Phejin Konyak, a cultural documentarian and writer, hails from Shiyong village in Mon District, Nagaland. She is the great-granddaughter of Ahon, a famed tattooed headhunter and interpreter who assisted J.H. Hutton—one of the first British ethnographers in the Naga Hills—in his 1923 book Diaries of Two Tours in the Naga Hills. Inspired by her ancestry, Phejin has taken it upon herself to preserve and share the rich cultural legacy of the Konyak tribe, particularly its tattooing traditions.

Alongside photographer Peter Bos, Phejin traveled extensively across remote Konyak villages, documenting tattoo patterns once worn by headhunters. This effort culminated in her acclaimed book, The Last of the Tattooed Headhunters. Blending personal narrative with ethnographic research, the book traces Phejin’s journey as she rediscovers her roots and captures a vanishing tradition.

The Konyaks viewed tattoos not merely as ornamentation, but as powerful markers of identity, achievement, and transition. The body was treated as a living canvas—each tattoo representing rites of passage, life cycles, and social status. Through oral histories, folk songs, sayings, and poems, Phejin's work weaves a vibrant tapestry of cultural expression that once defined the community.

Her book is the most comprehensive record to date of Konyak tattooing. It includes detailed descriptions of the meanings behind different tattoo patterns, the artists who created them, techniques used, and the societal roles these tattoos played. Illustrated with photographs and drawings, the work preserves the memory of a tradition that is rapidly fading with the passing of the last generation of tattooed elders.

In her roles as farmer, host, and researcher, Phejin Konyak stands as a custodian of her community’s heritage—ensuring that the stories inked into skin are not forgotten.