Indigenous Beliefs and Practices for Sustainability Among the Mao Nagas

The present society of Mao Nagas is sandwiched between trends to modernity and tendencies to be rooted in the cultural past. Prior to the arrival of Christianity, the Maos were considered animists; the sway of the one Supreme Being, and human relations with nature permeated the social, cultural, and spiritual realm. When the sky represented the father, and the earth, the mother; exploitation becomes inconsequential. Despite the odds of having limited ancestral land, the Maos have proven themselves self-sustainable within the place of habitation. The fact that there are no beggars among the Maos proves that certain aspects of the SDGs are ingrained in the beliefs. The Feast of Merit prevented extreme riches in society. With education, the Mao Nagas learned the harmful effects of shifting cultivation and abandoned its entirety. This paper tries to conceptually prove that if ancient beliefs and practices are tempered with scientific knowledge, life is sustainable.