KONYAK FILM

An Intense, Intimate Moment in the Company of Headhunters
Film by Sadiq Mansor and Justin Ong

A documentary featuring the infamous people of the Konyak Tribe. Lungwa (Longwa) village, Konyak territory; The Konyak live upon isolated hilltop villages along the open border between India and Burma, in the Nagaland state. Culturally, headhunting was used to acquire land and power. Young warriors would travel out to neighbouring tribes to retrieve the heads of other warriors. Once the first head had been brought back to the village, the warrior would earn the right to wear the iconic facial tattoo, which was personally done by the Queen of the Konyak. Successful headhunters bare on their chest a brass necklace with heads in a line; displaying the number of heads brought back. British missionaries brought christianity to Nagaland that put a stop to the hunting of heads, circa 1970, the last known head was taken.

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