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Konyak Warrior with Facial Tattoo, Konyak, Nagaland 2014

October 20, 2015

I met this warrior in the village of Shangnyu.  He was a big man with an impressive past which was illustrated by his prominent facial tattoos.  The faces of great Konyak warriors are tattooed when they have successfully headhunted their enemies.  This practice has been banned since the late 1960s and in this remote area this practice was finally eradicated in the early 1980s.  However I was allowed to visit the Shangnyu shrine where all the trophy skulls are still kept.  This warrior sat in the doorway of his hut, I could sense he was sad and frustrated at getting old and loosing his youthful mobility.  He mentioned how his age prevented him from working in his field and that his wife was now having to work there so they could get food. I asked if I could take his picture and he agreed (I would not have done so if he had objected) and I feel this photograph captures the sadness of the loss of his youth in his eyes.

← Nagas enjoying a beer fight at the Hornbill Festival 2013, Kohima, NagalandThe Karo Tribe, Omo Valley, Ethiopia 2014 →

 

 

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