Archiving the Future: Prophecy and indigenous knowledge is a Digital Age

The aim of this project is to digitise an important library collection of historical material relating to the world’s longest running civil war – the Naga fight for independence from the Indian state. Amongst this archive are important ‘prophecy files’ collected over the last 60 years from political and religious events, consultations, and large public gatherings all across the Naga areas. Prophecy is a form of indigenous knowledge that foretells future events through dreams, visions, and prayer. This archive helps us understand both how knowledge is negotiated and how national futures are understood, especially in moments of uncertainty and crisis. This archiving as process contributes to our broader understanding of how indigenous knowledge is preserved. Digitising not only makes this widely accessible but gives rise to many interpretations that, due to the nature of prophecy and prophetic knowledge, have the potential to influence future action and the direction of the national movement in the Naga areas. Unlike many archives, these ‘prophecy files’ are live and ever changing. This project will be done in collaboration with local partners in Nagaland and will digitise the substantial archive within the Naga Archive & Research Centre (NARC) based in Dimapur. This project will be overseen by the Kohima Institute, a network of local and international scholars working on Naga issues based in the capital of Nagaland, Kohima