Alternative Worldview: The Naga Weretiger, an Ecolegend in When the Millet Fields Flower

Title

Alternative Worldview: The Naga Weretiger, an Ecolegend in When the Millet Fields Flower

Creator

Yhome, Lucy Keneikhrienuo; Sabu, Melba

Description

This paper analyses the Naga Eco-legend tekhumevi to introduce an alternative worldview through Indigenous communities' philosophy and lived experience. In the context of contemporary environmental discourses, literature plays a significant part in highlighting the affective folklore guiding ethical, environmental practices in regions that are considered ecologically rich areas. Foregrounding the vibrant tapestry of North East Indian Indigenous cultures, it aims to discuss the impact of extraordinary stories on the lives of Nagas and how they shape the community's worldviews. This includes their relationships with the non-human world and their cultural identity. The paper also discusses the vitality of the traditional ecological knowledge of the Indigenous communities and its potential to offer alternative ecological sustenance ethics through holistic worldviews. The oral tradition of the Naga community has re-emerged time and again as a potent tool in offering ecological solutions and abiding by the ethics of sustenance and co-existence. The paper discusses an example of such a toolthe Naga weretiger, or tekhumevi's colonial imagery in the Naga oral histories and lore. However, the perception of such philosophical instruments sees a change because of social and ideological shifts that may be attributed to the intervention of scientific technologies, religion, worldviews, and rationale. Similarly, the accelerated climate health crisis has shifted the focus to an inclusive approach in the 'literature of nature', especially towards the more-than-human, as an alternative to this crisis. The paper reinforces the importance of folk literature and its relevance in the contemporary Naga community, reaffirming Indigenous cosmovision and epistemologies as spaces of resistance and representation. Avinuo Kire's "When the Millet Fields Flower" from The Last Light of Glory Days (2021) intersects magic, terror, community, spiritualism, and ecological ethics. The tekhumevi narrative reinstates the Naga ecological wisdom of bridging the gap and promoting a liminal existence/relationship between the Naga people and non-human entities and spirits. 2026, Knowledge Hub Publishing Company Limited (Hong Kong). All rights reserved.

Source

Forum for World Literature Studies;Volume;18;Issue;1;pp.81-95

Date

01-01-2026

Publisher

Knowledge Hub Publishing Company Limited (Hong Kong)

Subject

folklore; identity; nativized Christianity; Peplestories; Tekhumevi

Coverage

Yhome L.K., Department of English, St. Joseph's College Jakhama, Jakhama, 797001, India; Sabu M., Department of English and Cultural Studies, Christ University, Karnataka, Bengaluru, 560076, India

Rights

Restricted Access; Hardcopy may be available in the library

Relation

ISSN: 19498519;

Format

online

Language

English

Type

Article

Identifier

https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105040110192?origin=resultslist