About
Naga Oral History
Our Story- Naga Oral History: Stories of Empathy
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.
The Naga people, with their rich cultural traditions and diverse tribal identities, have a deep oral storytelling heritage. Yet, their stories—both of resilience and pain—have often remained untold or unheard by the wider world. For generations, the Naga community has faced social, political, and economic challenges. The scars of insurgencies, military presence, and socio-political marginalization have shaped their collective identity. These challenges, however, are intertwined with profound acts of unity, survival, and empathy within their communities.
The project is not just a collection of autobiographical anecdotes; it’s also the travelogue of people who, although did not belong to the state, found acceptance, friendship, warmth, and the kind of care that supported and healed.
All the components of empathy that Project Empathy found in the Naga people have been documented through this initiative. Through our work on the subject, we were able to recognise in people a level of empathy and sensitive compassion that they would very frequently take for granted and fail to recognise for themselves.
We have made an effort to combine all the facets of culture, everyday experiences, ambitions, aspirations, feelings of loss and discovery, and the distinct tribal identities of the people with the strong bond that unites them all under the singular “Naga” identity.
Members of every tribe were contacted by Project Empathy’s “Naga Oral Histories: Stories of Empathy” project. Ninety college students from Don Bosco College Kohima, Modern College Piphema, and Oriental College Kohima were equally engaged in gathering the village elders’ oral histories from their individual villages and tribes. We were learning things from the stories they were collecting.
This project is dedicated to the people of Nagaland for the extreme show of resilience and courage in the face of struggles and strifes, as also to their faith in forgiveness and reconciliation to find a way forward as a community. Forgiveness and reconciliation are human actions that demonstrate empathy and the ability to see the view point of other people. Project Empathy not only recognises and acknowledges this in the people of Nagaland, we would heartily present all the lessons on empathy that we learnt while the project was moving.
On a personal level we forged lasting friendships and relations with some very beautiful people from the land of The Blue Hills.
Recognizing the importance of preserving this heritage, Project Empathy sought to create a platform for the Naga voices to be heard and shared. The initiative was inspired by the belief that the first step toward empathy is listening. Naga Oral History: Stories of Empathy aims to capture the lived experiences of the Naga people—stories that reflect their struggles, triumphs, and the emotional bonds that have helped them navigate through the complexities of their past.
The project’s focus is not only to record historical events but also to shine a light on the human connections and the empathy that binds the Naga tribes. From tales of elders who survived wars and political upheavals to stories of youth navigating their identity in modern India, the project seeks to build a bridge between the Naga community and the rest of the world.