A haunting refrain pierced the night as the tribeswomen of the Gongwang Bonyo, among the most isolated people in Myanmar, danced around a campfire to bless the harvest ahead.
The group were part of the Naga, a blanket term for dozens of tribes each with their own distinct dialect living near the Indian border, only accessible by nerve-shredding motorcycle journeys and on foot.
Dressed in black and wearing orange bead necklaces and palm leaf headbands, they rotated around a fire in Satpalaw Shaung village, hands held tightly and braving the cold with bare arms.
“This is the essence of our village and it brings us joy,” they said.
Like most Naga, the Gongwang Bonyo are mainly subsistence farmers who clear and burn the steep slopes around them to plant paddy, corn and vegetables.
The next season they move on, leaving the soil to recover for up to 10 years.
“The song is a prayer to bring success to the hill farms this coming year,” 32-year-old village head Maung Tar said. “We dance in a circle to show we’re united and that nobody can divide us. We don’t let go, whatever happens.”
DIVIDED
However, the Naga are a people divided.
Tracing a mountain ridge, the India-Myanmar frontier is a legacy of British rule, left behind by the retreating colonial power in the wake of World War II.
It has left about 400,000 Naga in Myanmar estranged from 3 million others in India.
A struggle for independence waged by armed factions on both sides has simmered for decades and yearning for a united Nagaland remains strong.
The women continued their campfire ritual through dawn as temperatures plummeted in a test of physical endurance helped by an occasional draught of rice wine.
It would be the men’s turn in a few weeks’ time, once the newly designated land is fully cleared and ready for planting.
“We worry about losing our traditions. That’s why we teach them to our children,” Maung Tar said.
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