By: THERI SANGTAM, ROBERT ANGKANG SHIMRAY
This study examines the ethnomedical practices of the Sangtam Naga community in Tuensang Town, Nagaland, from a medical anthropology perspective. Based on 23 days of fieldwork, the research records 23 plant-based and 9 animal-based remedies used in traditional healing. Informed by theories of medical pluralism, ecological anthropology, and personalistic disease causation, the study highlights a holistic health paradigm in which spiritual, ecological, and social elements are closely interconnected. Although Sangtam ethnomedicine remains resilient, shaped by rich biodiversity and cultural beliefs, it is threatened by modernisation, migration, and environmental degradation. The study emphasises the urgent need for documentation, cultural preservation, and the integration of indigenous knowledge into public health. discourse.
