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Chapter One. The Naga Hills |
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persistence of ancient cultural patterns |
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The lure of such terra incognita and the prospect of encountering tribal populations relatively untouched by modern civilization attracted me then to the Naga Hills. In my youthful enthusiasm for observing primitive societies uncorrupted by contact with the West, I felt that within my general sphere of interest I could find no better subject of study than one of the lesser known Naga tribes. Among such a tribal society, persisting in an ancient type of culture virtually uninfluenced by the Hindu civilization of the plains of Assam and the Buddhism of Burma, one could reasonably expect an economic order, social customs, and religious beliefs such as had once prevailed over large areas of Southeast Asia, but which elsewhere has long been replaced by the civilization of more dynamic races. |
