Life and culture in northeast India.

"This book presents a critical and analytical account of Naga politics examining the factors involved in gimmickry of Naga politics right from the arrival of the British in the land of the Nagas till date [sic]. It also investigates into the events and affairs related to working of democratic processes in Nagaland and efforts of the political and public leaders including the church authorities to resolve the Naga issue and make the Naga peace stable"--Dust jacket.

Since the 1950s, China and India have been locked in a monumental battle for geopolitical supremacy. Chinese interest in the ethnic insurgencies in northeastern India, the still unresolved issue of the McMahon Line, the border established by the British imperial government, and competition for strategic access to the Indian Ocean have given rise to tense gamesmanship, political intrigue, and rivalry between the two Asian giants. FormerFar Eastern Economic Review correspondent Bertil Lintner has drawn from his extensive personal interviews with insurgency leaders and civilians in remote tribal areas in northeastern India, newly declassified intelligence reports, and his many years of firsthand experience in Asia to chronicle this ongoing struggle. His history of the “Great Game East” is the first significant account of a regional conflict which has led to open warfare on several occasions, most notably the Sino-India border war of 1962, and will have a major impact on global affairs in the decades ahead.

Reform, Identity and Narratives of Belonging focuses on the Heraka, a religious reform movement, and its impact on the Zeme, a Naga tribe, in the North Cachar Hills of Assam, India. Drawing upon critical studies of 'religion', cultural/ethnic identity, and nationalism, archival research in both India and Britain, and fieldwork in Assam, the book initiates new grounds for understanding the evolving notions of 'reform' and 'identity' in the emergence of a Heraka 'religion'. Arkotong Longkumer argues that 'reform' and 'identity' are dynamically inter-related and linked to the revitalisation and negotiation of both 'tradition' legitimising indigeneity, and 'change' legitimising reform. The results have deepened, yet challenged, not only prevailing views of the Western construction of the category 'religion' but also understandings of how marginalised communities use collective historical imagination to inspire self-identification through the discourse of religion. In conclusion, this book argues for a re-evaluation of the way in which multi-religious traditions interact to reshape identities and belongings.

This book has been written to cater to the needs of undergraduate and postgraduate students of Anthropology and Sociology. It takes stock of the work done in the Anthropology of North-East India, and deals in four sections with various aspects of this question. Section I focuses on prehistoric Anthropology, section II looks at the colonial context and its effect on policy and perceptions about the North-East. Section III, on Biological Anthropology and section IV on Social Anthropology.

Exhibition includes objects from the collections of the Museum der Kulturen Basel, the Ethnologisches Museum Berlin and the Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde München.

'Nagaland for Christ' and 'Jesus Saves' are familiar slogans prominently displayed on public transport and celebratory banners in Nagaland, north-east India. They express an idealization of Christian homogeneity that belies the underlying tensions and negotiations between Christian and non-Christian Naga. This religious division is intertwined with that of healing beliefs and practices, both animistic and biomedical. This study focuses on the particular experiences of the Angami Naga, one of the many Naga peoples. Like other Naga, they are citizens of the state of India but extend ethnolinguistically into Tibeto-Burman south-east Asia. This ambiguity and how it affects their Christianity, global involvement, indigenous cultural assertiveness and nationalist struggle is explored. Not simply describing continuity through change, this study reveals the alternating Christian and non-Christian streams of discourse, one masking the other but at different times and in different guises.

The story of one man’s journey from his youth in suburban Chicago to an adult in spiritual India and a world of mystics, yogis, and gurus. Within this extraordinary memoir, Radhanath Swami weaves a colorful tapestry of adventure, mysticism, and love. Readers follow Richard Slavin from the suburbs of Chicago to the caves of the Himalayas as he transforms from young seeker to renowned spiritual guide. The Journey Home is an intimate account of the steps to self-awareness and also a penetrating glimpse into the heart of mystic traditions and the challenges that all souls must face on the road to inner harmony and a union with the Divine. Through near-death encounters, apprenticeships with advanced yogis, and years of travel along the pilgrim’s path, Radhanath Swami eventually reaches the inner sanctum of India’s mystic culture and finds the love he has been seeking. It is a tale told with rare candor, immersing the reader in a journey that is at once engaging, humorous, and heartwarming. Praise for The Journey Home “Here is an inspiring chapter of “our story” of spiritual pilgrimage to the East. It shows the inner journey of awakening in a fascinating and spellbinding way.” —Ram Dass, author, Be Here Now “He tells his story with remarkable honest—the temptations of the 1970s, his doubts, hopes, and disappointments, the culture shock, and the friendships found and lost . . . Add a zest of danger, suspense, and surprise, and Radhanath Swami’s story is a deep, genuine memoir that reads like a novel.” —Brigitte Sion, assistant professor of Religious Studies, New York University

The world in which we live, and what we perceive as physical reality, is a spectrum of frequencies within an infinite vibratory and multidimensional system. Our limit is the solidity of our conditioning, that is, the conviction that only what we touch and observe is the existing reality. Most if not all of the information about the Reptilians come from abductees, contactees, and government agents’ experiences with them. There is indeed an enormous amount of such reports, although the very existence of this race has been kept secret for millennia. In my extensive (and still ongoing) research, both on desk and on field, I have come across different versions about the origins, agenda, and features of the Reptilians, with some common points that corroborate the signs and symbols that Humans have carved in stones, or written in ancient texts, to signify how fearful and powerful these beings are. This book is based primarily on what the Ancient Texts of India told about the Nagas race, and it presents a visual evidence of that race across the millennia. A comparative analysis with other areas of the world, namely Sumeria and South America, is briefly added to give the reader an idea of how widespread the knowledge about the existence of the Reptilian race was among the cultures of the world. (From the Introduction by the author.)