A Clash of Worldviews: the Impact of Modern Western Notion of Progress on Indigenous Naga Culture
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University of Denver Digital Commons @ DU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 1-1-2009 A Clash of Worldviews: The Impact of Modern Western Notion of Progress on Indigenous Naga Culture Tezenlo Thong University of Denver Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd Part of the Asian History Commons, Cultural History Commons, Ethnic Studies Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Thong, Tezenlo, "A Clash of Worldviews: The Impact of Modern Western Notion of Progress on Indigenous Naga Culture" (2009). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1383. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/1383 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact [email protected],[email protected]. A CLASH OF WORLDVIEWS: THE IMPACT OF MODERN WESTERN NOTION OF PROGRESS ON INDIGENOUS NAGA CULTURE A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the University of Denver and the Iliff School of Theology Joint PhD Program __________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy __________ by Tezenlo Thong June 2009 Denver, Colorado Advisor: George E. “Tink” Tinker ©Copyright by Tezenlo Thong 2009 All Rights Reserved Author: Tezenlo Thong Title: A Clash of Worldviews: The Impact of Modern Western Notion of Progress on Indigenous Naga Culture Advisor: Dr. George E. “Tink” Tinker Degree Date: June 2009 ABSTRACT The term “progress” is a modern Western notion that life is always improving and advancing toward an ideal state. It is a vital modern concept which underlies geographic explorations and scientific and technological inventions as well as the desire to harness nature in order to increase human beings’ ease and comfort. With the advent of Western colonization and to the great detriment of the colonized, the notion of progress began to perniciously and pervasively permeate across cultures. During the classical colonial period, Western anthropologists, sociologists and others had hypothesized, or at least ardently bought into the notion, that human beings, culturally speaking, progressed from animism, to polytheism, to monotheism, and maybe beyond, to atheism. Animism, the designated religion of Indigenous Peoples, was considered the most primitive and savage form of cultural practices among human beings. Likewise, cultural evolution theorists claim that societies start out in a primitive state and gradually become more civilized over time. They determined that the culture and technology of the West illustrated the most advanced progress as opposed to indigenous culture which represented the most backward and primitive form of existing cultures. ii The interaction between the Nagas and the West, beginning with British military conquest, followed by American missionary intrusion of Naga soil, has resulted in the decimation of Naga culture. Consequences are still being felt in the lack of sense of direction and confusion among Nagas today. And as other indigenous peoples whose recent history is characterized by the traumatic cultural disruption caused by colonial interference, the Nagas have long engaged in self-shame, self-negation and self-sabotage. Well before there was a United Kingdom or United States of America Naga culture was thriving. However, when the Euro-Americans colonizers, ethnographers and missionaries, with their notion of unilinear progress and cultural evolution, came into contact with the Naga culture they had no appreciation for it. Accordingly, they stereotyped and demonized the Nagas and their culture and were determined to impose Western values thereby precipitating the demise of Naga culture. Euro-American colonialism, with its wholesale imposition of new political, religious, intellectual and cultural values, is responsible for the gradual demise of Naga culture, and it is almost a cliché to assert that since the colonial contact, the long evolved Naga traditional values are being replaced by Western values. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................................. vi INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 What is a worldview?...................................................................................................... 2 Clash of worldviews ................................................................................................... 5 Statement of thesis and description of scope ................................................................ 10 Rationale for pursuing thesis ........................................................................................ 11 Statement of proposed title ........................................................................................... 14 Limitations and caveats................................................................................................. 18 CHAPTER ONE: THE NOTION OF PROGRESS IN PERSPECTIVE ......................... 22 What is the notion of progress? .................................................................................... 26 Progress: Its origin and development ............................................................................ 30 The Greek influence .................................................................................................. 33 The Judeo-Christian influence .................................................................................. 34 The Enlightenment influence .................................................................................... 42 Contemporary variant of the notion of progress ....................................................... 45 CHAPTER TWO: THE NOTION OF PROGRESS - ITS APPLICATION AND RAMIFICATIONS ........................................................................................................... 54 Invention of printing and its role in colonialism ........................................................... 59 Invention of gunpowder and its role in colonization .................................................... 72 Invention of magnetic compass and its role in colonization ......................................... 83 CHAPTER THREE: BRITISH COLONIZATION OF NAGAS ..................................... 91 The imperial invasion ................................................................................................... 92 The British-Naga Encounter ..................................................................................... 96 Colonization and social polarization ........................................................................... 106 Tea and the British Empire ..................................................................................... 117 Tea cultivation, regional hostility and the pacification of Nagas ........................... 121 Pax Britannica and the pacification of Nagas ............................................................ 128 Pacification and imperial law .................................................................................. 130 CHAPTER FOUR: AMERICAN MISSIONIZATION OF NAGAS ............................. 136 Missionization of Nagas ............................................................................................. 138 Missionary activity as civilizing mission ................................................................ 141 Missionaries, rice beer, and the demise of Naga culture ............................................ 145 Social functions of azü ............................................................................................ 148 Azü and missionaries .............................................................................................. 150 iv Prohibition of the practice of morung ......................................................................... 158 Strict observance of Sabbath or Sunday ..................................................................... 162 Prohibition of folk dances, songs, ceremonies and festivals ...................................... 163 Prohibition of traditional attires .................................................................................. 164 The mission triad – education, medicine and proselytization ..................................... 165 ‘Civilizing the illiterate Nagas’ ............................................................................... 166 ‘Healing the bodies of savage people’ .................................................................... 170 Effects of christianization on Nagas ........................................................................... 172 CHAPTER FIVE: COLONIAL PORTRAIT AND THE COLONIZING OF THE MIND ......................................................................................................................................... 175 The practice of warfare in traditional Naga culture .................................................... 177 Debunking the myth of headhunting ........................................................................... 183 The discourse on headhunting in Western literature ................................................... 194 The colonial portrait: Function and effect .................................................................. 200 The colonizing of