Tribes and villages commonly wage war over land and there are reports of warriors hacking off their enemies' heads for trophies as late as the 1960s.
To celebrate, a thorn would be used to drive tree sap under the warrior's skin to ink a permanent reminder of his headhunting prowess - and his family would often follow suit.
The Naga consist of dozens of tribes in a region so isolated that neighboring villages often speak completely different languages and dialects.
Divided between India and Myanmar by a border many deem as artificial, today a proud sense of nationalism unites the disparate tribes.
This is one of the poorest corners of Myanmar, where many must walk for days to reach the nearest town, few children progress beyond primary school education and only 40 percent of villages boast electricity.
People subscribe to a complex patchwork of customs, blending animist beliefs with various forms of Christianity brought by missionaries in recent decades - and intertwining their warrior traditions.
One of the most feared tribes was the Konyak, now divided between India and Myanmar, their villages so remote Christianity only made inroads here in the 1970s.
