For the very first time, the Anatongre Students’ Union, during its 59th Annual-cum-cultural session, established a Cultural Mini-Museum to showcase the artifacts of traditional culture.
The 59th Annual-cum-cultural session was held in Anatongre village, Kiphire, from 5 to 7 January. On the final day, the Museum was inaugurated by special guest Joseph Thongliu, NPS, Deputy Commandant, 10th IR Kohima, Nagaland.
The Cultural Museum – Powji Lokok Mükhip Rüh – in Tikhir dialect means “A place where ancient traditional objects are preserved”.
The event was held under the theme ‘Embracing our cultural identity.
The Cultural Museum – Powji Lokok Mükhip Rüh – in Tikhir dialect means “A place where ancient traditional objects are preserved”.
Special guest Joseph Thongliu, in his speech, encouraged the congregation especially the students of Anatongre village to preserve and promote their rich cultural identity.
He said knowing one’s root is an essential part of everyone’s life for without knowing it, one can never be a true self and be called an educated person.
Culture is all the ways of life including art, beliefs and institution, and through it, one is governed by norms and customs, Thongliu stated.
He encouraged the student community to invite friends and families to their festivals and to greet them with warm hospitality, thereby letting the others experience and know of their rich cultural heritage.
Thongliu further said a person who doesn’t know his/her culture or roots is like a fallen leaf who doesn’t know his/her destination and instead goes wherever the wind blows.
Most millennials are settled in towns and cities across Nagaland and beyond for better education but in the midst of pursuing the quest for success one should ask if he/she is forgetting one’s own identity/culture, Thongliu said, and encouraged the students and young people to make time to visit their native villages, spend time with elders and get to learn about their own culture.
The special guest also stressed on not forgetting one’s own language which, he said, is critically important to know.
Special Guest Joseph Thongliu, NPS, Deputy Commandant, 10th IR Kohima.
Thongliu said one should never forget one’s own culture as it is the essence of what makes “you and I a Naga”. He encouraged the gathering to reconnect themselves, where ever they may be, with their richly inherited culture, be it in the form of food, dresses, mother tongue or songs and dances among others.
The special guest also drew upon the example of a popular traditional English nursery rhyme where a cat goes to visit the queen but gets distracted by a mouse under a chair. He said many young people are like the cat who gets distracted and “”have failed to see the marvellous beauty that was there in London”.
In conclusion, Thongliu asked the young people to be sincere in whatever they are pursuing in life. Only then, success will come to life, he added.
After the museum was inaugurated by the special guest, all the village folks and students were able to view the intriguing display of cultural artifacts in the museum.
The cultural session also included the presentation of a Warrior Dance by the men folk and a display of the traditional way of cotton yarning by the women folk.
Anatongre Students’ Union organises a cultural session every third year. The display of cultural objects is one of the hallmarks of the session in addition to various other cultural activities.
The publicity and information secretary of Anatongre Village Students’ Union, Bajong K J, informed that the students’ union and the council will be discussing on the construction of a permanent Cultural Mini-Museum in the near future.
