Over 150 participants attended the ‘Ecologies of Care’ workshop jointly organised by Nagaland University (NU) and the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) in Kohima. The one-day event brought together academics, researchers, village elders, and knowledge-keepers to foreground Naga cultural heritage and Indigenous epistemologies.
Chief Guest Prof Jagadish K Patnaik, Vice-Chancellor of NU, lauded the Department of History and Archaeology for its strides in research and collaborations that centre Indigenous knowledge systems.
Introducing the initiative, Prof Dolly Kikon, Director of the Center for South Asian Studies, UCSC, described it as a collaborative dialogue to explore intersections and care practices in the Himalayan region. Inviting participants to “love one another but also love our lands like our ancestors did,” she urged reflection on shifting ecologies, pointing to how the river Chathe has transformed from a life-source to a precarious waterway.
Prof Tiatoshi Jamir of NU highlighted the global scarcity of Indigenous archaeologists and called for reparative research ”with, by and for Indigenous communities” to decolonise academia.
Drawing from his studies, Jamir noted that returning to folklores on rice origins has informed archaeology on the early cultivation of crops in Northeast India. Both Kikon and Jamir also welcomed the introduction of new courses on Indigenous knowledge at NU and Kohima Science College.
As part of the workshop, Adela Moa, Director, Department of Art and Culture, Government of Nagaland, launched the exhibition ”Naga Lithic Worlds” curated by Kikon and Jamir. The exhibition showcased stone artefacts from the Naga homeland currently housed at the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford University.
The program further featured presentations and demonstrations by village elders and scholars. Kenienuo and Thalü of Hutsu village, along with Tenosenuo Angami, demonstrated the ancestral practice of brine-making as followed in Matikhru. Prof Pangersenla Walling, theoretical linguist, illustrated how Indigenous languages encode worldviews deeply tied to their environment. Dr Limasanen Longkumer examined myths associated with Jangjanglong from geological and geomorphological perspectives.
Other sessions included Myingthunglo Murry’s presentation on Oha—the Lotha Naga luck stones once placed in morungs or kept at homes for health and prosperity—and Dr. R. Chumbeno Ngullie’s reflections on the cultural value of pottery in peace treaties between villages.
Throughout the day, panel discussions intertwined academic perspectives with Indigenous storytelling, burial practices, songs, architecture, salt production, metallurgy, and other cultural traditions.
Organisers expressed hope that the workshop would inspire young researchers to centre their indigeneity in scholarship and document the intergenerational wisdom of Naga communities.
