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Chapter One. The Naga Hills |
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reasons for frequent disputes among Angamis |
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Why is it that the Angamis of those remote villages, whose economy had then not been disrupted by any outside force, were unable to settle their disputes among themselves and brought the most trivial quarrels before the Deputy Commissioner? Unlike primitive populations who have suddenly been confronted with the full impact of an alien civilization, this tribe had then no problem of the detribalized wage earners, who refuse to submit to the authority of the elders, nor had the imposition of a foreign system of land tenure upset the social balance. I do not know the Angamis well enough to venture an explanation for their failure to maintain their own tribal jurisdiction, a failure all the more remarkable since other Naga tribes such as Aos and Konyaks very rarely appealed to the officers of Government for the settlement of internal disputes. But it may be that the peculiar organization of Angami villages was partly responsible for this breakdown of the traditional jurisdiction. |
