Rice is their staple food, which is taken with meat. The meat is mostly pork, beef and chicken, but it can also be snakes, snails, rats, squirrels, dogs, cats, mithuns, buffaloes, deer, spiders, birds, crabs, monkeys, bee larvae, shrimps, red ants, and almost everything that is wild. Elephants included. No part of an animal is wasted — even blood, skin and intestines are eaten. Occasionally, however, they let the skin be, and use it to make shields.
“We have feasts throughout the year and no festivity is complete without meat. We rear pigs, dogs, cats, chickens and buffaloes but the meat of wild animals is always preferred," says K Sangtam, a Naga elder. “Hunting is something the Nagas have practiced for ages and it's a matter of pride for a hunter if he has the highest number of kills," he adds.
There are 16 recognised tribes and a number of sub-tribes of Nagas in Nagaland. They also have a sizeable population in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and eastern Myanmar. Their food habits are different from those of other tribals in the Northeast — both in terms of the animals they eat, and the style of cooking. They smoke their meat at home over a kitchen fire and apply axone (fermented soya bean) to create a pungent aroma in the dishes. Some love their meat with anishi (a preparation made of dried yam leaves). Read the full report here.
Source: by Prasanta Mazumdar, DNA, Dimapur.
