Phejin Konyak is the greatgranddaughter of a tattooed headhunter, Ahon, who was a prominent member of the Konyak tribe. He was one of the first interpreters to travel with the British ethnographer J.H. Hutton during his writing of the Diaries of Two Tours in the Naga Hills in 1923. Phejin lives in Shiyong village, Mon district in Nagaland, India. In between running the Konyak Tea Retreat and her farm, she writes and travels to remote villages interacting with the tattooed elders and documenting the tattoo patterns, poems and sayings.
The Konyaks: Last of the Tattooed Headhunters is the personal journey of a Konyak woman who retraces the steps of her grandfather and great-grandfather by documenting the tattooing practice of the Konyaks, a once fearsome headhunting tribe of Nagaland in India. The Konyaks are well known for their iconic facial and body tattoos. Their concept of beautification through tattoos, in which the body is used as a canvas as a form of rite of passage and cycle of life, defines the Konyak individual and cultural identity. This book captures the unique but vanishing practice of the tattooing culture, together with the tattoo patterns, their meanings and oral traditions, such as folktales, songs, poems and sayings. It presents an overall view of the Konyak people, their society, way of life and the culture in detail. It includes descriptions and information on the headhunting and tattooing practices, reasons behind it, techniques used, tattoo artists, different tattoo groups, types of tattoos and personal stories. All this is visually interpreted with illustrations and photographs. This is the first time such intensive research and documentation on Konyak tattoo art has been undertaken.
Peter Bos is a portrait photographer from Eindhoven, The Netherlands. He travels to the corners of the world, capturing the essence of unique cultures and people through intimate portraits. His work method is distinctive; he submerges into the local society, establishes good relationships with a personal approach. For more on Peter Bos, visit www.studiopeterbos.com
To read more about this age-old practice, visit www.tattooedheadhunters.com
ISBN: 978-93-5194-112-5
Back cover: PANLUNG, 77 years, Onok paan, Sheanghah Chingnyu village.
Headhunters cover 22 9 2017.indd 1
Front cover: Chingkei Sokompa, 85 years, Salim paan, Chen Loishu village.
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Contents Foreword by William Dalrymple 9 Foreword by Peter van Ham 11 Introduction 17 The Konyaks 26 Headhunting 50 Traditional Tattooing Art 68 Tattoo Artist 92 Face Tattoo Group Shen-Tu 98 Body Tattoo Group Tangta-Tu 124 Nose Tattoo Group Kong-Tu 152 The Last of the Tattooed Headhunters 184 Glossary 194 References 196 Acknowledgements 197
Nyeiwang, 85 years, Chingsha paan, Longwa village. Previous page 2: Manchak Wankongpa, 80 years, Posa paan, Longwa village.
Contents Foreword by William Dalrymple 9 Foreword by Peter van Ham 11 Introduction 17 The Konyaks 26 Headhunting 50 Traditional Tattooing Art 68 Tattoo Artist 92 Face Tattoo Group Shen-Tu 98 Body Tattoo Group Tangta-Tu 124 Nose Tattoo Group Kong-Tu 152 The Last of the Tattooed Headhunters 184 Glossary 194 References 196 Acknowledgements 197
Nyeiwang, 85 years, Chingsha paan, Longwa village. Previous page 2: Manchak Wankongpa, 80 years, Posa paan, Longwa village.
Rice growing on hillsides is a common sight all over the Konyak land.
Rice growing on hillsides is a common sight all over the Konyak land.
Introduction
A
vivid recollection of my grandfather and his friends sitting around the crackling fireplace, smoking their kani (opium) pipes, blowing out smoke through their nostrils, and sipping khülap khah (black tea) plays in my mind timelessly. Between puffs, the ochre glow of the flames lit up their tattooed faces and blackened teeth. I would crawl over to them trying to overhear their conversations and finally settle on my grandfather’s lap. With my face pressed against his tattooed chest, I gazed up at the black markings that lined his neck all the way up to his face. Sometimes, I ran my fingers through those marks thinking I could erase them but they never wore off. Till late into the night the elders often had discussions on topics such as their heydays of headhunting. Or about the cattle of our village trampling the fields of another village’s territory causing dispute. Our traditional Konyak longhouse was a kani den where all sorts of tribesmen passed by or halted for the night. They took rest here on their journeys, walking all the way from their villages on the India–Myanmar (formely Burma) border downhill to the haat (market) in the foothills of Assam.
In this haat, they bartered gunpowder for tea, bamboo mats and iron to forge into dao (machete) or handicrafts in exchange for sugar. These travellers often gathered in our longhouse to smoke opium and share the excitement of the new things they saw or experienced amongst the people living on the plains. All of them had faces and bodies elaborately decorated with different kinds of tattoo markings. I was always very persistent and kept asking my grandfather to tell me which person belonged to which village or area based on their patterns. He was a patient man and answered all my questions in great detail. In return, I would happily refill the pot of black tea perched on the phong long (three stones) over the fireplace with water. Serving black tea is a mandatory ritual whenever guests visit a Konyak longhouse. With all the comings and goings throughout the year there was never a dull moment in our longhouse. Even in the middle of the night there was as much activity as at midday. My time in the village was cut short abruptly when I was four years old. I was sent to live as a boarder in a convent school in Dimapur, 280 kilometres away, with my siblings and cousins. Being swept away at a tender age from deep Konyak territory into an alien
Drawing of Ahon of Shiyong. Unknown artist (c. 1920s). J.H. Hutton Collection, MAA. Courtesy of Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge, D.48267.HUT
Introduction
A
vivid recollection of my grandfather and his friends sitting around the crackling fireplace, smoking their kani (opium) pipes, blowing out smoke through their nostrils, and sipping khülap khah (black tea) plays in my mind timelessly. Between puffs, the ochre glow of the flames lit up their tattooed faces and blackened teeth. I would crawl over to them trying to overhear their conversations and finally settle on my grandfather’s lap. With my face pressed against his tattooed chest, I gazed up at the black markings that lined his neck all the way up to his face. Sometimes, I ran my fingers through those marks thinking I could erase them but they never wore off. Till late into the night the elders often had discussions on topics such as their heydays of headhunting. Or about the cattle of our village trampling the fields of another village’s territory causing dispute. Our traditional Konyak longhouse was a kani den where all sorts of tribesmen passed by or halted for the night. They took rest here on their journeys, walking all the way from their villages on the India–Myanmar (formely Burma) border downhill to the haat (market) in the foothills of Assam.
In this haat, they bartered gunpowder for tea, bamboo mats and iron to forge into dao (machete) or handicrafts in exchange for sugar. These travellers often gathered in our longhouse to smoke opium and share the excitement of the new things they saw or experienced amongst the people living on the plains. All of them had faces and bodies elaborately decorated with different kinds of tattoo markings. I was always very persistent and kept asking my grandfather to tell me which person belonged to which village or area based on their patterns. He was a patient man and answered all my questions in great detail. In return, I would happily refill the pot of black tea perched on the phong long (three stones) over the fireplace with water. Serving black tea is a mandatory ritual whenever guests visit a Konyak longhouse. With all the comings and goings throughout the year there was never a dull moment in our longhouse. Even in the middle of the night there was as much activity as at midday. My time in the village was cut short abruptly when I was four years old. I was sent to live as a boarder in a convent school in Dimapur, 280 kilometres away, with my siblings and cousins. Being swept away at a tender age from deep Konyak territory into an alien
Drawing of Ahon of Shiyong. Unknown artist (c. 1920s). J.H. Hutton Collection, MAA. Courtesy of Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge, D.48267.HUT
Konyak women in traditional jewellery. 40
41
Konyak women in traditional jewellery. 40
41
Ashen Wenkhu-Hamyen, 96 years, Tingkho paan, Jaboka village. 88
Manpei, 95 years, Goching paan, Sheanghah Chingnyu village. 89
Ashen Wenkhu-Hamyen, 96 years, Tingkho paan, Jaboka village. 88
Manpei, 95 years, Goching paan, Sheanghah Chingnyu village. 89
Nose Tattoo Group Kong-Tu
Nose Tattoo Group Kong-Tu
The Last of the Tattooed Headhunters ‘We wanted to be the ones who changed history; to put a stop to the bloodshed of headhunting and the torturous affair of tattooing.’
The Last of the Tattooed Headhunters ‘We wanted to be the ones who changed history; to put a stop to the bloodshed of headhunting and the torturous affair of tattooing.’
All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be transmitted or reproduced in any form or by any means without prior permission from the publisher. © Roli Books 2017 © Text, Phejin Konyak © Photographs, Peter Bos Illustrations by Sonal Dhama of D4Design Published in India by Roli Books M-75, Greater Kailash II Market New Delhi-110 048, India Ph: ++91-11-40682000 E-mail: info@rolibooks.com Website: www.rolibooks.com ISBN: 978-93-5194-112-5 Editor: Neelam Narula Design: Sneha Pamneja Pre-press: Jyoti Dey Production: Yuvraj Singh Printed and bound at Thomson Press, New Delhi