Dyeing is a process in which yarn or fabric is immersed in a solution produced by boiling up selected raw materials or dye stuff. The practice of dyeing came before spinning and weaving and was mostly used by primitive people to stain themselves or the skins they were wearing. Till the half of the 19^th century natural dyes were the only source of colours used for dyeing clothes. Natural dyed fabrics were used as aesthetic value, symbolic power and therapeutic functions.

Nagas are indigenous tribals inhabiting in the state of Nagaland situated in the North Eastern corner of India since time memorial. They are Mongoloid stock and speak tibeto-Burman language. This Naga tribal is claimed to have spread across in many Indian states such as Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, even across international border such as Myanmar (Burma). The current paper attempts to understand the dyeing process among the Nagas of Nagaland and some sociological relevance. Every society has its own style and methods of dyeing colours and ritual observance so is with the Nagas. It is relevant to note here that Nagas have numerous attires both for men and women and are very colourful and eye catching. Moreover, these attires like shawls and waist warp (sarong) have significant sociological meanings. One of the chief reason leading to this paper is because the art of dyeing and ritual observances are fast disappearing from the Naga society on the one hand and on the other the traditional attires such as shawls and waist warp (sarong) made from handloom are fast diminishing its value in the face of machine made product which has higher quality and affordable price for every class of people. Colour dyeing are practise by using dried indigo leaves to produce blue and dark blue. Yallow colour was produced from the bark of a tree normally used by Angami and Rengma tribes. The earliest practiced of making red colour was out of animal blood mixed with salt and lemon juice in order to hold the colour. The Rengma also used the blossom of a tree locally called as nikhangi. The practise of colour dyeing is associated with ritual and social observance which Nagas called it as genna. One may say it is taboo to do some action while he/she is about to engage in dyeing. It must be mentioned here, unless such rituals observance and practices are recorded in time, such aspects of culture in the face of modernization and globalization where synthetic fibre flows abundantly, it will stand nowhere and would disappear from the people’s mind.   

 KEY WORDS:  Dyeing, colour, traditional attires, shawls, Naga, social observance, ritual.