Rengma Naga Tribe : Festival Celebration
The Rengma Naga tribe concluded a two-day celebration of the Ngada festival-cum-Mini Hornbill Festival at the Tseminyu RSA ground in Nagaland recently.
- The Rengma Naga are a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group inhabiting the Northeast Indian states of Nagaland and Assam.
- According to the 2011 Census of India, the population of Rengmas in Nagaland stands at 62,951 and the population of Rengmas in Assam is around 22,000.
- They call themselves by the names of “Njong” or “Injang”.
- They belong to the Mongoloid racial stock.
- It is believed that Rengmas, along with other Naga tribes, migrated from Southeast Asia across the Yunnan Mountain ranges and settled down in the upper Burma region.
- Slavery used to be practised among the Rengmas, and the slaves were most commonly known by the names menugetenyu and itsakesa.
- By the time the Britishers arrived in the Naga region, slavery was a declining practice, and no Rengma appears to have been a slave during that time.
- The Rengma tribes are agriculturalists.
- They grow paddy through Jhum cultivation and wet cultivation.
- Besides paddy staple crops, seasonal crops and fruits are also grown.
- Traditionally, Rengma tribes are worshippers of supernatural beings.
- Rengma Tribes celebrate a lot of seasonal festivals that are related to the agriculture.
- “Ngada” is the most important festival of Rengma tribes.
