Indigenous Futures

Abstract

This chapter examines the way sovereignty is played out in the Naga areas, with their rich stories about land, their struggle to survive the effects of colonisation, and the hegemonic encroachment of the Indian state through militarisation. It highlights several stories that the author encounters, particularly in trying to understand what he calls 'sovereignty in motion'. In the diverse social settings where identity and a sense of belonging bring forth the complex algorithm of movement and mediation through narratives of land, prayer, prophecy, networks, friendship, and travel, the author takes note of the astute ways in which sovereignty as practice inhabits the daily struggle of indigenous peoples and the way they work through the 'sentient landscape'. Sovereignty then moves away from political slogans of territorial boundaries but takes on a more fluid notion of becoming that is about sharing a 'common world' not only with ancestors, spirits, and deities, but with the larger global indigenous peoples' movement.