THE PEOPLE OF THE DISTRICT, FESTIVALS

       Tuensang District is inhabited by the tribes of Chang, Sangtam, Yimchunger, Phom, Khiamniungan and part of Sumis. There are people of other tribes living in the district, among whom Ao and Sema are in majority. Apart from the tribal people there are innumerable non-tribal from all over the country and outside as businessman and government employees in the district.

            The indigenous inhabitants of this district have Mongoloid features as other Nagas. All the tribes however, differ from each other to some extent in physical makeup as also in customs, traditions, culture and language. Each individual tribe has its own rich culture and tradition.

 LANGUAGE:

     All tribes of the district speaks their own language. Some tribes have got some variations in their languages and therefore, one tribe may speak more than one dialect. Two villages belonging to the same tribe speaks,  apart from the common tribal language, different dialects which are quite distinct from each other in all respect.  It is not possible for one tribe to understand the language of another, so the need for the use of a third language arises. Consequently, Nagamese becomes the link ‘language’ in the district.

 RELIGION:

             Each tribe has its own religious beliefs and practices. The primitive form of beliefs and practices, however, are now being rapidly replaced by Christianity even in the remote areas. About 90 % of the people of this district has embraced Christianity.

 FESTIVAL:

             Every tribe has got its own festivals. Most of the festivals are associated with agricultural operation like cutting the jhum field, sowing, harvesting etc. Some festivals have restrictive features and some are festive in nature. Some festivities may take place on family basis while there are some in which the whole village takes part in feasting and enjoyment. Not only the festival of each tribe are different, but the dates of the festivals differ from tribe to tribe and village to village according to convenience and other factors. Most of the tribes have permanently fixed the dates of their major festivals officially as:

Sl.No.       Tribe                      Festival                            Month

1.         Phom                           Monyu                     April ( 1^st  Week)

2.         Chang                         Naknyulem               July ( 1^st Week )

3.         Yimchunger               Medemneo               August ( 2^nd Week )

4.         Sangtam                     Mongmong               September ( 1^st Week )

5.         Khiamniungan          Tsokum                     October ( 2^nd Week )