JOURNEYS WITH A SMARTPHONE

Nagaland

Famed for its numerous tribal groups, their wild disposition, head-hunting and flamboyant attire, Nagaland is one of only three states in India with a Christian majority. 

HANGING OUT WITH THE HEADHUNTERS

Cutting off someone’s head doesn’t necessarily make you a bad person

We headed up the hilly dirt track through the relatively large, well-kept village of Honmpoi — a population of 700 apparently — and towards a recently erected morung, a village hall of sorts where children would've learned the art of hunting and fighting, tradition and folklore before 'civilisation' arrived in the 1960s.

Sitting around a small fire were various old men in multiple states of decrepitness all with tattooed faces. Like something out a George E. Romero film, several others descended out of the mist and perched their arses around the fire.

It isn't easy to describe how it all felt. Caught between an episode of 'Disappearing World' and some primitive Naga soap opera, the whole thing was just plain bizarre. Don't get me wrong, this wasn't the ethnological discovery of the Century. These guys know when they've got it good and wheel themselves out to any passing foreigner to photograph for coinage. They might look crazed, but they ain't stupid. However, it felt like a version of Kaziranga. Instead of animals, we had a human zoo.

Suspending my disbelief, I sat with them for a couple of hours and, over tea and biscuits — yes, tea and biscuits with headhunters — I found out their respective ages (one said he was 110) and when they received their facial adornments. It's a painful, one-day process conducted by the Queen of the village with a huge thorn. They appeared a lovely bunch too, friendly and as amused by me as I was with them. Cutting off someone's head doesn't necessarily make you a bad person.

Requisite shots in the bag, I gave out 120rp to each of them with another 150rp for some tea and snacks, more than the going rate. It had been well worth it. As we got back on the bike and with the sound of petty arguments breaking out over who got what, I reflected on a rare moment, the remarkable passing of human anthropology in real-time.

And having had tea with the last of the headhunters.

Traditional wooden house with a thatched roof, decorated with carved wooden pillars, surrounded by greenery, and featuring two human-like statues inside.
Two indigenous men, one sitting and the other squatting, inside a rustic room. The sitting man is smoking a pipe, and the squatting man is holding a large carved wooden object. There are four decorated mugs on the ground in front of them.
Open photo book showing five portraits of an elder man in traditional attire, with each photo featuring him in different headwear and jewelry, against a simple wall background.
A man dressed in traditional attire, including a feathered headdress, squats with his hands clasped in front of a fire, inside a simple room with a rough wall. An older woman with traditional clothing and beads sits on a bench in the background.
An elderly man sitting against a worn and textured wall, wearing traditional tribal ornaments including a headpiece with feathers and a necklace made of large white beads.
Smiling elderly man wearing traditional tribal headdress with red tassels, multiple beaded necklaces with bells, and a white shirt, standing against a textured wall.

The King & I

A man sitting on a stool indoors, with a atmosphere filled with smoke or steam, and a textured, warm-colored wall in the background.

Slap-bang on the border between India and Myanmar sits the somewhat unusual village of Longwa. And it has a King.

"The King's in church at the moment."

"Oh, when's he back?" I enquired.

A brand new 4x4 pulled up outside the morung.

"There he is, that's the King!" the soldier panted excitedly.

Indeed it was all five feet of him, in his mid-thirties with a bad wedge cut and small black shiny shoes. My first thought was, 'what a lazy bastard' the church was only a hundred yards away. He stepped out with his entourage and headed inside.

"Let's go see the King."

The morung – a village hall of sorts – was big, impressively so. And dark too, made worse by a thick storm that had set in. There was a large wooden dining table to the right and on the wall in front a variety of now locally-extinct wildlife skulls – deer, elephant, water buffalo. There were old bleached photos of the dead King, too, taking his rightful place beside the animals he'd slaughtered.

Dust to dust and all that. Moving through into the second section was a set of small chambers though mainly-closed bedrooms. The King had two wives (but only one Queen), not quite to his father's level, who had 60. The last room was a massive kitchen with an open fire crackling away. Very atmospheric, like the Knights of the Round Table without the table.

I instinctively headed towards a small, smoke-filled, featureless back room with an open-pit fire, surrounded by various dubious characters — just my scene.

"Would you like some of this?" a barely indistinguishable squat man with a bowl cut said, handing me a large wooden pipe.

Six hours later, having purchased booze for the entire room and had several tokes on the peace-pipe, I'd felt I’d witnessed the oddest, most ethereal and otherworldly experience. Apu, my guide, eventually ushered me out into the remains of the day, blissful and dreamy as I headed back towards Mon, the clouds bubbling up like gigantic marshmallows.

Very atmospheric, like the Knights of the Round Table, without the table

Open book showing a landscape photograph of hilly terrain with green vegetation, a small hut, and cloudy sky, next to other mountains in the background.
A man with dark hair and a mustache, wearing a black jacket, is blowing into a traditional bamboo didgeridoo, held with both hands. The background is plain and dark.
Close-up photograph of an older man with dark skin, smiling softly, with his eyes partially closed, wearing a plaid shirt, with a green garment visible in the background.
Open magazine showing a photograph of a man standing on a dirt and grassy field under cloudy sky, with buildings and trees in the background.
A man with dark hair, wearing a tan patterned shirt, standing inside a small room with religious posters and calendars on the wall, holding a pair of scissors.
A person chopping wood outside a house with a mountain backdrop, scattered logs and wood piles in the yard.