Identity

Brainstorming the Impact of Urban Life: Classroom Discussions

In the class, I asked my students that “how does the increasing degree of urbanization change the next generation’s view on localized cultural identity? And how should we as anthropologists collaborate with the community?”

In the class, I discussed on the concept of urban life and then I asked the students to think about the ways in which they all could engage with Taungthaman Village to understand the impact of urban life.

Weaving luntaya acheik (2): The Making of Myanmar Traditional Dress

The Saunders Weaving and Vocational Institute accepts trainees on per year/per month basis. There are regular as well as other vocational training options. In case a local organisation wants to set up a training school, then it can get in touch with the Institute. The educational qualification requirements of the Institute are limited to matriculation, middle and primary school levels. The trainees must be single and under 25 years of age. The numbers of trainees accepted vary between 5-50 depending on the course.

The Network of Women

I am Wekoweu Tsuhah (Akole) and I belong to the Chakhesang tribe of Nagaland. I am a women’s rights activist and a development practitioner, an advocate for gender equality, social and environmental justice. While growing up, I experienced fear and rage as I lived through armed conflict, alcoholism, domestic violence, poverty and these shaped the person I am today. I am passionate about working with people, women in particular; but it is only after I started working with a women’s rights organization – NEN, the North-East Network, did I truly realize and recognize these social injustices.

Grassroot Pan Africanism

 Since 2007, I have been assisting Kojo Opoku Aidoo of Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, to develop a humanistic Syllabus on ‘Mobilities of Grassroots Pan Africanism’as part of the Humanities  across Borders Program.  The project attempts to contextualize the praxis of mobilities as a grassroots pan Africanism issue in its multiple manifestations and nuanced dialectics. It also examines the tensions and contradictions of the academy and the community dialectic, bringing up questions of social mobilities and intellectual inquiry.

Tattoos and Patriarchy

For the Konyaks, tattoos are associated with traditional customs and culture which have their own distinct origin and significance and are called Huhtu or tatu in their language. The word ta means body, tu means to prick and ‘huh’ means ‘thorn’, which translates to pricking the body with thorns. The word huhtu is more commonly used among the Konyak Nagas over tatu.

A Man for Peace: Reverend Dr Wati Aier

"I think we were too fast with it all. Perhaps it was World War II that shaped the Naga soul. People come of age or in the process of coming of age, I think, in many ways we have been too idealistic. Instead of trying to work towards national construction, we were caught up in idealistic nationalism and I think traces of that idealistic mission still linger on today especially among the older generations... but the younger minds are beginning to be very critical and analytical at the same time, so I wish that the Naga movement began today.

Luntaya acheik: The Making of Myanmar's Traditional Dress

In the first figure, the governors of Myanmar are being awarded the cloth as a mark of honour. Luntaya acheik was the sacred cloth of the ancient Myanmar royals. But under the colonial rule everyone could wear this acheik.

To know the preferences of the people of Myanmar better, the governemnt conducted a survey after which the acheik became the national costume.

Walking the Naga Day

Walking the Naga Day on 10 January is where memory and meaning meet for the contemporary Naga . It is also the first time that conscientious Nagas decided to create this event in a public forum to awaken every Naga's idea of home and the community. 

 

It brings together  the voices, visions and many aspirations of the community as they straddle the borders of peace and conflict , of work and ethics, of construction and destruction, of harmony and violence as they go forth with the promise of a new year into a more stable future  .

 

The Keys of Heaven

The keys are a symbol of Leiden and are found everywhere. As a first time visitor I found them odd. As we talked to different people we were told that these are the keys of Saint Peter. Like the coats of arms in Ghana that talks about the belief of the people and acts as a cultural symbol, the keys of Saint Peter have become a symbol that people identify themselves with.

Memories of absence

The Netherlands was placed under German occupation during the second World War after the  country was invaded by the Nazi Germany on the 10th of May, 1940, which continued till the German Surrender in 1945. Nearly seventy percent of the country's Jewish population was killed in Nazi concentration camps during these years. 

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - Identity