“Naga Ayo!”
(Story)
“Naga ayo, Naga ayo!” (The Nagas are coming! The Nagas
are coming!) 
was the cry we heard. My brother and I ran out to find out what the
hullabaloo was about. A servant snatched us back to the living room.
We peeked out the window and just beyond the gates we
saw them. About six of them striding by. The men, bronze,
lean, athletic almost naked wielding däos (traditional hatchet); the women
wearing colorful jewelry.
They looked like
they had stepped out of a western movie- American Indians? No, these were
the Nagas.
Sixteen fiercely independent, colorful, proud tribes
My Grandpa with Naga ladies.
make up the Nagas. In days gone by, when
the Photo taken around 1949
various tribes were at war, aggressive headhunting
was an active practice. The early Nagas followed no religion.
They were worshippers of nature. Most of them are Christians now.
When I first became aware of them Nagaland was part of (NEFA)
North East Frontier Agency. It has now achieved statehood under
the Indian Union. The Nagas have yearned for Independence from India.
The younger “rebels” among them often made raids. One time three of
them made off with my Dad’s miners’ payroll. They were never caught.
My grandpa occasionally hired them for odd jobs - as hunting scouts
or for logging operations. His workers used to regale us
with stories of Naga feasts and folklore.
While in college my sister had a couple of Naga friends; children of
tribal chiefs. Sylo was lean, tall and handsome. He usually wore a
poncho made of traditional naga shawl. Tiala was knock-down gorgeous.
