Naga Oral History
The Naga Oral History: Stories of Empathy project was born from a desire to bridge cultural divides and heal historical wounds through the power of storytelling. Set against the backdrop of the northeastern region of India, where the Naga people have long experienced isolation, conflict, and struggles for self-identity, the project emerged as part of Project Empathy—an initiative aimed at fostering understanding, compassion, and solidarity across communities.
Approach to Explore
We have a humanistic, interdisciplinary approach to explore cognitive, emotional and compassionate empathy; integrating it with contemporary and transcendental concepts.
Through this approach we are looking forward to unlearn, relearn and learn human experiences for a wholesome, harmonious living. Adopting project based learning to create a solid platform in the schools for the non-academic education of the students. With humanism at the core of such projects, we hope to nurture young people with robust emotional quotient and mental health. Cultivating a deep sense of interconnectedness and identification with others, on the basis of realizing our shared basic nature and the intertwining nature of the self and the other.
Involving parents through our workshops in the schools to create empathetic community members. Capacity building of the youth and college students by facilitating workshops and research oriented projects.
Creation of new ideas and bringing the power of imagination alive through storytelling. Through this endeavor we also look towards creating conversations what shape does empathy take in work places, how can it be deepened?
Nagaland Oral History, futuristically, would move towards exploring the forms of empathy for the uniformed personnel, considering the challenges that they are confronted with. We commit to extending empathy towards the plants, animals and the element of water; what roles they play in shaping up the world we live in.
WHY NAGA ORAL HISTORY?
The culture in Nagaland is rooted in oral traditions.
Nagaland is home to nearly two million people consisting of 16 constituent major tribes that speak over 89 dialects (mostly mutually unintelligible between two tribes) and are without a common language and script.
Naga is an ethnonym for a group of local cultures settling in the hilly borderlands of Northeast India and Myanmar. During the British rule in India a number of detailed monographs were written by colonial administrators and large archives and object-collections were established in British museums. For a long time these remained to be the only sources on the Nagas, as the region was prohibited area after Indian independence in 1947. In the 50 years of isolation that followed, the lifestyle and culture of the Nagas changed significantly; the Nagas turned from a headhunting society with a rich material culture and a diversified corpus of oral traditions, into a ‘modern’ society marked with the political struggle for independence and having enthusiastically adopted Christian religion.
https://www.marionwettstein.ch/projects/naga-project-zurich/
Transmission of Historical Knowledge: The Naga people have a long and complex history, including traditional practices, social structures, and historical events. Much of this history is not documented in written form. Oral history traditions are crucial for the transmission of historical knowledge, ensuring that the experiences, struggles, and achievements of the past are not forgotten.
Community Identity and Cohesion: The oral traditions of storytelling and folklore contribute to the formation and maintenance of a strong sense of community identity among the Naga people. Shared narratives help bind the community together, fostering a sense of belonging and unity among tribe members.
Spiritual and Ethical Values: Oral traditions often include moral and ethical teachings, as well as spiritual beliefs and practices. These narratives not only provide guidelines for ethical behavior but also contribute to the spiritual well-being of the community. The stories often carry moral lessons and values that are considered essential for maintaining a harmonious society.