Sumi nagas

The Sumi tribe is one of the major Naga tribes. It is a warrior tribe known for its martial skills. Before they converted to Christianity, the Sumis practised headhunting like other Naga tribes. The majority of the Sumis live in Nagaland, India. About 99% of them follow Christianity.

The Sumis celebrate two major festivals.

"TULUNI" - 8th July

Tuluni is a festival of great significance . This festival is marked with feasts as the occasion occurs in the bountiful season of the year. Drinking rice beer indispensably forms as part of feast. Rice beer is served in a goblet made with the leaf of plantain. This wine name is called TULUNI. Therefore, consumption of the wine is called "TULUNI". Tuluni is also called "ANNI" the word of which denote the season of plentiful crops. This midyear (July) festival is the greatest and most fervent moment for the Sumi Community of Nagaland.

During this festival, betrothed exchange the basketful of gifts with meals. Fiancé is invited to a grand dinner at the fiancée’s residence. Even siblings of the families of both the bride and groom exchanges dinner and packed food and meats.

It is a time of joy even for the baby-sitters. On this day they are fed generously with food and meat. Cultivators usually work in groups and specially for Anni (Festival) they keep budged with either pigs or cows are procured and the butchered animals are shared among the members. The served meat is used for group feast. In the midst of the feast group leaders gets extra offer of meat by way of feeding them by others. Each working group consists of 20 to 30 in number which includes several women too. The new recruits are also made to add the group at this grand feast.

The Betrothed are settled at this period. The fervours of feast is synchronised with a chain of folk songs and ballads.

Sumis have two different clan-heads, viz. Swu (Sumi) and Tuku (Tukumi). By virtue of two separate clans the gennas and rituals differs between Sumi and Tukumi. Among all other festivals and gennas, Sumis in general accepted the festival of Tuluni as the most grand and important one.

"AHUNA" - 14th November

AHUNA is a traditional post-harvest festival of the Sumis. AHUNA signifies the celebration of the season’s harvest in thanksgiving, while invoking the spirit of good fortune in the New Year. On this occasion, the entire community prepares, and feast on the first meal of rice drawn from the season’s harvest cooked in a bamboo segments. The receptacles for cooking or serving on this occasion are freshly made, curved or cut, from indigenously available resources prolific and abundant in the countryside.