Nagas

Dr Alok Kumar Kanungo, Associate Research Professor at IIT Gandhinagar and Adjunct Associate Professor at Flinders University, specialises in archaeological and ethnographic studies of indigenous practices and ancient technology. He has travelled, documented and analysed the rich heritage of the Nagas of north-east India and the ancient glass, ceramic and iron of India in fields, labs and museums across Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Keeping the intellectual rights of the indigenous people and craftspeople at the forefront, he has written or edited eighteen books, one journal and about a hundred research articles. He has received many awards, including Scientific Missionary, Humboldt, Fulbright, British Academy, Rakow, Homi Bhabha, SPARC, ICG, ICHR and Bead Societies’ Fellowships. He has lectured in many universities and research institutes in the USA, Oceania, Europe, Southeast Asia, and India.Dr Alino Sumi, an indigenous Naga ethnographer from the Naga Hills, India, specialises in the intersection of Indigenous Communities, Heritage, and Wellbeing. With a PhD in ethnoscience and a postdoctoral fellowship in (im)material heritage from Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, her work emphasises the legitimacy and complementarity of Indigenous Science and Western Science. Her research is driven by a deep interest in the knowledge systems of the Nagas, exploring Indigenous ways of knowing and storytelling, ethnoscience, culture and environment, and Ancient Indian Knowledge Systems. In addition to her research, Sumi serves as an adjunct lecturer at Flinders University, South Australia, in the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences.

• List of figures; Foreword; Preface; I The Nagas: Knowledge Practitioners vs Head-Hunters; II Indigenous Inventions and Innovations: Hunting, Traps and Snares of the Chakhesang Nagas; III Ethnoichthyology and Rain Invoking Practice of the Sumi and the Lotha Nagas; IV Living Traditions: The Salt Makers of the Naga Hills; V Megaliths: Socio-cultural Importance in the Life of the Nagas; VI Grave Goods and Memorials: A Case Study of non-Christian Pochury Nagas; VII Bridging Realms between the Living and the Living-Dead: A Case Study of the Pochury Naga; VIII Adornment, Identity and Culture Contacts; Conclusion; Glossary; Index.