Status of Women in the Indigenous Naga Society

The tribals of the Mongoloid race, who inhabited the proud hills of Nagaland, are a medley of people belonging to different tribes each of which has its own unique characteristics. The 17 major tribes of Nagaland along with the subtribes are all distinct from each other be it in their language, customary laws, ornaments, dress, etc. Despite the obvious disjunction, it is inevitable to note the invisible link that binds all the Naga tribes together. This link may manifest in the form of tendencies that are common to all the tribes and may represent the unique features of the inhabitants of Nagaland as a whole. One such tendency is the status of women in the Naga society. Women in Nagaland have always enjoyed considerable respect in society, as per the standards of the time, and were never viewed as mere playthings or adornments or sources of entertainment as they tended to be in many societies then. In retrospect, our Naga ancestors, in a way, can be said to have truly comprehended the phrase “fairer sex” in their treatment of women. For them, the distinction between men and women, and the following distinction in gender roles, was a natural order rather than a discrimination that stemmed from a sense of superiority or inferiority of one over the other.

The naga society is patriarchal, and naturally, women did not and still do not to some extent, have the same standing as men, especially in the context of administration and the political setting. But it is to be noted that although women were beneath men, they were not oppressed under them. It is often with much wonder that one learns of the rare cases where women stood above men in the political scenario. One such example is the Ao villages of Sangtamla and Kabza (now commonly known as Kubza) which were ruled by women. However, it is a sign that female rule was lacklustre and short-lived. Presumably, in Kabza, even after female rule ended, there was a custom of having a recognized woman who could put forward her arguments in cases where the female sex was involved. Her words would be considered but they were not taken as final, nor was she recognized as a council member.

The Naga administrative system was fair and reasonable to both genders, and it was highly unlikely that a woman would be bullied or subjected to injustice. In fact, aside from being denied the right to participate in political matters, women’s status was hardly inferior to that of men. This is especially true for the tribes that place high emphasis on clans such as the Aos. If an irascible husband was to make an enemy of his wife by bullying her, he had the wrath of his wife’s entire clansmen to face. Marriage among the Nagas was largely monogamous. Polygamy was seldom seen, and with the advent of Christianity, it has become virtually non-existent. After marriage, the wife had the right to a separate property of her own which she could manage as per her wish. The Nagas implemented the dowry system, such that a man was stipulated acertain bride price that he had to pay once the marriage was finalized. The Semas adhered more strictly to the dowry practice, while it was not as stringent among the Aos. As for the Angamis, an old woman was employed to act as the middleman between the man and the girl’s parents. If the pairing works out, she would then discuss the marriage price with the girl’s parents. The marriage price commonly consisted of ‘a spear, two pigs, and fifteen or sixteen fowls’. Today, the dowry system has gradually died out, except among a few like the Semas who still practice it alongside their Christian marriages. However, whatever has remained is only a fraction of the original custom, a mere formality modified to fit the changing times. The Nagas generally practised two types of marriages, one formal and the other informal. In the formal marriage, all ceremonies were observed while the informal marriage was more casual but not any less legitimate or binding. Informal marriage is often eventuated by cases of poverty, remarriages, or an unfavoured intrigue between the two involved. It was generally the case that the more casual the marriage was, the more liable the couple was to separation. Divorce was commonplace, and particularly so among the Aos as the modest dowry system freed the husband from any sentiments of loss. The reason for divorces was for the most part incompatibility. The divorce arrangements were largely fair to both parties, and a woman had the right to take away her property once she left. Among the Aos, should the wife suspect the reason for divorce to be of new flame on the part of the husband, she had the right to take the name of any woman and name a price which went as much as 50 rupees; should the man marry said woman after his divorce, he was liable to pay the claimed price to his now ex-wife. Remarriages were just as common as divorces, and it was not just privileged to men. Women with unsuccessful marriages had just as much right to marry a new flame as a male. With the advent of Christianity and the subsequent education, girls were permitted to attend schools along with the boys, but it was usually only till the standard was available in the respective village. For higher studies outside the village, boys had the first privilege while girls were retained back at the village to help in the paddy fields. Female education was further condemned when some girls, who went out to pursue their studies in Kohima or Impur, after returning, refused to help their sisters or parents in the paddy field. It is ironic that no such claims were made against male education, although it is improbable such cases did not occur among the ‘educated’ males. It is even more ironic that even now, one often hears a parent proclaim boastfully that were any of their children to pursue higher education, it would be decided based on merit and not on gender. Such claims, though may appear positive, inadvertently point to the underlying tumour of bias between men and women, for had education privileges really been detached from gender bias, one wouldn’t feel the need to boast about it as it would have been natural.

The status of women in the Naga society was and still is by no means equal to that of their male counterparts but it is not as subjugated as one might expect. The subordination of the female sex was a natural order necessitated by the conditions of the time where physical prowess was the prime representation of strength. It is no surprise that men took on the role of the protector while women were relegated to the position of one that needed to be protected. While this arrangement may have been sustainable in the past, it is much behind the curve in relation to contemporary times. The gender bias in Naga society is so deeply ingrained that it is virtually non-existent unless one is truly integrated with it, and the enemy against uprooting this state of affairs is not the male sex but the Naga people as a whole.