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For the first time a
‘Naga fusion’ fashion parade was organized in Delhi. Lithe
and agile young Naga belles cat-walked confidently down the ramp as
it they had just stepped out of ‘Vogue’ in the trendiest
outfits. The one most outstanding feature was that every piece of
cloth used was handwoven on the loin loom that the Nagas have been
using for more than a 100 years. Traditional patterns of the various
tribes of Nagaland fused harmoniously with high fashion garments of
the West. As the lights dimmed and the show began with a dance of
the early Naga warriors, the reverberating and resounding of drums
carried one back into the past to the deep remote jungles on the
North-Eastern frontier.
Very wild and beautiful,
Nagaland was a strange and totally isolated hilly, mountainous
region. With the arrival of the missionaries, the First World War
and later the Japanese invasion of 1944, British troops arrived and
the ‘west wind’ started blowing across this land changing
the rhythm of life and within a span of 150 years rapid
transformation took place making up for years of isolation.
Till as late as the early
19th century the Nagas lived simple ‘pagan’
lives in their forested mountains sowing and harvesting, brewing rice
beer, singing, dancing and headhunting. Always brightly bedecked in
gala colours, Naga warriors flashed about almost ‘au naturel’
as their sole garment was a strip of black cotton cloth worn as a
kind of kit. Passed around the hips and overlapping in front it was
fastened on the left side. The lower corner was drawn tightly
between the legs by a string. When a man became a warrior he
acquired the right to trim his kilt with rows of cowries
(shells) for every head taken he affixed so many cowries. A warrior
with three rows was considered a great gun indeed! A long black
homespun cloth with a double border of bright scarlet and yellow
stripes or white with black and red stripes was draped across the
breast and knotted over the shoulder. Another was bound round the
waist, the folds were used as pockets.
A warrior’s
head-dress was his ‘crowning glory’. All Naga tribes used
a lot of hair as tassels for decoration human or animal hair dyed
red. Some wore coronets of bear’s hair. For every conspicuous
bravery the right was conferred to wear long tail feathers of Hom
Bills or Toucans – white with a single broad bar of black at the
top. They were fitted loosely so they revolved with any movement.
Apart from being decorative, these ornaments served for defensive
purposes as well: the long hair so profusely used, waving about with
every movement were meant to distract the eye of the foe –
disturb the aim. Armlets were made of single slices of elephant
tusks two inches wide. Small bands of coloured canework were also
worn above the elbow. Leggings made of red and yellow cane followed
the shape of the leg fitting at the ankle and just below the knee and
swelling at the calf. These accessories served to ward off the spear
or axe.
Surprisingly, the women
were not quite so picturesquely attired. They wore a sarong and were
topless but loaded with numerous necklaces of all sorts and sizes of
shells and glass beads.
Due to the bracing
climate the shawl has always been and still is the single most
important piece of cloth. The shawl and sarong was an indication of
the tribe to which they belonged as each tribe had its own particular
motif symbols.
Naga women are superb
artists of the loom being adept weavers. Almost every home has its
loin loom which is compact, simple and portable. It is a kind of
tension loom made of bamboo and wood. The warp yarns are stretched
between two parallel bamboos. One end is attached to a wooden stick
and the other end is held firm by a leather strap that goes around
the weaver’s waist against which she leans sitting on a mat.
The shuttle is passed over and under the warp and the weft is pushed
in by a pieced of wood. The loom occupies little space and can be
tied to a tree outside or in any part of the house. The Nagas have
clung to certain patterns and motifs that have come down through the
ages. These designs have become deeply rooted in the tribal
consciousness and become a part of their heritage. Their patterns
are mostly simple geometric lines inspired by the intrinsic
characteristics of nature – the rotundity of the moon, curves of
branches, ovals of leaves, the arc of the sickle moon, the stars, the
vertical and horizontal flight of a bird and the swimming of a fish.
The fabrics have a ribbed effect and are thick as the warp is dense
and covers the weft so when different t coloured yarns are added into
the warp the stripes become bold and achieve full strength of colour.
Combinations of black, red and white feature frequently and are
based on symmetry. In the sarong, stripes run horizontally.
Sometimes warp stripes are interrupted by small motifs in extra weft
weaves. The back of the fabric shows no trace of the extra weft
used.
Although Naga society has
rocketed its way to a modern present the loin loom remains steadfast
and today weaving is the only cottage industry extant. Naga youths
have gone in a big way for ultra-modern garments. Latest trends
reach these remote hills long before the cities even awake to them.
But the handwoven cloth is still favoured. Old designs have been
inspired by inter-tribe marriages resulting in a fusion of various
tribal designs.
Gone are the days when
tribes eyed each other with suspicion from their hill-top village
eyries. There is now a new-found feeling of oneness with the various
tribes uniting under the common banner of Nagas. The ring of church
bells have replaced the resonance of the village drums and ballads by
pop music. Music and dancing in the old Naga style is reserved for
special occasions and visiting V.I.P.s. Where earlier each tribe had
its own dialect, English and Nagamese is now the language of the
people. The best of the old has not disappeared with the zest for
the new – a balance has been struck. They are infused with a
long-standing sense of pride in the creative talents of their people
and this spirit is the greater incentive to the Nagas to keep alive
the beauty and vitality of their craftsmanship – a living
tradition for all time.
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