Local Knowledge and Natural Resource Management: A Case Study of Ao Naga of Longmisa Village, Mokokchung, Nagaland

People living in the midst of nature have evolved a knowledge about the things in the nature that they deal with in their daily life to eke out a living. A predicament where the traditional ideas continues to predominate and continue to survive. The cultural binding that dictates the association, the understanding of the environment, the man-nature relationship as well as the wellbeing of the individual can be called as cultural matrix. The cultural matrix embeds and prevails the possibility of the peoples’ behaviour towards each other as well as towards the nature. A conditioning predominates despite certain categorical changes and alterations, an articulation that acts as a binding force and allows the traditional values and philosophy to sustain.