With support from K4DM, Tümüzo has transformed his anthropological journey into a revolutionary, decolonial practice of research and knowledge production. Through visual anthropology, community-led fieldwork, and cultural preservation projects, he is reclaiming indigenous narratives, fighting for epistemic justice and advancing cultural resilience of the Nagas in the face of climate change and division.
Background
Tümüzo grew up in the southeastern part of Nagaland, a region home to 17 tribes, divided across what is now India and Myanmar. This division was imposed in 1826 and confirmed by both India and Myanmar in 1967, cutting across communities and even homes. Despite this fragmentation, Tümüzo was raised with a collective dream of reunification and a sense of shared legacy and tradition. While Nagas in India were classified as ‘backward’ and received special status, their counterparts in Myanmar have faced greater challenges due to limited state support and economic opportunity. This disparity inspired Tümüzo to draw on this shared legacy and the tradition of Nagas helping each other across borders.
Anthropology as a Tool for Colonial Reckoning and Cultural Reclaiming
After growing up in a village of just approximately 300 people, Tümüzo pursued higher education at Kohima University, initially majoring in the sciences—a field culturally valued in Indian society. He began with evolutionary biology but soon shifted his focus to religion, which led him to a transformative discovery: anthropology.
Anthropology has only recently been introduced in Nagaland in the seventies and remains a rather nascent topic, despite its relevance to tribal societies. Tümüzo argues that it is crucial for understanding how colonial legacies continue to shape Naga identity. Earlier anthropologists constructed colonial narratives that still influence Naga culture today—yet many Nagas remain unaware of how deeply these narratives are embedded in their faith, customs, and self-conception. Even the category ‘tribe’ itself is a colonial invention. This intertwining of imposed structures and indigenous practice makes grappling with Naga history a paradoxical endeavor.
For Tümüzo, studying anthropology became a form of reclaiming cultural narrative and confronting colonial history. Rather than having outsiders define and interpret Naga lives, Nagas could now tell their own stories from within. He continued this work through his Master’s studies in anthropology at Kohima Science College (Autonomous), Jotsoma.
Preserving Cultural Identity Through Filmmaking and Food Amidst Climate Change
After graduation, Tümüzo interned at the Highland Institute, drawn to its work with indigenous communities and its emphasis on improving research methods. He joined the Earthkeepers project, supported by K4DM, to help film a documentary—an experience that felt like a homecoming. His father’s love for wildlife documentaries had sparked in him a deep interest in conservation. The project gave Tümüzo the opportunity to practice “visual anthropology”—an immersive medium he found a powerful alternative to books for bringing Naga experiences to life.
Together with his team, Tümüzo filmed Axone Ghili, a documentary about Axone—a pungent fermented soybean paste central to Naga cuisine. The film was part of the Tasting Tomorrow series by Jonathan Keats, which reimagines traditional foods for future climates. The project involved identifying crops from regions, like today’s Lower Dir District in Pakistan, that may reflect Nagaland’s climate in 50 years, and experimenting with Axone’s preparation using these climate-resilient ingredients.
For Tümüzo, the project revealed that climate change is not only about environmental disasters—it also threatens cultural identity. For indigenous communities, food is a vessel of knowledge. Axone, for example, isn’t just a dish. It’s a way to teach children traditions, preserve oral histories, and sustain intergenerational memory. In a context where most stories are unwritten, these rituals become vital links to the past.
Restoring Harmony: Indigenous Knowledge in a World Out of Balance
With a K4DM grant, Tümüzo led his first independent research project, visiting indigenous communities to record their perceptions of climate change and document their traditional knowledge. “When thinking about climate change,” Tümüzo says, “we always have graphs.” But to truly understand its effects, we need to understand lived experience. From a Western perspective, everything has monetary value. However, in indigenous traditions, it is about recognizing that everything is alive. Nature is not separate from daily life but a part of it—that’s why there is no word for it—and the same applies to climate change. Instead of monetizing your surroundings, it is about your relationship with them, aiming to be in perfect harmony with them. When this harmony is broken, consequences follow. Conversations with elders revealed that climate change, in their view, signals a loss of respect for nature.
Knowledge With, Not On: Centering Indigenous Voices in Research
This project was not only about research—it also pioneered a methodology that centers community agency. Rather than extracting knowledge without reciprocity, Tümüzo’s team embraced a co-production model where communities retained control over the research process.
Before beginning any formal interviews, the team visited village elders to introduce themselves and explain their objectives. Villages were then given time to discuss and decide whether they wished to participate. If they agreed, they chose who could be interviewed and what could be shared. Student unions, women’s societies, church elders, and other local stakeholders came together to organize their research. This immersive, participatory approach invited the researchers into everyday activities, such as fishing and farming, and allowed knowledge to emerge organically through shared experience.
In this ethnographic exposure and participatory approach, the community decides over its own agenda. Even for Tümüzo, it was an eye-opener to see how he grew up in a post-colonial system that negates the knowledge of indigenous people. Some of the words in the local language could not be translated into English—everything is imbued with such layered and nuanced meaning that there are no words for it in English.
What’s Next
While some indigenous knowledge may inevitably be lost due to climate change, Tümüzo emphasizes the urgency of preserving not just the knowledge itself but also the ways in which it is produced and transmitted. This, he believes, is key to reclaiming intellectual sovereignty and guaranteeing epistemic justice—something often disregarded in both colonial history and contemporary development practice.
That’s why he recently presented his work at the ‘Decolonizing Southeast Asia Studies’ Conference with the support of K4DM, organized by RCSD Chiang Mai University. Furthermore, their documentary will soon be released and streamed at various film festivals. Tümüzo is looking hopeful towards the future for Nagaland and is excited to dive deeper into what he has discovered.
