With the introduction of the western modern education system, traditional educational system of the Nagas has lost. Modern education system has completely confined acquiring of ‘knowledge’ into class room. Knowledge and creativity acquired or learnt from outside of classroom is considered ‘useless’ and ‘valueless’. Though the traditional educational was informal in nature, it prepared each individual to attain their full humanity. It was oral and oriented towards the practical. People were taught according to the needs and expectations of the community. Hence, each family and village was solely responsible for the education of its young men and women.
The Naga traditional system of imparting education can be described as a way of life because it included everything (socio-political, socio-cultural, socio-economic, etc.), everyone (young and old, male and female), and every place (home, dormitory, forest, and fields). Being informal in nature, it is hard to explain everything about its nature. However, the home, the dormitory and the recreational (gossiping) platform were the most important institutions and the fundamental places of instruction and learning.
a. Home
The home was the first and the most important place of learning. Both the parents took responsibility for teaching their children. Sitting by the hearth, parents taught their children how to behave, play, share and co-operate with others before they were called to shoulder adult responsibilities in their society. Usually the mother taught her daughters to weave, cook, pound and winnow paddy husk and do other domestic work. Boys were taught how to handle the dao (machete), axe and spade, to make baskets, plates, and spoons, build houses, and the other skills men required. It was shameful for a boy or a girl not to know these basic adult skills. Without them they were considered unfit for marriage. Children also learnt cultivation on the farm from their parents and elders.
Parents also introduced their children to their culture and customs, folklore, history of the clan, tribal traditions and management of family properties. The children were taught to lead a moral life and to be good citizens. If children lacked discipline or brought trouble to their society parents were blamed for not giving them proper instruction. Reciprocally, parents were honoured by society for the good behaviour of their children. Hence, the home was regarded as the primary and best educational institution. Children were expected to learn all the basic skills at home. That was a great responsibility. In the home they had set up, they were sowing the first seeds of education.
b. Dormitories
Another outstanding place of learning was the dormitory. There were separate dormitories for men and women. All the Naga villages had them but their functioning differed from tribe to tribe or even village to village. The dormitory, commonly known as the morung (an Ahom word) was referred to as the traditional school or even as the Naga traditional institute. It was responsible for indigenous Naga education. Every boy and girl, on reaching puberty, was introduced to this traditional school, which the Poumai Naga called Chiziifii. They were housed in the residences of specific families, usually of a warrior, priest or a rich or reputed person. No house rent was paid but members would help the owner to collect firewood. Each clan had its own dormitory. Though they were not as systematic as those of the Aos or the Zawlbuk system of the Mizos the dormitories did play a significant role in the Poumai Naga society.
In the men’s dormitory, older members trained, disciplined, instructed and taught social responsibility to young boys. Their sleeping position was arranged according to their age. Pillows were made with wood and engravings in the pillow manifested a person’s status. Hence a hierarchical structure was present in this ideal learning place. All the normal young men were compulsorily required to become its members. It was from here that young men learned how to maintain balance between their individual and social life. They learned the art of living, the secrets of adulthood, civic duties and social responsibilities. They were also taught the techniques of war, fighting, wrestling, games and sports, singing and dancing.
The dormitory also served as a vital and essential place for the security of the village against enemies, wild animals, fire accidents, and other threats. The young people kept vigil in turns throughout the night guarding the village against dangers. They were always ready to sacrifice their lives for the defence of their village. Therefore, the dormitory educational system was practical and directly related to the daily experience and needs of the people.
Women’s dormitory where unmarried girls spent the night, corresponded to men’s dormitory. They slept in the house of a rich man or of a widow of their clan, who served as their warden. They helped the house owner by fetching water, cleaning the house, and collecting firewood. According to tribal customs, once a girl attained puberty, it was regarded as shameful for her to sleep in her own home. In the dormitory they were taught love songs, folk songs, dance, sex education and moral behaviour either by the house owner (widow) or by the seniors of the group. It was a place where the future of a girl was moulded and her character built up. It also facilitated the selection of partners.
It was customary for boys from the clan’s dormitory to visit the girls’ dormitory during the night. This naturally became an occasion for courting. The dormitory provided the best meeting point and gave them an opportunity to share their feelings for each other. They studied and understood each other during these long periods of wooing and courting. It was during this courting, then, that a kind of co-education took place. They exchanged love songs and learned together. As R. R. Shimray says that “It was here in this school [dormitory] that the seed of love germinated and the soil of future family were prepared so as to make the germinated seed of love grow into a healthy tree of family.”
Hence, the dormitory institution played a vital role in love and marriage. From here, the girls learned in semi-secrecy from older girls and women, things such as sex activities that their parents could not tell them. Private wooing or courting was discouraged to a great extent. Thus, secrecy about love affairs was very rare. This system prevented young people from living an immoral life.
The dormitory provided women space for living together and was their most important gathering place. During the day they worked together in the fields. At night, they did some light work such as separating cotton seeds and spinning. In the absence of boys they chatted among themselves, sharing their aspirations, problems and experiences, and slept in a group. Such sharing relieved them of many anxieties and woes. Therefore, the dormitory institution played an important role in shaping and moulding a person, not only to become an ideal citizen but also to be a responsible man or woman.
Tribal education, being informal in nature, was not confined to home and the dormitory. Much was learned through interaction with nature, birds, animals and people and not only through teaching and listening. Every Poumai Naga village had recreational platforms made of stone slabs (Chukho) or timber (Dubuh). They are usually known as gossiping platforms and are important places of gathering, interaction and discussion. In the absence of newspapers, the platform served as a place of dissemination of news. Almost all male members would come there whenever they were free and interact with each other. Suggestions for the improvement of their society, personal observation of someone’s life, dreams, events and challenges were all part of the discussion. Hence, all the news and issues, ranging from personal through the village and the world were discussed.
The recreational platform was also a place where many disputes were settled. The decisions of the village Elders’ Council were announced at this place so were the chief’s own announcements. It was also a place of recreation where people sang songs, drank rice beer and played games. Interestingly in this typical social institution, the Naga villagers assembled to listen and hear the word of God from visiting missionaries as there was no church building or community hall. Thus, recreational platforms served as important places of learning.
Nagas do not have a script of their own. Every tradition was transmitted orally from generation to generation. In the absence of written documents about their history, folk tales and oral historical traditions were the most effective means of transmitting past events to the present. The curriculum of the traditional educational system included folk tales and historical traditions, sports, recreation and entertainment, war, handicrafts, discipline, dances and songs, moral values, religious duties and social ethics. Their learning was not theoretical or academic but vocation and practice oriented, covering every dimension of life. The teachers were the parents, elders, uncles, aunts, priests, seniors of a group, indeed the entire older generation. Birds were the time keepers, trees told them the season to sow and plant the seedlings. Naga people learned from animals, from heavenly bodies and other objects.
Today modern education has completely conquered our traditional way of learning bringing in identity crisis, unemployment, and loss of many valuable cultures. It is high time for us to seriously rethink and revitalise our culture, philosophy and worldview through incorporating our traditional educational system into modern education system.
