Beaded Belt : Authentic Konyak Naga Beaded Belt/Sash From North East India #404
$ 1,200.00
Beaded Belt
Authentic Konyak Naga Beaded Belt
404. Authentic Konyak Naga Beaded Belt/Sash From North East India. Approximately 32" long and 6" at its widest point. Beads separated by bone spacers, one of which is broken as shown in the photograph. There are also some threads loose that hold some of the beads in place. Other than this it is in overall good condition for its age which could be early to mid 1900"s. This piece of attire was once the only item worn by the girls of the lower Konyak when the British first made contact.
The Konyak are a Naga people, and are recognised among other Naga by their tattoos, which they have all over their face and hands; facial tattoos were earned for taking an enemy's head. They are called the land of Angh's. They have the largest population among the Nagas.
The Konyaks can be found in Myanmar, in the Tirap and Changlang districts of Arunachal, and in the Mon district of Nagaland, India. They are known in Arunachal as Wancho Konyak.
The Konyak language belongs to the Northern Naga subbranch of the Sal subfamily of Sino-Tibetan.
Known as head hunters of North East India. In the recent past, they were known as war loving and often attacked nearby villages of other tribes taking the heads of opposing warriors as trophies to hang in the Morong (a communal house). The number of heads indicated the power of a warrior and the tribe and becomes a collective totem. With the exception of these behaviors, the tribal members maintain a very disciplined community life with strict duties and responsibilities for every individual.
Further reading[edit]
Stirn, Aglaja & Peter van Ham. The Hidden world of the Naga: Living Traditions in Northeast India. London: Prestel.
Oppitz, Michael, Thomas Kaiser, Alban von Stockhausen & Marion Wettstein. 2008. Naga Identities: Changing Local Cultures in the Northeast of India. Gent: Snoeck Publishers.
Kunz, Richard & Vibha Joshi. 2008. Naga A Forgotten Mountain Region Rediscovered. Basel: Merian.
Alban von Stockhausen: Imag(in)ing the Nagas: The Pictorial Ethnography of Hans-Eberhard Kauffmann and Christoph von FÌ_rer-Haimendorf. Arnoldsche, Stuttgart 2014, ISBN 978-3-89790-412-5.
