns and wooden statues.

The Konyaks have a male dominated society and the laws of inheritance are basically among the males. Property goes from father to son and if a man dies without leaving a son, his property will go to his brothers or brother’s son as the case may be. The villages were generally built on the highest hills and fortified for defence.

In the past, Konyaks had powerful Chiefs or Anghs. Their words at one time were law. The authority or title of the Chief in a village is hereditary in the past. Village chiefs used to be the man who was responsible for the maintenance of harmony in the village, protection of their customary laws and procedures and the defence of the village from the hands of the invaders. The role of the village elders in the day-to-day affairs of the village was very important. The houses of the Chiefs were generally distinguished by their extra size. In modern times, however, this hereditary system has been gradually replaced by a system of elected/nominated representatives forming a Village Council headed by a Secretary/Chairman.