Tribes of Nagaland: 17 Major Communities & Festivals The tribes of Nagaland are central to understanding the state’s languages, village institutions, agricultural traditions, textiles and festivals. The state government’s cultural profile identifies 17 major tribes , but this headline number is a starting point, not a complete description of everyone who lives in Nagaland. Each community contains internal diversity, and many people live outside the district most closely associated with their community. A useful guide therefore connects names with places and traditions while avoiding the idea that every district, language or cultural practice fits into a single fixed category. This article introduces the 17-name list, explains important festival associations and shows how to study living cultures with care. Read it alongside AAMMNEST’s Nagaland geography and people overview for the wider relationship between settlement, landscape and identity.