The Guga, or Kouka, are a Naga people who live in the Sagaing Division of Myanmar. They are one of the less populous Naga peoples and have only a few villages in Lay Shi Township. They live high up in the mountains and bring many of their essentials, including firewood, from the valleys below. Tattooing was common for both men and women in the past. While many Naga peoples have a strong relationship between headhunting and tattoos, the Guga people […]
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The Makuri are a Naga people who live in the Layshi Township of Myanmar and also have communities on the Indian side of the border. Much like the other Naga peoples, the Makuri have a history of headhunting but now find themselves primarily as an agricultural people living peacefully among the other Naga groups. Unlike some other Naga groups, the Makuri never had a facial tattoo for their male warriors. It was common for men and women to tattoo other […]
Getting to Sahnai Wangsa was somewhat of an ordeal. We had all the relevant permissions and had been signed into the area by both the military and the government. Every single stop along the way, however, required yet another Xerox copy of every piece of permission and another interview about why we were here. Something was happening, but nobody would let us know what. Eventually, we made our way out to Konsa, a village on the Myanmar border. Being so […]
The Wancho, formally headhunters in the area that is now India and Myanmar, share a common history with many of the local tribes though they may be less well-known than groups such as the Konyaks. Much like their counterparts in Nagaland, they are now primarily an agricultural society in both India and Myanmar. Few of the Wancho tattoo-faced headhunters remain alive, but they are proud to share their stories and traditions. While Christianity has taken place as the main religion […]
The Ramnami Samaj are a group of people living in Chhattisgarh in India. They are the only people in this project who cannot be categorised as a tribe. They are simply a sect of Hindu believers who devoutly follow Rama as their god. Their tattooing practice was started as they were not allowed into temples in the past because of their dalit status in the caste system that India’s society operated on. Unlike most Hindu groups, the Ramnami tattoo रामराम […]
The Kui people are a self-sufficient tribe residing mostly in the hills of central Odisha, India. They have a history of human sacrifice and facial tattooing, yet are scarcely documented no matter where one looks. Although their practice of human sacrifice has ceased, animal sacrifice is still common among the villagers. I came across the Kui people as I was searching the Internet for various tattoo-faced peoples of Asia. The world commonly knows them as the Kutia Kondh (an Oriya […]
The Ollo are a Naga people living in both Arunachal Pradesh in India and the Naga Self Administered Zone of Myanmar. They are also known as Lazu Naga or Oloh, but the current official spelling of the tribal name is Ollo. In Arunachal Pradesh, they live in the restricted area of Lazu District. Although currently considered to be a sub-group of the Nocte people, they are petitioning to be recognised as an independent group based on their unique culture, language, […]
“We are born with nothing. We die with nothing. The only thing we can take with us is our tattoo.” Our interview with Penlung was our last before we left Sheanghah Chingnyu. We had been trying to catch him for a couple of days, but despite the constant rain and his age, he was always out working. We finally managed to meet him on our way home late one night and asked if we could see him the following morning. As […]