Lotha Naga Sutam Ceremonial Shawl Wokha Nagaland

The Lotha Naga people of Wokha district in Nagaland produce the Sutam (also called Rongsu) ceremonial shawl — a distinctive backstrap loom-woven textile in bold horizontal bands of black, red, and white that serves as the most prestigious item of male ceremonial dress, worn draped over the shoulders at festivals, funerals, and community councils. The Sutam shawl is earned through merit: different colour combinations and band widths signal the wearer's accumulated social achievement — specific designs are worn only by warriors, feasters, or village council elders. The weaving is done by Lotha Naga women on a ground-mounted backstrap loom using hand-dyed cotton yarns — traditional dyeing uses tannin-rich bark mordants with indigo for blue-black and lac for deep red. The pattern is created by supplementary weft pick-up: the weaver inserts a flat pick-up stick behind specific warp threads to create the horizontal band structure. Wokha district weavers also produce smaller domestic textiles — carrying bags, aprons, and headbands — for daily use. Nagaland Handloom and Handicrafts Development Corporation markets Lotha textiles through state emporium and Hornbill Festival craft stalls. Contemporary adaptation of Lotha shawl motifs for urban fashion has been developed by designer collaboratives. Training in natural dye recipe documentation and new product development (stoles, throws) for urban market provided by Weavers Service Centre, Dimapur.