CONCLUSION. In sum, the research as a whole establishes the need to understand how

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1 CONCLUSION In sum, the research as a whole establishes the need to understand how Ao society unfolds through time rather than see it as a set of eternal structures. It also recognizes a long standing tension between Ao traditions and culture and Christianity leading to a dialogue which created a space within Ao community to graft the new on to the old order. From the outset the encounter between Christianity and Aos as headhunters took place on a contested terrain. When the Christian outsiders encountered the Aos, headhunting represented various cultural forms for the Aos, which encompassed the distinctive ways in which their conduct was culturally mediated, patterned, institutionally grounded and historically produced. The stereo type images of the Aos as wild, savage and barbaric as represented by the Christian outsiders legitimized the intervention of Christianity in a society they sought to colonize and minister. This suggests that the nature of contact between the Aos and Christianity was set within the running argument about conditions of human empowerment. As a result of such representations the Christian outsiders initially encountered hostility, but overtime they effectively secured the necessary legitimacy of Christianity and the authority of the western mind over the Aos. While the history of the intervention of Christianity in Ao land is structured through conflict, one of the interesting themes that have emerged is the attempt of the Ao Christians to carry on a dialogue between Christian ideas and concepts and traditional Ao religion. In 166

2 their attempt to legitimize Ao religion in the light of Christianity, they acknowledge the implication of literacy within the oral tradition of the Aos. They successfully showed the relationship between oral tradition and print culture as a series of exchanges, as a dialectic between information and interpretation. The argument presented by the Ao Christians is that Ao religion may have concentrated on a more local array of problems rather than address topics of universal relevance, but it does not mean that the ancient religion is irrational or less rational than the more encompassing cannons. A range of studies made by the Ao Christians also suggest that preexisting local beliefs and practices defined what was to be accepted and what was to be rejected within Christianity. But Christianity also structured what was seen as preexistent; it legitimized a certain view ancient Ao religion. The Ao Christians represented the past in a specific form, a past that conformed to Christian ideas. It is a Christianized conception of Ao past and Ao religion. With the intervention of Christianity in Ao land, the Ao community experienced conflicts and tension at various levels. The court cases reveal that tensions around political, cultural and religious institutions were an everyday experience in the villages where Christians and non Christians co existed. Most of the conflicts started when the dominant traditions of the Aos were threatened. Ao conversion to Christianity was a process that generated different expectations from converts as well as non-converts. As such conversion created a space of confrontation through which the Ao sense of identity was crystallized. Traditional practices came to embody several conjoined ideas that were open to new appropriations without appearing to lose their traditional significance. 167

3 In proselytizing the Aos, missionaries gradually realized that forcible conversion entailed much tension rather than expedite large-scale conversion. They had to grapple with one central problem: what was to be retained and what was to be rejected within Ao sociocultural and religious practices? After years of interaction between Christianity and the Aos, forcible conversion lost ground and gave way to persuasion. In their method of persuading the natives to convert, the missionaries appealed to the minds of the natives through word and knowledge. To educate the Aos in order to bring them within the Christian fold, the missionaries strategically introduced lessons in the school as part of the curriculum. The power that pedagogic action exercised upon Ao society was more than widening the mental horizon of the people. Through education missionaries legitimized their power, and the authority of the Word. A cumulative process of transformation of Ao society was set m motion by the testimonies of the non-converts. Their stories suggest unresolved personal as well as collective issues that intersected with conflicting religious ideals, making it difficult for the non-converts to form a realistic vision of Christianity. The limits of cultural fusion can be seen through the eyes of these non-converts who resisted transition from Ao religion to Christianity. Have the Ao -Christians negotiated with Christianity and emerged with creative responses that speak deeply about local concerns and give meaning to their own choices? While some may.postulate that modem education and Christianity have distanced the Aos from their culture 168

4 and traditional moorings, they still think that they are rooted to their culture and tradition. The traditional practices that were suppressed during the initial years of conversion exist today in Christianized forms. The Aos still celebrate traditional festivals like Moatsu and Tsungremomg where the people tum up in their full traditional attires for the celebration. During the initial years of Christian conversion, it was considered unchristian for the converts to dance their traditional dance. But in the present day context, besides the prayer meetings and the business meetings for the welfare of the community during these festivals the Aos sing their folk songs and dance their traditional dance. But the drinking bout, which was a part of pre Christian Moatsu celebration, is discouraged. One of the areas of fusion between Christianity and Ao tradition is found in the nature of Ao church administration which is built on the structure of the Putu Menden (Village State Republic) This aspect is clearly elaborated by Panger Imchen. He says: The church adopted the Putu Menden two-tier structure. In the Putu Menden there are the Tongti, Chief, and representatives of clans that form the upper house with more privileges and Jameja or Khuenba, assistants, who are not entitled to Cf!rtain powers. In the same way, the church has the Deacon Board and Mapangchar, with the same administrative functions as the Putu Menden. The Ungr, chief system in the village republic is adopted in the church structure with Mission Kibur as chief of the church. 1 ~ Panger lmchen, Ancient Ao Naga Religion and Culture, Har-Anand Publications, New Delhi. 1993, page,

5 The history of intervention of Christianity in Ao land is a history of contestation, adaptation and innovation, particularly in the response of Ao culture and tradition to Christian ideas and belief. Selective elements of Christianity and Ao tradition intermixed in grafting a new christianized Ao culture on to the old order. This implies that the Ao society is not a stagnant structure mechanically reproduced by unreflective adherents but rather it has been critically reformed in confrontation with new forces. 170

6 GLOSSARY Amung Anempong Aolidanger Arichu/ Morung Dobashi Gaonbura Jidong Khel Panji Sam en Sushir Tir Sabbath Genna; Taboo Peacemaker Bachelors' Dormitory Hindustani term for two languages; interpreter Headman of the village Special decoration made of bamboo in the graveyard of warrior A division of a village Spike; pieces of bamboo around the village fence Senior member of the village council Commander Commander-in-chief 171