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wanderlust.co.uk April 2020 43DISPATCHES
the state. Military convoys clogged
many of the roads and soldiers
patrolled on foot, rifl es at the ready.
In the 1950s Langtoyimlok had
been a Naga soldier himself. “That’s
when I became Christian,” he tells
me. “God spoke to me, saying he
would save me from the bullets.”
Is life better now? “Yes – when we
became Christians we began to love
each other and we stopped
headhunting,” he replies. “Life is
easier now, we don’t have to guard
the village and we live without fear.”
How life has changed here. When
Langtoyimlok was born, Nagaland
wasn’t even a state, just a wild,
mountainous tract piercing the skies
between the Brahmaputra and
Chindwin rivers. Polygamy and
headhunting lay at the heart of Naga
society and they inhabited a complex
pantheon of spirits. Langtoyimlok’s
ancestors were all ala-menli, men
and women said to be able to
communicate with tigers. His father,
Yanglak, was often seen talking to
a tiger; when a hunter shot the
animal, Yanglak died soon afterwards.
Now there are no more ala-menli and
men who once sang lusty war songs
sing “Praise the Lord!” instead.
As we leave, I ask my young
translator if he’s interested in these
old stories. “We’re too busy with our
studies to sit around and talk to the
old people,” he shrugs. At this, I feel
a pang of sadness, for soon these old
headhunters will all be gone, and
their stories and knowledge will be
buried with them.Mountainous Nagaland lies between
the Brahmaputra and Chindwin river
valleys on the India-Myanmar border