"Culture.. is the expression of our nature in our modes of living and thinking, in our everyday intercourse, in art, in literature, in religion, in recreation and enjoyment." ….Culture represents the accumulated habits, attitudes, values, skills, and material goods of the society into which the individual is born. This is more or less the general definition of culture. The main components of tribal culture, I believe, are : history, customs and traditions, religion, art, language, philosophy, societal structure and regulation and a system of values. Space will not permit me to do justice to every component, however.

The main interest of every early Naga was his family, his clan, and his village. He regarded this as his culture which must not be interfered with. He was closely attached to his land, to the system of land-tenure, to the arrangements for the government of his village court or council. Mills' description of pristine Naga village life provides a good illustration of indigenous Naga culture:

The Naga social unit is not the tribe, but the village. Confederacies of village may be formed, but they are usually ephemeral. To kill a man or woman of another village is not great crime, even if the villages are bound with definite ties of friendship. If there are no such ties it is a meritorious act. On the other hand, to take the life of a fellow-villager (and so weaken the village) is the greatest crime a Naga can commit for which the only punishment is death or exile. Each village is inhabited by two or more clans, usually occupying, each its own area. Between these, bitter feuds are frequent. These feuds go on from generation to generation, and are never settled, there being no external authority which can make a decision and enforce it. The clans inter-marry freely, however, and the feuds usually remain below the surface. Each clan has, in its area of the village one or more bachelors' halls where the unmarried men sleep and men of all ages congregate and gossip. They are regarded as the nurseries of warriors. Few tribes have real chiefs. Sometimes wealth and strength of character will give a man pre-eminence. More

usually the older men guide the destinies of the village in informal council. War is normal; peace is abnormal. Sentries guard the village continually and scouts reconnoiter the ground before parties go down to the fields to work in the morning. From time to time raiding parties go out and try to obtain heads from villages with which they are not at peace. By his prowess in war is a man judged, an no girl looks kindly on a suitor who has not taken part in a successful raid.

Agriculture is the sole means of livelihood and all wealth is in grain and cattle. Money is unknown. Weapons are made only in a few villages and are obtained by barter.Every girl marries as a matter of course. Prostitution is unknown; there is no need to seek this means of livelihood, and no girl could pursue it, with her relations living all round her. There is no destitution; orphans and aged people are looked after by their clans. Nor is there any pointless accumulation of wealth; grain and cattle are valued not to be hoarded, but to be distributed in ceremonial feast which entitle the giver to wear certain coveted ornaments. Crime is punished by a fine in goods. As  the clan of criminal are responsible for his fines, they excercise a benificial control over him. An incorrigible rogue, for whom his clan will pay no more, is liable, to be put to death. On the whole, the life of a Naga is incomparably better than that of a Western city dweller. In Naga society the village, not the tribe, was the sole political and social unit. Every Naga village was very much a world unto itself; people married, lived, and died in their respective villages. Naga societies were not, however, without strife and bloodshed; major villages tried to control smaller ones by force, raids were carried out often, no Naga had much freedom of movement or travel outside his own village. All these dangers and restrictions compelled the villagers to live and act as one social and political unit. All the taboos, religious and otherwise, were meant to consolidate and solidify the village community for any eventuality. In such a community of which he was a part. Thus the principle of oneness or unity became the underlying motivation in all activities, group or otherwise. Elwin has mentioned types of indigenous government in Naga societies thus :

"Naga society present varied pattern of near-dictatorship and extreme democracy. There is a system of hereditary chieftainship among the Semas and Changs. The Konyaks have very powerful Chief-Angs who are regarded as sacred and whose word is law: before the greatest of them no commoner may stand upright. The Aos, however, have bodies of elders who represent the main family groups in the village and the Angamis, Lothas, Rengmas and other are so democratic that Hutton remarks that in the case of the Angamis it is difficult to comprehend how, in view of their peculiar independence of character, their villages held together at all before the coming of the British government."

Tribal politics is democracy in action. The Village Council is a system where everybody is a partner, where ever the chief or headman tills the land, where the need for locking doors and windows doesn't arise, In such a system any decision is reached through consensus when a group of villagers or elders sit together.

Naga literature, arts and music consist of folk tales, folk dances, and folk music. Every Naga is expected to participate in the celebration of life. Folk literature and songs are sung by all. Tribal philosophy means a sense of ethical living. Tribals are "intrinsically truthful and honest. They work with honesty, hate hypocrisy and falsehood… A tribal means what he says and does what he says. He cannot stoop down to double dealing and dishonesty." Naga traditional society is characterized by equality. Apart from respect for age, one sees no discrimination between rich and poor, male and female, in Naga society.

Culture is not merely an accumulation of group habits which men have acquired in getting their physical needs met in this physical world, but it is also evidence of men's longing for the Unseen, the Infinite. The Naga generally believe in one Supreme Being with many subordinate deities and in a great number of spirits of Nature, of river, hill and forest, ghosts and other unseen spirits who affect human life at every point. Such religion cannot be totally dismissed as mere superstition because, in the words of Rustomji, "It has given to millions, strength in adversity, joy when thinks go well, relief from anxiety, and consolation in the hour of death."