| Society
In earlier days, Inter-village feuds between the tribes
were the order of the day. So the selection of the sites for the village
was largely influenced by considerations of defensive strategy. They were
usually built on top of the hills, well fortified with stone walls, sharp
pointed bamboo spikes, heavy wooden gates and deep ditches around. The
remnants of such defenses can still be seen in villages like Kohima
or Khonoma. The villages were named after some local characteristic of
the site or after their chief or the person who establishes the village.
The organization of the village community differs from tribe to tribe.
The Angami, Lotha, Rengma and Ao villages have a democratic
structure. Among the Angamis, although the chief is chosen for his wealth,
physical prowess and skill in diplomacy, the decisions are taken collectively
by all the villagers. The Semas have a system of hereditary village
chief. The chief is the overlord of the village and all others are 'mighimis'
or dependants. The chief looks after him, gives him land, helps him financially,
protects him and even arranges a bride for him if the mighimi is not in
a position to pay the marriage price. On the other hand, the mighimi looks
upon the chief as his father, works for him, fights for him and obeys
him in all matter of village administration. They are also under an obligation
to work for 12 days in a year in the chiefs field and it is an offence
to leave the village without the chiefs permission.
The Chang polity resembles that of Semas, but the
Chang chief do not have the monopoly of the land so are not as powerful
as their Sema counterparts.
The Konyak chief called 'Ahngs' are sacrosanct
bodies. They wear special dresses and are richly ornamented and they are
given great respect and are considered sacred.
Among the Aos, the village community is governed by a
Council of Elders (Tatars) each village is a small republic and they are
thoroughly democratic.
It was customary for the eldest son of a Sema chief to
establish a village of his own out of his fathers estate. Incase, the
village did not admit to further division, the son could go to another
area, clear or conquer that place and establish his authority. Thus the
Sema society encouraged expansionist colonization. After forming a new
village, the colonists sacrificed a pig at the site and poured into
the village well water stolen from the well of a prosperous village.
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