| A Sumi woman in Zunheboto district, Nagaland | |||
| Regions with significant populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|||
| Languages | |||
|
Sumi and other Naga languages |
|||
| Religion | |||
|
Christianity; Animism |
|||
| Related ethnic groups | |||
|
Other Naga tribes |
The Sümi or Sema Naga is one of the major Naga tribes in Nagaland, India. The Sümis mainly inhabit the Zunheboto district, although many Sümis have migrated outside Nagaland for work and education.
The Sümis practised headhunting like other Naga tribes before the arrival of the Christian missionaries and the subsequent conversion of the tribes people to Christianity. Anthropological study of the Sümi tribe is documented in the book 'The Sema Nagas' by J. H. Hutton, who was a Professor of Social Anthropology in the University of Cambridge. The Sümi is one of the recognised scheduled tribes of India.
Contents |
According to 2001 census of India, Sumi Nagas number 242,000.
The ancestral religion of the Sumis was the worship of nature. With the arrival of Baptist missionaries in the 20th century, like other Naga tribes, today, Sümis are 99.9% Christians. Very few of them still practice animism.
Sümi Nagas mostly inhabit central and southern regions of Nagaland; Zunheboto is the district of the Sumis and they also live in districts such as Dimapur, Kohima, Mokokchung, and Tuensang etc. There are also seven Sumi villages in Tinsukia District of Assam.
Sümis have two different clan-heads, viz. Swu (Sumi) and Tuku (Tukumi).[1]
The Sümis celebrate many festivals which have been carried down from generations, most festivals usually mark the beginning of new seasons, harvesting of new crops or victory at war. The two major festivals that are currently popular among them are:
Tuluni (8 July) is a festival of great significance for the Sumi. This festival is marked with feasts as the occasion occurs in the bountiful season of the year. Drinking rice beer indispensably forms as part of the feasts. Rice beer is served in a goblet made of bamboo or made of the leaf of plantain. This drink is called 'Tuluni' which gives the festival its name. Tuluni is also called "ANNI" the word of which denote the season of plentiful crops. This midyear (July) festival is a time of communal harmony and merry-making for the Sumi Community of Nagaland. Slaughtering of pigs, cows and mithun is an important feature of this festival.
During this festival, the betrothed exchange basketful of gifts with meals. The fiancé is invited to a grand dinner at the fiancée’s residence. Even siblings of the families of both the bride and groom exchanges dinner and packed food and meats - wrapped the traditional way in plantain leaves. It was a time of joy even for servants and housekeepers in the olden days. On this day they were fed extra generously with good food and meat.
The practice of working in groups is common for Sumi agriculture farmers, and Tuluni is a special time for them because they get to rest and celebrate the completion of a farming season of hard work in their paddy fields.For this festival, the farmer groups (also called Aloji) pool in money or other resources together to exchange/buy pigs and cows to be slaughtered for the special day. The meat is equally divided among themselves and some portion is kept aside for the group feast. In the midst of the feast group leaders gets extra offer of meat by way of feeding them by others. Each working group consists of 20 to 30 in number which includes several women too. The new recruits are also made to join the group at this grand feast.
The betrothed are settled at this period. The fervours of feast is synchronised with a chain of folk songs and ballads. In modern times, friends and members from other tribes and communities are invited to attend the feast and are entertained with a variety of traditional songs and dances, they are also served with sumptuous authentic Sumi cuisine of smoked pork and Axone with local herbs and vegetables.
Sümis have two different clan-heads, viz. Swu (Sumi) and Tuku (Tukumi). By virtue of two separate clans the gennas and rituals differs between Sumi and Tukumi. Among all other festivals and gennas, Sumis in general accepted the festival of Tuluni as the most grand and important one.
Ahuna (14 November) is a traditional post-harvest festival of the Sumis. Ahuna signifies the celebration of the season’s harvest in thanksgiving, while invoking the spirit of good fortune in the New Year. On this occasion, the entire community prepares, and feast on the first meal of rice drawn from the season’s harvest cooked in a bamboo segments. The receptacles for cooking or serving on this occasion are freshly made, curved or cut, from locally available resources prolific and abundant in the countryside.
Ahuna is celebrated on 13 and 14 November as one of the festivals of Nagaland, although it now holds the status of the official festival of the Sumi Nagas because it falls in a dry season and accessibility for visitors in terms of road conditions are better, Tuluni is still the most respected festival for the local Sumi.