ARTICLES

There are historical accounts of the relationship between the Ahoms (or Assamese) and Mopungchuket. The Ahoms invaded Mopungchuket in 1832 AD during the reign of King Purandar Simha. The invading Ahom soldiers failed to overpower the fierce warriors of Mopungchuket. Legend has it that the Shaman of the village prayed to the deity and keeper of the village. As a result, two enormous snakes emerged from a village pond, the stones turned into tortoises, and they attacked the Ahom army. The Ahom soldiers became afraid at this miraculous yet terrifying scene and fled leaving behind some of their swords and armouries. The warriors of Mopungchuket also chased them away. The swords left by the fleeing Ahom soldiers are still preserved in the Village Museum and stands proof to this account. The village pond is considered sacred by the villagers

Longsa, a village of Mokokchung also has an interesting story about humans and a malevolent spirit called ‘Awa’. In Longsa, parents left their children at home and went to work in the fields during the day, when the spirit would take away the children. The villagers could not understand the reasons for such mysterious disappearances. So, they tied red threads on the children before leaving them alone. Later they found the red threads floating in the river. This bad spirit was then driven away by the Shamans. The spirit left the village but every year one person from the village is taken away by the river.

After the Aos left their original home in Chungliyimti, they came and settled in Ungma village which was their first base in Mokokchung. According to a local legend, one night, 10 women gave birth to 10 boys and their families lived here for a few generations. At that time they had no Chief of the village but a few wealthy men who were called ‘Ongs’ or ‘Ungs’. During that period, the ancestors called this village Suyem. One day, one of the Ongs was taken away by a tiger. They lived in fear of the tiger for a while and eventually decided to rename their village as Ungma where ‘ung’ means chief, and ‘ma’ means gone.

Licha Ba is a folktale of a folk God in disguise of a common man. It is believed that he roams the mountains even today and no one actually knows who he is or about his real appearance.
One of the versions of this folktale narrates that two orphan sisters who were very poor and did not have any agricultural land lived alone on the outskirts of a village. They did not have enough to eat or fend for themselves.
One day a weary traveller came to rest for the night in that same village but no one provided him a shelter. Finally, he arrived at the doorstep of the two girls who took him in but had no idea how to feed their guest. The man was a nomad and he would be happy with whatever little was offered to him by the dwellers. However, the girls apologized to the man saying that they had no food to offer him or eat themselves. Listening to their plight, the man scratched his head from where a grain of rice fell. He asked the girls to cook that grain of rice and after cooking she found a pot full of rice. Then the man scratched his knee and a piece of meat fell. Again, the girl was told to cook the piece of meat and the pot once again filled up with meat. Then he asked the girls if they had any land or any garden and they led him to their tiny kitchen garden where almost nothing grew. The man sowed paddy in their kitchen garden and told them that they could go on harvesting as much as they wanted. Once they have harvested enough, they can cut the belt of their bamboo basket used for harvest which will stop the production. Once they had filled their house with enough rice, they cut the belt of the basket as was advised by the unknown traveller. This man was actually Licha Ba whose blessings changed the lives of these two girls.

Mopungchuket has a beautiful love story of Jina and Etiben which has been passed down through generations. There are two watchtowers serving as memorials built inside Mopungchuket village dedicated to Jina and Ediben and their eternal love, after they passed away.
Jina, a poor man, was attractive and a womaniser. He was dating Etiben’s friend. Etiben was a beautiful woman from a rich household. She did not like Jina at all and opposed his relationship with her friend. Jina used to make love-potions and one day to take revenge on Etiben, he fed her the love potion instead of her own girlfriend and said that the person she hates so much is the only person she will now dream of.
Although she resisted it at first, eventually Jina was the only person she could think of. They fell in love. The two lovers would meet in the mountains. But Etiben’s family did not approve of this relationship and forced her into marrying into a rich family. She tried to stop the marriage from happening. Etiben even pretended to be ill to postpone the marriage but failed. The two lovers were separated. They were determined to go to any extent to maintain their relationship. They would secretly meet each other in the fields and would spend time together. After some time, Etiben fell sick and returned to her native place to stay. Jina came to know about it and nursed Etiben. However, Etiben succumbed to her illness and passed away. Jina also died soon after due to the grief of permanent separation.
Before their death, the lovers had promised each other to meet again. When the villagers were burning their dead bodies, they saw that two smoke rings were formed from the two firebeds and rose high up in the sky circling each other as if Jina and Etiben were reuniting. After that incident, two memorials were constructed in their names

The villagers of Longkhum had set up a Morung in the village, which was blown away by a storm. They built it again but it got destroyed by another storm. This kept on happening three times. So they built a really strong structure believing that the storm will not be able to bring any damage this time, but the roof made of palm leaves was blown away by the storm. The villagers then decided that wherever the windswept palm leaves fall, they will set up their village. They then established their village in its current location which was previously called ‘Lomi Asang’. The villagers then renamed it as Mopungchuket - meaning where the leaves fall or where the wind blew the leaves.
When the people came to inspect the new location before settling, they found that the land was full of swamps making it unfit to live. They worshipped the land, carried out rituals and made offerings. Then they went back to their earlier settlement to inform the other villagers about it. When they returned to the new location, they found that strong winds had covered the swamps and there was plain land. Observing this miracle the people believed that it was an act of God. Mopungchuket village was thus finally established.

Before Khensa village was established, some men came looking for a place to settle. At night they built a fire. As they were resting around the fire they heard voices singing in the forest. The Aos were traditionally superstitious and believed that these voices belonged to spirits or Gods. They then decided to build their village in the current location and named it ‘Khensa’ literally meaning ‘where the Gods sing’.

Long means stones and Longkhum means ‘stone village’. The village was very rocky and full of stones, hence the name. Longkhum is the highest point of Mokokchung.
There is a belief that the souls after death become eagles and cross the village of Longkhum to go to the mountains on the other side known as ‘laza subu’. There are eagle caves in Longkhum where souls in the form of eagles visit, making this village a spiritual passage for souls. It is believed that anyone who visits Longkhum from outside once has to return to the village two more times to collect their souls which they left behind the first time. These are old customs established by the ‘shamans’ in the past, but the villagers maintain it even today. The local people also think that eagles flying near the caves symbolize death.