Stories
on warp and weft
SENTILA T. YANGER
THE Ao Naga shawl
in its present avatar is familiar to many in the red and black mantle drawing
one’s attention to the series of emblematic representations embroidered on its
white median band and popularly referred to as the Naga head shawl. Before
coloured embroidery work was introduced on the median, most probably around the
50s and 60s, the white band was painted upon and called tsungko
tep sü - tsungko painted cloth, with each figurative emblem encoded
in narrative communication. The shawl
traces its origins in the oral traditions transmitted from a forgotten past of
the Ao Naga to the present.
In the textile traditions the woven cloth
is a distinctive signature in the material culture of the Ao
Naga. Until the mid-20th century, cotton
was abundantly grown by the Ao to weave cloth along
with the application of natural colorants to dye cotton yarn and woven
textiles. However, the introduction of mill spun yarn around the early 20th
century rapidly eroded cotton cultivation and dyeing practices became a
casualty due to the easy availability of commercially coloured yarn preferred
over laborious processes. Today, the use of synthetic yarn is highly prevalent
among weavers who are attracted to the vast palette of striking fast colours.
The Ao possessed
no written script until the advent of Christianity around 1872. In due course
of time, the Roman script was introduced through education and teachings by
early missionaries who encouraged the participation of the girl child in the
education process. Therefore, in the absence of a written text the Ao relayed the orality of verbal
expressions through songs, folklores and in the language of cloth, articulated
through the transmission of oral traditions passed down across generations.
Suffice to say, the woven cloth is a
narrative record categorized to those eligible and deserving of special
textiles, in accordance with rigid adherence in self-entitlements, which were
projected in specific textiles pronounced by the supplementary warp motifs,
painted insignias, colour palette, arrangement of coloured stripes, and bands
and with decorative accessories on the woven cloth. These indicators ascribed
to village identity, age group, sex, clan, Morung
membership, wealth, prestige, and status achieved out of hosting the feast of
merit, enemy head taking exploits, as well as membership to authoritative
village bodies.
In the textile traditions of the Ao, the production of cloth is the sole domain of women and
taboo to men. However, weaving implements are crafted by men who display
remarkable knowledge and expertise in sourcing raw materials at the appropriate
time and season. On the other hand, it is absolutely restrictive for women to
drape male shawls and equally shameful on the part of a man to drape female
body cloths.
Painting the median band on the tsungko tep sü
was dominantly practiced by male members and seldom by women. It taxed a lot
out of a man engaging in the craft by way of taboo observation,
self-restriction, dietary control and to practice
celibacy when painting the median band so as to achieve good results and ward
off negativity on the self. Moreover, not every male member was a practitioner
the craft being mainly confined to the artistically inclined. It is said women,
who perhaps stood apart from their peers, sometimes engaged in the craft.
The same set of restrictions applied to her
too. Sometimes in the absence of practitioners in any given Ao
village (with the exception of a few villages) it required of the people to
depend on other villages for painting their tsungko tep sü. Today the craft practice
has all but vanished and is only occasionally visible during cultural events.
In the textile inventory of the Ao Naga, the painted tsungko cloth, has a long oral history traced back in songs and
folktales to an ancient past when the Ao lived in the
ancestral village of Chungliyimti. In the animist
past pre-Christianization, the Ao considered this
male mantle the embodiment of idealism, valour, wealth, and prestige
exemplified in a series of emblematic icons painted on its median band. Rather
the right to merit the shawl was in itself a testimony of exemplary deeds. It
was indeed a self-declaration that the individual, the wearer of the shawl, had
achieved specific hard-earned duties and merit and was, therefore, awarded the
entitlement. Furthermore, draping the mantle was eligible to married men who
had accomplished themselves.
The tsungko tep sü is composed of three
panels: Two broad panels in red and black bands hosting narrow horizontal
stripes that are stitched on either side of the four-inch white median band,
the canvas on which the required qualifications are fulfilled. In the textile
vocabulary of the Ao the red colorant is associated
with wealth and prestige and is exclusive to the textile of the rich and merit
achievers.
In earlier times, the aim of each wearer
would be to gain the right to the maximum number of graphic representations of
animals, material objects, geometrical and stylized emblems hosted on the
shawl. Moreover, a particular symbol was not inserted randomly. Rather, to gain
access and the right to wear certain emblematic symbols required permission
which was decided by the authoritative body in the village, or a heavy fine
would otherwise be levied on any individual going against the rule. Such being
the stipulated prerequisites, when special qualities were recognized to fall
into the parameters of the ideal, by virtue of these indications the village
body would announce to the collective habitat that henceforth, the individual
is given permission to insert specific emblematic narratives on the median band
of his painted tsungko shawl.
The viewpoint among the Ao,
is that a man’s shawl is not merely indicative to who he is but rather who he
ideally should emulate. In this case, the animist Ao
having lived in close quarters with nature observed the behaviour of certain
animals within their environment and recognized these qualities with respect.
However, insertions of the illustrative series of entitlements does not merely
indicate ‘who a man is’ but rather ‘who he ideally should be’ and that
portrayal being amply manifested in the characteristics observed from animals,
birds, and figurative interpretations on the median band.
As work begins on the white median, the
practitioner uses a natural pigment to paint on the cloth that is remarkably
tightly woven so as not to allow the ink to penetrate through the woven cloth.
If it does, it’s taken to be a sign of bad omen resulting in negative
consequences on the self and the wearer. Such being the case, the cloth is
rejected, and the artist starts afresh with a new piece. The emanation of aura
surrounding the shawl from the time it is merited of exemplary deeds and
actions, to painting its canvas and draping it, was indeed worthy of awe,
respect and held sacred to the Ao Naga in the
primordial past.
Here is an image of the tsungko
tree from where the white latex sap is sourced and used in painting the tsungko tep sü.
The extraction process is as follows:
Using a dao or
machete the practitioner cuts deep zig-zag incisions
on the trunk of the tsungko tree.
These gashes release a
thick white latex which is collected in a bamboo jar and kept aside to
prepare the next step.
Next dried tsungko
leaves are gathered and burned, the ash collected and crushed with the fingers
to achieve a fine powdery consistency.
The ash is mixed and stirred together with
the sap in a bamboo mug resulting in a grey solution.
An expert artist paints free hand on the
median band guided by the warp and weft threads with the tsungko
pigment using a bamboo nib.
A young apprentice applies the tsungko pigment onto a pre-sketched canvas using a bamboo
nib.
In order to engage a closer examination,
the white median band is divided here into four sections hosting the requisite
vertical lines, animals, birds, emblematic and stylized symbols.
Section 1: Wulam
– At the outer corners on the narrow three lined band four concentric circles
are depicted in a vertical arrangement that allude to bird’s eyes. This symbol
is also used in house and Morung decoration on the
frontal horizontal beam in the vernacular structures of deserving individuals
eligible to drape the shawl such as a giver of the feast of merit, head taker,
among others.
Kala – The zig zag pattern is a spacer in artistic application between two
symbols.
Jung – The shield is the emblem of male symbolism. It is
used by men in battle and tiger hunts and mandatory for every married male
member to have the shield in his armory or face a
fine. It therefore finds representation in the band.
Atsü – A series of vertical lines running the length of the
median band outlining each figurative symbol is called Atsü
which alludes to a fence and inserted in aesthetic considerations.
Antipong – The rooster played a central role in the
pre-Christianized past and was held sacred in the rites and rituals of the
indigenous animist faith. A fine rooster was always sacrificed in any special
ceremony to propitiate well-being on the self and fertility upon the collective
habitat. Furthermore, the rooster unfailingly crows each morning to wake up the
collective habitat and on the median band draws a parallel indicative to taking
command with authority.
It is an important emblem granted only to
persons having authority and leadership positions in the village. Its inclusion
alludes to leadership and control. Therefore, in drawing a parallel, such
leadership characteristics and authority are expected to be present in the
wearer of the shawl.
Jabili – The ancient currency used by the Ao
was a slim flat iron piece represented in the median in a row shaped with two
triangles at one end. Iron was a valuable metal to the Ao
and bartered from the plains of Assam in the past. Its presence in the tsungko tep sü
signified wealth and indicative to the wearer’s liquidity.
Section 2: Sükolak/Mithun Heads – The most valuable animal is the mithun. Not only is it valuable to the Ao but to all Naga groups. Its valuable status is
illustrated in two forms on the median band – in a stylized presentation
and of the whole profile in the other. Sükolak mithun heads are always placed in a row on the top of the
median projecting an abstract illustration in an open V sign indicative to the
animal’s horns. It signified the wearer of the shawl has performed the feast of
mer.
Shiti/Elephant – In the animal kingdom the
elephant being the mightiest and largest was respected by ancient Ao’s for its size and strength. A song in the repertoire of
Ao folk music is sung in praise of its mightiness and
strength while simultaneously encouraging the bravest of warriors – the Nokinketer, who have taken several enemy head trophies and
won many battles to strive and emulate its mightiness. The insertion of the
elephant in the band suggests to the warrior to exhibit strength and mightiness
in his actions when facing the enemy. The pair of elephants represented in the
median band is an artistic interpretation of not leaving the elephant alone.
Tenem Ozü/Hornbill – The hornbill is highly coveted
for its black and white striped tail feathers that are distinguished in the
male headdress of the Ao as well as held in high
esteem among other Naga groups. In Ao mythology, the
hornbill is linked with two important events. First, it gave one of its
feathers for ornamentation to Longkongla an early
ancestress of the Pongener clan of the Ao. Second, the birth of the Ozükum
clan is traced to the hornbill feather. Further-more, the act of decorating the
male headdress with six hornbill feathers is enshrined in song when the
womenfolk of Chungleyimti encouraged the men to
return with enemy head trophies and be eligible to insert six hornbill feathers
in their headdresses. On account of the importance equated to the hornbill for
its associated mythical attribution, the purpose of ornamentation value has
transcended on the median band as an emblematic icon to signify the achieved
status of the shawl wearer to a head taker.
Yimyu/Drongo – The drongo bird finds a special place in the material culture
of the Ao. It’s long tail
feathers are prized adornments worn as earpieces by both men and women to
decorate themselves. The drongo is depicted on the
white band, facing the hornbill, having two long slender tail feathers. A
special quality was observed by the ancient forefathers that the drongo would fight to the death in saving her nest. It
always assumed the role of leadership with flocks of different bird species
when flying and scouted ahead to give warnings on predators. For these
characteristics the bird was called the ‘king of birds’. Another rare trait
noticed in the drongo is when it dies it ensures the
protection of its long plumage from damage even in death. The drongo draws a parallel on the median by these
extraordinary characteristics alluding to leadership qualities in the shawl
wearer when surrounded by the enemy to fight bravely and if overcome by the
enemy to die with dignity.
Keyi/Tiger – The right to wear the symbol of a
tiger relates to the perceived qualities of the tiger being wild, ferocious,
having a fearsome loud roar with a deadly strike and bite. Yet, these
mannerisms were envied and respected by the forefathers. Therefore, the tiger
in the tsungko tep sü signifies a prestigious token indicative of the wearer
to exhibit the same ferocity as the tiger, to swiftly strike down the enemy
instilling fear with deadly results and to take the head trophy with pride.
Again, the two tigers are paired together so as not to leave the other alone.
Section 3: Mangko/Human
Head – The most profound symbol in the median band is the mangko
or human trophy. Its place on the median is eligible only to those who have
taken enemy heads and is illustrated in a figurative form always facing the
front and wearing a neckpiece. With the insertion of this emblematic
representation, the categorization of the mantle thus far while determining
characteristics deemed worthy to those meriting its entitlements on the tsungko tep sü,
transforms by this one illustrative portrayal to the mangko
tep sü - the head takers’
shawl.
How the symbolic entitlement originated on
the shawl is enshrined in a song traced to an ancient past when the Ao living in Chungliyimti the
ancestral village, were surrounded by enemies whom they fought with day after
day without much success. The women folk took it upon themselves to encourage
and motivate the men thereby declaring that whomsoever returned with an enemy
head, he would be awarded with painted heads on his mangko
tep sü, head taker’s
painted cloth.
Ao Folksong:
Longtrok nung poker menang ali
tetenzüker
Shari tesaksoba, Shotoker, Anar, Lisuru, Oronger, sarirden
Zuni shika tongtep-okone, O Chungleyi-mti lari
Ayu lemtetzüba sari tongpang kok-a-ru
Arer ngangyiner nem Mangko tep
sü
Atatsudi ta lemtetsuko ne
Having originated from Longterok
(Six Stones) at the early start of the settlement
Daily we fought battles with ferocious
enemies of the Shotoker, Anar,
Lisuru, Oronger
O the women of Chungliyimti
have thus decreed
To those who vanquish the enemy and drive
them away
To them shall be awarded
A mangko tep sü (head painted shawl)
Nüllet Spear/Nok Dao (machete) are quintessential
weapons in a man’s armory and are also signatures of
male identity on the shawl that are indicative to the warrior status of the
wearer. There are various types of spears and machetes used for different
purposes. The spear depicted on the median is a decorative one carried by a
rich man who has performed the feast of merit.
Muluzungzü/Lion – The pair of lions on the band are
represented as the partner animals of the tiger and inserted in artistic
consideration.
Anü Sun/Petinu Star – The
symbols of the sun and stars painted on the median is indicative to the
brightness of the sun and the luminance of stars. It suggests the wearer of the
shawl to equally shine with the same aura and brilliance in his deeds and
actions.
Section 4: Sü/Mithun – In this collage we have both representations of
the mithun in full side profile and in its abstract
form. The pair of mithuns naturally signifies the
wealth of the wearer and therefore, clearly enunciates that the wearer is a
rich man of status who has given the feast of merit. In the present Naga
milieu, the mithun continues to be held in prestige
as an animal of value, wealth, and status. The other emblems henceforth are
arranged in repetition.
Various shawls of the Ao Naga.
Today the attachment and reverence to the tsungko tep sü
is ever present in the physical, social and cultural milieu of the Ao. In its new interpretation the shawl modified to the
jacket/waist coat together with the shawl continues to embody the male identity
in the dress code of the Ao Naga.