" Yangam coolies at Mongnyu " (Image number A.11 : J.P. Mills Photographic Collection)
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Material Information

Title:
" Yangam coolies at Mongnyu " (Image number A.11 : J.P. Mills Photographic Collection)
Series Title:
J.P. Mills Photographic Collection
Added title page title:
Yangam "coolies" at Mongnyu
Creator:
Mills, J.P. (James Philip), 1890-1960 ( Photographer )
Hobson, Geraldine ( contributor )
Publication Date:
Measurements:
8x5.5cm in
Cultural Context:
Please note that the terms used in historical records reflect attitudes and language at the time and may now be considered derogatory or offensive.
"Coolie" entered the English language having passed through a variety of South Asian languages including Persian, Gujarti and Tamil among others. Before becoming racially charged, the word originally referred to an individual who worked as a day labourer. For more information, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coolie

Notes

Abstract:
According to Hutton's Diary, these Coolies in fact came from the friendly clans of Yungya, not Yangam. The man front right is holding his woven headband which he attaches around the carrying basket containing the load. Coolies were of course rewarded for their services, either in cash, or in kind in areas where currency was unknown. ( en )
General Note:
This item may be used under license: Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial (CC BY-NC)
General Note:
VIAF ID: 24750269 (name authority) : Mills, J.P. (James Philip), 1890-1960
General Note:
Original caption: Yangyam coolies at Mongnyu
General Note:
Date of photograph: 1923 April 12
General Note:
Ethnologue reference for the Naga people is located at http://www.ethnologue.com/language/nbe
General Note:
Coolie is the photographer's term. When originally applied, the term 'coolie' was widely used to describe to anyone of Asia ethnicity. It is thought to have originate from terms in Gujarati, Tamil and Turkish roughly meaning labourer or slave. The term has since come to be used as a racial slur.
General Note:
VIAF ID: 14843423 (name authority) : Hutton, J. H. (John Henry), 1885-1968
General Note:
VIAF ID: 24750269 (name authority) : Mills, J.P. (James Philip), 1890-1970
General Note:
The Konyak tribe lived in the northern part of the Naga Hills. To the west the Konyaks bordered the Assam plains and the Ao Nagas; on the south-east were the Phoms, and on the east the Singphos of Burma. At the time of these photographs much of their country was unadministered and little known and some of the villages visited during this expedition had never before been seen by Europeans.
General Note:
Mongnyu resides in the Longleng H.Q. of the Longleng District of Nagaland, India.
General Note:
Reference: Hutton, J. H. (John Henry), 1885-1968. Tour Diary. April 1923. (Held in the collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum archives, University of Oxford).
General Note:
Reference: Mills, J.P. (James Philip), 1890-1960. Letters to Henry Balfour. (Held in the collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum archives, University of Oxford).
General Note:
The album in which this image was originally collected mainly contains photographs taken during a punitive expedition in April 1923 to the Konyak village of Yungya, certain inhabitants of which had carried out a head-hunting raid on Kamahu. J.P. Mills was Assistant Commissioner, Mokokchung at this time. He accompanied J.H. Hutton, Deputy Commissioner, Kohima, who was his superior and therefore wrote the official Tour Diary for the expedition. The military escort of Gurkhas was commanded by Captain W.B.S. Shakespear.
General Note:
Originally collected in Album A of the "J.P. Mills Photographic Collection". (Held in the SOAS, University of London, archives and special collections.)
General Note:
VIAF name authority for "Mills, J.P. (James Philip), 1890-1960" is record number 24750269.
General Note:
B&W photographic print
General Note:
VIAF ID: 24095368 (name authority) : Hobson, Geraldine

Record Information

Source Institution:
SOAS, University of London
Holding Location:
Archives and Special Collections
Rights Management:
Image: © 1923, The Estate of J.P. Mills. Text: © 1996, Geraldine Hobson.
Resource Identifier:
PP MS 58/02/A/11 ( calm reference )