Who Are The 'Old Kuki' Tribes of Chandel That Has Become 'New Naga'?

Identities are more fluid than it is realised. It goes through processes of construction and re/deconstruction and there are many factors responsible for it. One group of tribes that has often been the subject of debates pertaining to their identity are the tribes of Chandel District who are sometimes called ‘Old Kuki’ or New Naga’. This includes tribes like Anal, Maring, Moyon, Monsang, Chothe, Lamkang, etc.? To understand whether they belong to the Naga group or the Kuki group, or neither, one has to look back at History.

In Colonial writings, without naming the long list, there are those who categorised them as Old Kuki and the confusion is that there are also those who categorise them as Naga. Now, who is a Naga and who is a Kuki? What are the benchmarks to determine whether one belongs to A or B?

This raises more questions than answers because as far as the Nagas are concerned, there are hardly any similarities even between the Eastern Nagas like Konyak, Phom, etc. with the Tenyimia Nagas like Angami, Mao, etc. Their stories of migration are also different.

J.H. Hutton had said that Semas are more Kuki than Naga and he also outlined the similarities of Kukis and Konyaks. However, the Nagas have been able to unify all these tribes under one umbrella in spite of all the differences. Perhaps, the British colonisers and the American Baptist Mission can be credited for laying the foundation for the establishment of such an ‘Imagine Community.’

Now, what defines a Kuki? According to Taranath, the 16th Century Buddhist scholar, the Kukis were definitely in the Northeastern part of Indian subcontinent since Ashoka’s time. That puts the dating to somewhere around the 3rd century BCE. The British first encountered the Kukis in 1777. And since the Great Kuki Risings of the 1840s and 1860s, the Lushais gradually adopted Lushai only which overtime changed to Mizo. The Chins have been largely outside the Administration of British India and due to that, man-to-man relations especially of the Falam and Hakka Chins have been historically less with their kindred tribes of Manipur. This is where lack of understanding of the Naga tribes of Chandel arises.

These tribes which were under the Old Kuki brackets ethnically are much closer to the Chins. For example, the Anals are close to the Lai people of Chin Hills and Mizoram and the Maring with the Mara. Just look at their traditional dresses and dances; it is easily identifiable. Anthropologically speaking, they are much closer to the Kuki-Chin family. Their stories of migration, folklores, festivals, etc. are much closer if not similar with the Kukis. For instance, Lamkangs are believed to be the descendants of the Kuki folk hero Benglam. However, identity being liable to change, they have gone through periods of identity change. Moreover, there are also situations where, though similar to the Kukis, have differences which explains their inability to fully assimilate with the Kuki group.

When the Kuki National Assembly (KNA) was formed in 1946, all these Chandel tribes were part of it. But when the Schedule Tribe modification was made in 1956, each tribe was given separate recognition. In other words, these tribes were given ST status on individual tribe-wise unlike the Census of 1951 where all the tribes were recognised as Any Kuki Tribes, Any Naga Tribes and Any Mizo (Lushai) Tribes.

The weakening of KNA and the inability of the newly formed Khulmi National Union to bring together all the tribes led to a structural crisis where different erstwhile Kuki tribes failed to find a common platform. So, when the other Kuki tribes were slowly involved in the Mizo National Front (MNF) movement in the 1970s, the Chandel Nagas started tilting towards Naga movement as it was gathering mosses. The role of Tangkhul missionaries in preparing the way has also been highlighted by few scholars. More importantly, it seems like a politics of survival. Till the late 1990s, when
these tribes regularly attend the State Level Kut Festival, they would often face the wrath of NSCN- IM on their return. This forceful assimilation also can be for territorial exigency so that Kuki areas that are sandwiched between Ukhrul and Chandel might have no difficulty becoming part of Greater Nagalim project.

Now that the Chandel tribes are more or less assimilated to the Naga group, there are few questions for Nagas to ponder:

First, will the Nagas accept them as Naga permanently giving them all the benefits once a Naga solution comes?

Secondly, by accepting them as Naga, do they agree that there is no original Naga or ‘Naga by Blood’ as some of them would prefer to call?

Whatever it is, it is evident that identities evolve or changes from time to time, and there might be further ecdysis or modifications in the days to come, like it happens for all ethnic group in history.