Lotha Naga Ceremonial Shawl Wokha Nagaland

Lotha Naga ceremonial shawls from Wokha district in Nagaland are hand-woven tribal textiles that encode the social status, warrior achievement, and ritual rank of the male wearer within the traditional Lotha village feasting-of-merit (feast-giving) hierarchy. The most prestigious Lotha shawl called Sutam is woven in black with two red stripes flanking a central white stripe and can only be worn by a man who has successfully hosted the Feast of Merit (Alea Touphuo), a community feast requiring sacrifice of multiple mithan (bison) and distribution of food to the entire village. The Loya shawl with red border is the everyday male cloth. The Longpensu shawl with yellow border marks priestly status. Lotha women weave on the back-strap loin loom using locally spun cotton and wool yarn dyed with indigo, lac, and yellow turmeric, with supplementary weft technique for the border stripes. Wokha district has approximately 100 active Lotha weaver households, and the Nagaland State Handloom and Handicrafts Department conducts annual shawl production training and market linkage programs. Lotha shawls are exhibited at the Hornbill Festival and sold through the Nagaland emporium. The meaning of each shawl type is documented in the Lotha cultural records maintained by the Lotha Hoho tribal council.