There are sixteen officially recognised tribes in Nagaland. Of these, fourteen are Naga tribes, and the others are Kukis and Kacharis. They are identified as Angami, Ao, Chang, Chakesang, Khiamnuingan, Konyak, Kuki, Lotha, Phom, Pochury, Rengma, Sangtam, Sema, Tikhir, Yimchunger and Zeliang. Each tribe abounds with their distinctive tribal-specific oral tradition, myths and legends. In most villages, the knowledge keepers preserve and narrate the oral tradition. They might not necessarily be the walking libraries of traditional stories, yet they convey with clarity. Thus, the resulting oral tradition is a faithful repository of the past.
The myth of the historical origin of the Nagas from the underground is a widespread belief. The myth originates from a stone found in the Angami village of Jakhama. Their forefathers, men and animals, are believed to have originated from the special stone at Kehoza. According to the legend, the stone bears the footprints of men and animals from the infant stage to adulthood and has marks of crawling, kneeling and standing erect were said to be seen in the stone.
The origin myth of the Ao differs significantly from the rest of the tribe as the Aos are divided into two phratries based on their dialectic differences – Mongsen and Chungli. Both phratries have different beliefs of the origin myth. The Chungli people believe their ancestors sprang up out of the six stones called Longtereok by a magical power of creation. But the Mongsen tradition has no reference to the myth of origin from the magical stone.
The myth of the origin from the underground is told among the Pochury people of the Phek district with much greater detail and clarity. Ahkegwo village says that people emerged from Montsükhokju, a hole in the flat plain in the village centre. According to local legend, the village is named Akeogho, which means “We people of the earth/land”, symbolising their origin from under the earth.
Among the Khiamniungan, the myth of origin from underground was documented in four villages—Noklak, Sanglao, Nukho and Phesu. The Aseinge (Knowledge keepers) of Nukho village states that when the people started coming out from the ground, some emerged saying ‘Lam’, and another group came out saying ‘Shiu’. This is why the Khiamniungan people are segmented into Lam and Shiu moieties. After emerging from under the earth, the people established near the water source and the settlement came to be known as “Khiamniungan”, which means mighty water source.
The Tikhir also tell the myth of origin from the underground through a hole. Tikhir emerged from the underground in two separate spots of the region. They say that in the place called Daimephfu their ancestors emerged from the earth through a hole. This place is between the Zingki (which they call Thurak) and the Yaye River.
The Lotha origin story also tells about how their ancestors lived underneath the earth. They lived with two demons by the name of Tsotsu and Yutsuo. The demons would kill two people every day. To escape from the demon, the villagers made plans to go hunting. The hunters waited to kill a deer, but the deer escaped through a hole by lifting the slap of a stone which had their underground world. The hunters followed the deer to find out that it led to a discovery of the new world. The villagers started a settlement, but the demons came to know about it, and they followed them. The demons could not pass through the passage. In the new world, the first son born was called Longchemo (meaning those that came out by cutting a stone), the second son born was called Longkvürü (meaning those that came out through the stone passage), the third son was called Limhachan (meaning those who viewed the new world and settled there), and the fourth son was called Khepho (meaning those who first swept the earth).
Pangti village has a similar story, but the demons Tsotsuo and Yutsuo did not appear in this version. Their version of the origin myth of the Lotha tells how the people were living underneath the earth and how one day, the hunters discovered the new land upon hunting a porcupine. The water in the new land was sweet, and that is how they decided to settle in the new land.
As told by the ancestors of Chi village, the myth origin of the Konyak people were created from the earth by Hahjang (mud/soil), the God of Soil and Sky (Hah—Soil and jang—Sky), and it is believed that they came through the course of Tapi river. Also, it is said that they emerged through a narrow underground passage at Alemkaphen, which is now located in the Longleng district.
Through the oral sources in Tuensang and Hakchnag villages, it is believed among the Chang people that the origin myth is from the underground in the mythical ancestral village of Changsang Mongdi. Therefore, the region’s people are called by the name of Chang. Also another Chang village in Yangpi tells the origin myth of Oungterok in the ancestral village of Chungliyimti, which is located in the same district and occupied by the Sangtam tribe. It is believed that the people emerged from the underground and established themselves in the village of Oungterok.
