I have always been inspired by the stories of the Indian tribes of India. They will never recognize the culture that should’ve been deeply rooted in their souls and seen as a reflection of themselves. All this is to say is that we see cultures die more often than we should, and we recognize how our children, and how our children’s children, will never know the history of who they came from. But to the great elders of the Konyak tribe, head hunting, as strange as it may seem to those outside of the culture, had its purpose. By 1960’s, the younger generations adopted newer lifestyles and cultures, causing the culture that ultimately embodied who they were, to disappear. The customs that the Konyak tribe once practiced and celebrated are now dying with the headhunters. The last of the headhunters are forced to watch the new generation disregard or simply never learn of the culture that the generations and ancestors before them held close to their hearts. What happens when a culture vanishes? What happens when traditions, folklore, spirituals, and lifestyle fly by the wayside, never to be seen or heard of again? That’s a question that those of the Konyak tribe in Nagaland, India ask themselves. Although everything about it may seem brutal to us, to them, it was a necessity that was tied to their souls and their very way of life. They were people that found solace and respect in their skill. The Konyak headhunters were more than just people who just liked what they did for a living. All in all, the Konyak’s were a people that were rooted deeply in tradition and were so proud of who they were that they broadcasted their outward expression of self by wearing symbolic representations of their kills. This king always had the biggest skills, and had more of them than the average headhunter. The Last Avatar -Head Hunters | Aman ChotaniĮach Konyak tribe was overseen and held responsible by one king. But by 1960’s, the younger generations adopted newer lifestyles and cultures, causing the culture that ultimately embodied who they were, to disappear. Before then, the Konyak’s were animistic and worshipped Mother Nature and all of her elements. In 1935, the practice of head hunting was banned on account of murder and how it did not respect the Christianity rules that the rest of the tribes were slowly being converted to. Christian missionaries arrived with the intention of converting the Konyak tribes to Christianity. It was their custom up until the late 19th century. These warriors prided themselves with their skill of head hunting, and celebrated their famously prestigious facial and bodily tattoos. The display was done simply to show off the skill, strength, and prowess of that particular warrior, and was a sign of power to his tribe. The more heads a warrior had, the more powerful he was. These skull-like trophies were then hung in communal houses called Morong’s and were put on display for all to see, admire, and appreciate. The Konyak’s were once known as war-loving people who would attack enemy tribes, taking the heads of that tribes warriors, and taking their decapitated prizes home. This soul force is strongly associated with prosperity and fertility and is used for the benefit of the village, personal life, and crops.” Phejin Konyak, the great-granddaughter of a Konyak headhunter, expressed in her book The Konyaks Last of the Tattooed Headhunter, that the skull had “all of the soul force of that being. To them, the skull housed everything that the human is and ever will be. Headhunting was the product of what the Konyak people believed in and what the skull represented. Once a young boy completed his first kill successfully, he was given his very own, very unique, facial tattoo to mark his shift and transition into manhood. Capturing the head of an enemy meant to capture the spirit that the enemy had, and was largely seen as a sign of unwavering courage and bravery. Head hunting was the war-art of capturing the head of an enemy, which, was seen as a rite of passage for young boys to turn into men. When we think of tribes, the first thing that comes to our mind is, “what did those tribesmen and women believe in?” “What were their customs and beliefs?” That’s what I asked about the Konyak tribe that was nestled in Nagaland, India, in regard to the famous headhunters.
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