Naga people Languages What were the languages of the Naga people? Naga people speak over 89 different languages and dialects, mostly unintelligible with each other. However, there are many similarities Do they have any language in common? Per Grierson's classification system, Naga languages can be grouped into Western, Central and Eastern Naga groups. Who makes the Western Nasa groups? The Western group includes among others Angami, Chokri, Khezha and Rengma. Who makes the central naga groups? The Central Naga group includes Ao, and Lotha ;
Who makes the eastern Nasa group?
Who makes the eastern Naga group?
Nagas have more language diversity than any other ethnic group or states in India. Naga people speak over 89 different languages and dialects, mostly unintelligible with each other. However, there are many similarities in between different languages spoken by them. Per Grierson's classification system, Naga languages can be grouped into Western, Central and Eastern Naga groups. The Western group includes among others Angami, Chokri, Khezha and Rengma. The Central Naga group includes Ao, and Lotha ; while Eastern group includes Konyak, Phom, Sangtam, Khiamniungan, Yimchunger and Chang tribes. The Sumi group originating in both central and western parts. In addition, there are Naga-Bodo group illustrated by Mikir language, and Kuki group of languages illustrated by Sopvama (also called Mao Naga) and Luppa languages. These mostly belong to the Tibeto-Burman language group of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. Shafer came up with his own classification system for languages found in and around Nagaland.  The diversity of languages and traditions of the Nagas results most likely from the multiple cultural absorptions that occurred during their successive migrations. According to legend, before settling in the region, these groups moved over vast zones, and in the process, some clans were absorbed into one or more other tribes. Therefore, until recent times, absorptions were a source of many interclan conflicts.  In 1967, the Nagaland Assembly proclaimed English as the official language of Nagaland and it is the medium for education in Nagaland. Other than English, Nagamese, a creole language form of the Assamese language, is a widely spoken language. Every tribe has its own mother tongue but communicates with other tribes in Nagamese or English. However, English is the predominant spoken and written language in Nagaland. CANNOTANSWER
Eastern group includes Konyak, Phom, Sangtam, Khiamniungan, Yimchunger and Chang tribes.
Nagas are various ethnic groups native to northeastern India and northwestern Myanmar. The groups have similar cultures and traditions, and form the majority of population in the Indian state of Nagaland and Naga Self-Administered Zone of Myanmar; with significant populations in Manipur, and Assam in India; Sagaing Region and Kachin State in Myanmar (Burma).

The Nagas are divided into various Naga ethnic groups whose numbers and population are unclear. They each speak distinct Naga languages often unintelligible to the others.

Etymology
The present day Naga people have been called by many names, like 'Noga' by Assamese 'chingmi' by Manipuri and 'Chin' by Burmese.  However, over time 'Naga' became the commonly accepted nomenclature, and was also used by the British. According to the Burma Gazetteer, the term 'Naga' is of doubtful origin and is used to describe hill tribes that occupy the country between the Chin in the south and Kachin (Singpho) in the Northeast.

Languages

The Naga languages are either classified under the Kuki-Chin-Naga languages or the Sal languages.

Nagas have more language diversity than any other ethnic group or states in India. Naga people speak over 89 different languages and dialects, mostly unintelligible with each other. However, there are many similarities in between different languages spoken by them. 
The diversity of languages and traditions of the Nagas results most likely from the multiple cultural absorptions that occurred during their successive migrations. According to legend, before settling in the region, these groups moved over vast zones, and in the process, some clans were absorbed into one or more other groups. Therefore, until recent times, absorptions were a source of many interclan conflicts.

In 1967, the Nagaland Assembly proclaimed English as the official language of Nagaland and it is the medium for education in Nagaland. Other than English, Nagamese, a creole language form of the Assamese language, is a widely spoken language. Every community has its own mother tongue but communicates with other communities in either Nagamese or English. However, English is the predominant spoken and written language in Nagaland. Hindi is also taught along with English in most schools and most Nagas prefer to used Hindi to communicate with the migrant workers of the state, that primarily comes from Bihar, UP and Madhya Pradesh.

Culture

Art

The Naga people love colour as is evident in the shawls designed and woven by women, and in the headgear that both sexes design. Clothing patterns are traditional to each group, and the cloths are woven by the women. They use beads in variety, profusion and complexity in their jewelry, along with a wide range of materials including glass, shell, stone, teeth or tusk, claws, horns, metal, bone, wood, seeds, hair, and fibre.

According to Dr. Verrier Elwin, these groups made all the goods they used, as was once common in many traditional societies: "they have made their own cloth, their own hats and rain-coats; they have prepared their own medicines, their own cooking-vessels, their own substitutes for crockery.". Craftwork includes the making of baskets, weaving of cloth, wood carving, pottery, metalwork, jewellery-making and bead-work.

Weaving of colorful woolen and cotton shawls is a central activity for women of all Nagas. One of the common features of Naga shawls is that three pieces are woven separately and stitched together. Weaving is an intricate and time consuming work and each shawl takes at least a few days to complete. Designs for shawls and wraparound garments (commonly called mekhala) are different for men and women.  Among many groups the design of the shawl denotes the social status of the wearer. Some of the more known shawls include Tsungkotepsu and Rongsu of the Aos; Sutam, Ethasu, Longpensu of the Lothas; Supong of the Sangtams, Rongkhim and Tsungrem Khim of the Yimkhiungs; and the Angami Lohe shawls with thick embroidered animal motifs.

Naga jewelry is an equally important part of identity, with the entire tribe wearing similar bead jewelry.

The Indian Chamber of Commerce has filed an application seeking registration of traditional Naga shawls made in Nagaland with the Geographical Registry of India for Geographical Indication.

Cuisine

Naga cuisine is characterized by smoked and fermented foods.

Folk song and dances

Folk songs and dances are essential ingredients of the traditional Naga culture. The oral tradition is kept alive through the media of folk tales and songs. Naga folk songs are both romantic and historical, with songs narrating entire stories of famous ancestors and incidents. Seasonal songs describe activities done in a particular agricultural cycle. The early Western missionaries opposed the use of folk songs by Naga Christians as they were perceived to be associated with spirit worship, war, and immorality. As a result, translated versions of Western hymns were introduced, leading to the slow disappearance of indigenous music from the Naga hills.

Folk dances of the Nagas are mostly performed in groups in synchronized fashion, by both men and women, depending on the type of dance. Dances are usually performed at festivals and religious occasions. War dances are performed mostly by men and are athletic and martial in style. All dances are accompanied by songs and war cries by the dancers. Indigenous musical instruments made and used by the people are bamboo mouth organs, cup violins, bamboo flutes, trumpets, drums made of cattle skin, and log drums.

Festivals
The various Naga groups have their own distinct festivals. To promote inter-group interaction, the Government of Nagaland has organized the annual Hornbill Festival since 2000. Another inter-tribe festival is Lui Ngai Ni. The group-specific festivals include:

Naga identity 

The word Naga originated as an exonym. Today, it covers a number of ethnic groups that reside in Nagaland, Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh states of India, and also in Myanmar.

Before the arrival of the British, the term "Naga" was used by Assamese to refer to certain isolated ethnic groups. The British adopted this term for a number of ethnic groups in the surrounding area, based on loose linguistic and cultural associations. The number of groups classified as "Naga" increased significantly in the 20th century: as of December 2015, 89 groups are classified as Naga by the various sources. This expansion in the "Naga" identity has been due to a number of factors including the quest for upward mobility in the society of Nagaland, and the desire to establish a common purpose of resistance against dominance by other groups.  In this way, the "Naga" identity has not always been fixed.

The Kuki people of Nagaland have been classified as "Naga" in the past, but today are generally considered a non-Naga. The Kuki have had good relations with the Naga in the past, but since the 1990s, conflicts have risen, especially in Manipur.

Nagas in India
Several Naga tribes are listed as scheduled tribes in 6 Indian States: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland

Nagas in Myanmar
Nagas in Myanmar are mostly found in Sagaing Division and Kachin state. The Naga territory in Myanmar is marked by Kabaw valley in the south bordering to the Chin state, the Kachin on the north and the Burmese on the east.

The Major Naga ethnic groups in Myanmar are:

   Konyak
   Lainong
   Makury
   Nokko (Khiamniungan) 
   Para
   Somra Tangkhul
   Tangshang
   Anāl Naga

Some other minor Naga groups are Lamkang, Moyon, Koka, Longphuri, Paung Nyuan, etc

The townships which are inhabited by the Nagas are:
 Homalin
 Lahe with Tanbakwe sub-township
 Layshi with Mowailut sub-township and Somra sub-township
 Hkamti
 Nanyun with Pangsau and Dunghi sub-township
 Tamu of Sagaing Division and
 Tanai of Kachin state

Anal and Moyon are mainly found in Tamu township on the south and a few Somra Nagas are also found in and around Tamu bordering to Layshi jurisdiction. Makury, Para and Somra tribes are mainly found in Layshi township. Makury Nagas and a few Somra Nagas are also found in Homalin township. Lahe is highly populated by Konyak, Nokko, Lainong and Makury tribes. Nanyun on the north is the home of Tangshang tribe which comprises more than 54 sub-dialect groups. Homlin township is highly populated by the considered lost tribes (Red Shans). But Kukis, Burmese, Chinese and Indians are also found there. Hkamti township is populated altogether by all the Naga tribes majority and with a number of Burmese, Shans, Chinese and Indians. Tanai in Kachin state of Myanmar is inhabited by the Tangshang Nagas among the Kachin people.

Gallery

See also
History of the Nagas
List of Naga tribes
List of Naga languages
List of Naga people

References

Further reading
Drouyer, A. Isabel, Drouyer René, " THE NAGAS: MEMORIES OF HEADHUNTERS- Indo-Burmese Borderlands vol.1"; White Lotus, 2016, .
 Wettstein, Marion. 2014. Naga Textiles: Design, Technique, Meaning and Effect of a Local Craft Tradition in Northeast India. Arnoldsche, Stuttgart 2014, .
 von Stockhausen, Alban. 2014. Imag(in)ing the Nagas: The Pictorial Ethnography of Hans-Eberhard Kauffmann and Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf. Arnoldsche, Stuttgart 2014, .
Shongzan, Mayaso, "A Portrait of the Tangkhul Nagas"; Exodus, 2013, .
Stirn, Aglaja & Peter van Ham. The Hidden world of the Naga: Living Traditions in Northeast India. London: Prestel.
Oppitz, Michael, Thomas Kaiser, Alban von Stockhausen & Marion Wettstein. 2008. Naga Identities: Changing Local Cultures in the Northeast of India. Gent: Snoeck Publishers.
Kunz, Richard & Vibha Joshi. 2008. Naga – A Forgotten Mountain Region Rediscovered. Basel: Merian.

 Shimray, Atai, A.S. - "Let freedom ring?: Story of Naga nationalism".

Novels
 Ben Doherty, Nagaland, Wild Dingo Press, Melbourne, 2018, .

External links

 Official site of Nagaland state government
 Photos of Nagas in Burma by Goto Osami
 Photos of Nagas by Pablo Bartholomew
 Article "Textile & Bead Art of Nagaland"
 National Geographic Why These Headhunters Converted to Christianity
 Naga National Council's Official site

 
Sino-Tibetan-speaking people
Ethnic groups in Northeast India
Indigenous peoples of South Asia
Social groups of Assam
Headhunting
Scheduled Tribes of Nagaland
Ethnic groups in South Asia
Ethnic groups divided by international borders
The NASA Astronaut Corps is a unit of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that selects, trains, and provides astronauts as crew members for U.S. and international space missions.  It is based at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

History
The first U.S. astronaut candidates were selected by NASA in 1959, for its Project Mercury with the objective of orbiting astronauts around the Earth in single-man capsules. The military services were asked to provide a list of military test pilots who met specific qualifications. After stringent screening, NASA announced its selection of the "Mercury Seven" as its first astronauts. Since then, NASA has selected 20 more groups of astronauts, opening the corps to civilians, scientists, doctors, engineers, and school teachers. As of the 2009 Astronaut Class 61% of the astronauts selected by NASA have come from military service.

NASA selects candidates from a diverse pool of applicants with a wide variety of backgrounds. From the thousands of applications received, only a few are chosen for the intensive Astronaut Candidate training program. Including the "Original Seven", 339 candidates have been selected to date.

Organization
The Astronaut Corps is based at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, although members may be assigned to other locations based on mission requirements, e.g. Soyuz training at Star City, Russia.

The Chief of the Astronaut Office is the most senior leadership position for active astronauts in the Corps. The Chief Astronaut serves as head of the Corps and is the principal adviser to the NASA Administrator on astronaut training and operations. The first Chief Astronaut was Deke Slayton, appointed in 1962. The current Chief Astronaut is Gregory R. Wiseman.

Salary
Salaries for newly hired civilian astronauts are based on the federal government's General Schedule pay scale for grades GS-11 through GS-14. The astronaut's grade is based on his or her academic achievements and experience. Astronauts can be promoted up to grade GS-15. As of 2015, astronauts based at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, earn between $66,026 (GS-11 step 1) and $158,700 (GS-15 step 8 and above).

Military astronauts are detailed to the Johnson Space Center and remain on active duty for pay, benefits, leave, and similar military matters.

Qualifications
There are no age restrictions for the NASA Astronaut Corps. Astronaut candidates have ranged between the ages of 26 and 46, with the average age being 34. Candidates must be U.S. citizens to apply for the program.

There are three broad categories of qualifications: education, work experience, and medical.
 
Candidates must have a master's degree from an accredited institution in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics. The degree must be followed by at least two to three years of related, progressively responsible, professional experience (graduate work or studies) or at least 1,000 hours of pilot-in-command time in jet aircraft. An advanced degree is desirable and may be substituted for experience, such as a doctoral degree (which counts as the two years experience). Teaching experience, including experience at the K – 12 levels, is considered to be qualifying experience.

Candidates must have the ability to pass the NASA long-duration space flight physical, which includes the following specific requirements:
 Distant and near visual acuity: Must be correctable to 20/20, each eye separately (corrective lenses such as glasses are allowed)
 The refractive surgical procedures of the eye, PRK and LASIK, are allowed, providing at least 1 year has passed since the date of the procedure with no permanent adverse after effects.
 Blood pressure not to exceed 140/90 measured in a sitting position
 Standing height between 62 and 75 inches

Members

Astronauts
, the corps has 48 "active" astronauts consisting of 16 women and 32 men or 33.3% female and 66.7% male The highest number of active astronauts at one time was in 2000 when there were 149. All of the current astronaut corps are from the classes of 1996 (Group 16) or later.

There are currently 19 "international active astronauts", "who are assigned to duties at the Johnson Space Center", who were selected by their home agency to train as part of a NASA Astronaut Group and serve alongside their NASA counterparts. While the international astronauts, Payload Specialists, and Spaceflight Participants go through training with the NASA Astronaut Corps, they are not considered members of the corps.

Management astronauts
, the corps has 16 "management" astronauts, who remain NASA employees but are no longer eligible for flight assignment. The current  management astronauts are assigned to NASA operations as follows: Ames Research Center (one astronaut); Goddard Space Flight Center (one); Johnson Space Center (ten); Langley Research Center (one); and NASA Headquarters (three). The current management astronauts includes personnel chosen to join the corps as early as 1985 (Group 11, Associate Administrator Robert D. Cabana) and as recently as 2009 (Group 20, Serena Auñón-Chancellor of medical and CAPCOM branches).

Astronaut candidates
The term "Astronaut Candidate" (informally "ASCAN") refers to individuals who have been selected by NASA as candidates for the NASA Astronaut Corps and are currently undergoing a candidacy training program at the Johnson Space Center. The most recent class of Astronaut Candidates was selected in 2021.

Only three Astronaut Candidates have resigned before completing training: Brian O'Leary and Anthony Llewellyn, both from the 1967 Selection Group, and Robb Kulin of the 2017 group. O'Leary resigned in April 1968 after additional Apollo missions were cancelled, Llewellyn resigned in August 1968 after failing to qualify as a jet pilot, and Kulin resigned in August 2018 for unspecified personal reasons.

Former members 
Selection as an Astronaut Candidate and subsequent promotion to Astronaut does not guarantee the individual will eventually fly in space. Some have voluntarily resigned or been medically disqualified after becoming astronauts but before being selected for flights.

Civilian candidates are expected to remain with the Corps for at least five years after initial training; military candidates are assigned for specific tours. After these time limits, members of the Astronaut Corps may resign or retire at any time.

Three members of the Astronaut Corps (Gus Grissom, Edward White, and Roger B. Chaffee) were killed during a ground test accident while preparing for the Apollo 1 mission. Eleven were killed during spaceflight, on Space Shuttle missions STS-51-L and STS-107. Another four (Elliot See, Charles Bassett, Theodore Freeman, and Clifton Williams) were killed in T-38 plane crashes during training for space flight during the Gemini and Apollo programs. Another was killed in a 1967 automobile accident, and another died in a 1991 commercial airliner crash while traveling on NASA business.

Two members of the Corps have been involuntarily dismissed: Lisa Nowak and William Oefelein. Both were returned to service with the US Navy.

Selection groups
1959 Group 1 – "The Mercury Seven"
1962 Group 2 – "The New Nine"
1963 Group 3 – "The Fourteen"
1965 Group 4 – "The Scientists"
1966 Group 5 – "The Original 19"
1967 Group 6 – "The Excess Eleven (XS-11)"
1969 Group 7 – USAF MOL Transfer, no official nickname (Astronauts selected from the Manned Orbiting Laboratory program)
1978 Group 8 – "Thirty-Five New Guys (TFNG)" (class included first female candidates)
1980 Group 9 – "19+80"
1984 Group 10 – "The Maggots"
1985 Group 11 – no official nickname
1987 Group 12 – "The GAFFers"
1990 Group 13 – "The Hairballs"
1992 Group 14 – "The Hogs"
1994 Group 15 – "The Flying Escargot"
1996 Group 16 – "The Sardines" (largest class to date, 35 NASA candidates and nine international astronauts)
1998 Group 17 – "The Penguins"
2000 Group 18 – "The Bugs"
2004 Group 19 – "The Peacocks"
2009 Group 20 – "The Chumps"
2013 Group 21 – "The 8-Balls" (composed of four male and four female candidates; highest percentage of females)
2017 Group 22 – "The Turtles"
2022 Group 23 – group selection announced December 6, 2021

See also 
 Roscosmos Cosmonaut Corps
 Canadian Astronaut Corps
 Chinese Astronaut Corps
 European Astronaut Corps
 List of astronauts by selection
 Human spaceflight
 History of spaceflight

Notes

References 

Astronaut Candidate Program=== Citations ===

Sources

External links
 NASA Astronaut Candidate Program Brochure
 Current NASA Astronaut Corps Members
 Former NASA Astronaut Corps Members

 

Lists of astronauts
NASA lists
NASA astronauts
Human spaceflight programs In the US space industry, "go fever" (also "launch fever") is an informal term used to refer to the overall attitude of being in a rush or hurry to get a project or task done while overlooking potential problems or mistakes.

The term was coined after the Apollo 1 fire in 1967 and has been referred to in subsequent NASA incidents such as the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986 and the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003.

Causes
"Go fever" results from both individual and collective aspects of human behavior. It is due to the tendency as individuals to be overly committed to a previously chosen course of action based on time and resources already expended (sunk costs) despite reduced or insufficient future benefits, or even considerable risks. It is also due to both general budget concerns and the desire of members of a team not to be seen as not fully committed to the team's goals or even as interfering with the team's progress or success.

"Go fever" is comparable to the "groupthink" phenomenon, where a group makes a bad decision for the sake of cordiality and maintaining the group's atmosphere. The term was coined by social psychologist Irving Janis in 1972. The psychology behind "go fever" is also reminiscent of "get-home-itis", the irrational desire to press on unnecessarily to a desired destination despite significant (but likely temporary) adverse conditions.

See also 
 Groupthink
 Sunk cost

References

Bibliography

The Nation: NASA's Curse?; 'Groupthink' Is 30 Years Old, And Still Going Strong

External links

NASA's Safety Culture (archived at the Internet Archive)

NASA
English phrases