Meet India’s Naga tribe who are STILL rewarded for bringing back heads of their enemies in battle
Tribesmen on India-Burma border proudly display face and chest tattoos - badges of honour recognising their prowess as headhunters
THE tradition of headhunting was meant to have ended decades ago — but a photographer has tracked down a tribe who are still rewarded for bringing back the heads of their enemies in battle.
Incredible images show men of the Naga Headhunters proudly displaying their elaborate face and chest tattoos — badges of honour which recognise their prowess as a headhunter.
Other striking shots show a room full of human skulls which are displayed like trophies and a house decorated with buffalo horns to indicate wealth.
The stunning pictures were taken in Nagaland in India by British photographer Pete Oxford, who sat with the tribal elders who smoked opium while posing for the camera.
He said: “We were looking for bona fide headhunters.
“Warriors who had brought home one or more heads severed from enemy clans during battle.
"These warrior were not cannibals, however: the heads were ceremoniously carried home, in special baskets, where the skulls were then displayed as trophies.
“In recognition of his prowess as a headhunter the warrior was entitled to his badge of honour - a set of elaborate tattoos decorating his face and chest.”
Despite the fearsome reputation of the warriors, the conservation photographer was surprised at the tribe’s friendly attitude to him as an outsider.
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Pete, 58, from Torquay, said: “One of the Ang’s (Chief’s) houses that we visited, half the house was in Burma and the other in India. We were invited in and sat with the Ang and his two friends.
“All three men were heavily decorated with facial tattoos and I looked deeply at them for a hint of their murderous forays of days gone by.
“I could only find bright glimmers of mischievousness and playful childlike grins.
"My head grew heavy as I sucked in the dense smoke billowing from the brass crucible bubbling in the fire.
“Opium was being rendered down in readiness to top up the three men in their state of relative oblivion.
“We walked visa-less through the Burmese side of the village and found more men, proudly wearing their tattoos.
"All were friendly and not one of them was even slightly aggressive nor gave me the feeling that he might want to cut off my head.
“After all headhunting last happened somewhere back in the 1970s – at least that is the official story.”
Pete noted how the Naga tribes were still very traditional in their ways and ignored the Indian festival of Diwali.
He added: “Traditional shawls were decorated with tigers and knives were carried on the back in open bamboo sheaths.
"Buffalo were used to haul logs from the forest and hot water was boiled for tea in green bamboo stood next to an open fire.
“It was Diwali, one of Indias’s largest festivals, but it passed unnoticed here in Nagaland.
“People were very friendly and welcoming and the older women would even let me get in close to their legs with my camera to document their fading leg tattoos.
“A young man approached us and asked if we would like him to put on his traditional dress for a photo. He did so, for no money, and no other apparent reason than to help us get the most out of our visit.”
Pete travels the globe documenting traditional tribes such as the Huaorani people, naked monkey hunters who use blowpipes to kill primates and toucans in the rainforests of Ecuador.
He also photographed India's Apa Tani tribeswomen who wear pig-like nose plugs to make themselves ugly so they are not kidnapped by rival clans.
In February we revealed stunning photos of the Mentawai people in Indonesia, who sharpen their teeth to appear more beautiful and are the last to use the traditional hand-tapping tattoo method.
Other fascinating images showed the elusive Baka people, pygmy hunter-gatherers who have been living in harmony with the African jungle for centuries.
The world's remotest spots still harbour mysterious uncontacted tribes who practise cannibalism, slice off their fingers when a loved-one dies, and fire arrows at passing helicopters to ward off unwanted tourists.
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