Session 22 summary
Rediscovering the Ao-Naga tribe through Textiles
The project helped her in reconnecting with the families who are far apart. She came to know a few of the tribe’s stories, one of which was of a group of men crossing the bridge but only one was able to cross as the bridge collapsed soon. The rest of the men who couldn’t cross asked the one who was on the other side- what are you going to do and the person replied that he is going to move on- alone. Another story is of the tribe’s origin, which came to being from six stones, which formed three pairs, which are the three major clans. The belief that the same surname cannot marry is still carried out as they believe that they are related. Morung is a place in the community where young males and females are taught the way of living, everything that has been passed down from one generation to the other was taught in Morung. The Moatsufestival is celebrated to worship God by sacrificing animal for good harvest. Another unique thing about the tribe is that instead of doctors there are people who are connected with the spirits, which helps them to realise the other people’s problem.
The craft process of the tribe is not many. One of the craft is Hand painting, it can only be done by men, and the red, black and white colours are used. Many motifs which carry great importance in the tribe are used. There are many superstitious beliefs regarding the flora and fauna and every flora and fauna represent a certain belief, which are used in motifs. The women of the tribe play a supporting role in the craft process. The women have a tattooing culture, which they are given at an early age. The tattoos are usually around the calf, chest and face, the motifs for tattoos are simple and are done to protect them. There are different kinds of shawls worn by the people, which have different significance. One such shawl is the ‘Rich man’s shawl’, to receive this shawl the person has to give feast to three generations, which is called feast of merit. The rich man’s shawl has more intricate and a lot of motifs. Another important shawl is the one worn by women, the fabric is fully immersed into the dye and has a blue colour which is closer to black. It is one of the first few fabrics given to women when they are young. The dyeing and weaving is all done by women and the dye is also handpicked by women.
The dyes for the fabrics are extracted from many things in nature; like Osak-used for indigo colour, Tangmo-used in the process of dyeing, Aozu-used for red colour, Azu-used in the process of dyeing, Tangshi-also used in the process of dyeing, Mesu- gives a deep red colour and others such as wild mint, ginger, coarse grass blade and lemon are also used in the process of dyeing. When picking up the plants for dyeing, one must be very mindful from where they are plucking as it greatly affects the shade to be either lighter or darker. While dyeing certain guidelines should be followed to avoid misfortunes. For indigo dyeing the whole process is done by women because it is believed that if men do it then their skills of hunting and fishing would go away. Then process of making the dyes consists of pounding the leaves into paste, spread them on a mat to dry, etc. but if the colour does not comes out satisfactory then the whole process can be done again. To fix the dye lemon and/or ash is used. The good harvest time for Osak is September/October, so it’s usually done in winters. Meisen in her project wanted to emphasize on the point of preserving the craft and the main focus was on keeping the essence of indigo dyeing. There are many problems when taking it up as there is little income and no marketing platform for it. She then came up with the idea of adding more value to it with ‘The Blue Indigo’ and has come up with tentative design motifs-which are easy and pleasing to the eyes, some design layout that can be put to use and some abstract concepts.
About the Speaker
Meisen Jamir
TDF Internship
B. Des Textile Design
National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad
Meisen Jamir is pursuing B. Des Textile Design from National Institues of Design Ahmedabad. She just completed her TDF Internship project in Nagaland on the textiles of Ao-Naga tribe.
