Redefining Naga Identities: A Discourse on Myths in Easterine Kire’s When the River Sleeps

Abstract

Nagaland, a North-eastern state in India, is home to seventeen Naga tribes, each with a distinct culture and its own tribal traditions. It is a place of rich and vibrant cultural diversity, and each tribe maintains its own beliefs and traditions. These beliefs and customs are deeply embedded in myth and legend and are profoundly sacred to the Nagas; they constitute a defining element of Naga existence. This paper argues that Western interventions introduced under the labels of 'modernity' and 'civilization' attempted to interpret this multilayered culture, but these interventions have often proved detrimental to cultural discourse. Nagas have been depicted as barbaric, primitive and savage and stereotyped as the ‘exotic other' in terms of their physical characteristics, lifestyle and beliefs. The aim of the paper is to argue that these representations contribute to cultural erosion because they replace indigenous discourses with externally imposed definitions of culture and identity. Drawing on Mircea Eliade’s concept of myth, the study explores myth not merely as a narrative from the past but as sacred history that helps create a community’s identity and consciousness. Through this conceptual framework, the study examines how Naga culture has been misrepresented and misconceived and how Easterine Kire’s award-winning novel When the River Sleeps seeks to redefine and reconstruct Naga cultural identity. The study employs a qualitative research approach, with textual analysis as its principal method, and reveals that myths function as active tools of resistance and identity construction rather than as passive inheritances of tradition. These functions are important for promoting cultural awareness and a sense of belonging. The analysis of Kire's novel illustrates how resilient Naga myths are in modern stories, how they provide counter-narratives to dominant representations and help redefine and authentically represent Naga cultural identity.