Mapping Memories

The tribes of Nagaland

The Konyak Tribe

Mon district (Chi, Longwa, Shangnyu) · Festival: Aoleang (first week of April)

At the Hornbill Festival: The Konyak morung draws the biggest crowds: the tattooed elders, the great log drums and photographs of the Angh’s two-country house.

Traditional dress and craft

Face-tattooed elders in red-and-black with shell-and-brass chestpieces; warriors’ hornbill-feather caps and boar-tusk armlets.

What to know about the Konyak

The Konyak are the former headhunter nation of Mon district under hereditary Anghs; Longwa’s chief’s house straddles the India-Myanmar line, and Aoleang renews the year each April.

Meet the Konyak in person

Visit their morung at the Hornbill Festival (December 1–10, Kisama), afternoons are for conversations, not performances. Or travel to Mon district (Chi, Longwa, Shangnyu) for Aoleang in first week of April, the same culture at home scale. Our [tribes guide](/journal/hornbill-festival-tribes/) covers every community, and the [festivals calendar](/journal/festivals-of-nagaland/) maps the year.

Hornbill Festival packages from ₹3,999, every tribe, one arena, everything included.

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