A Rolex award winner, Prof Dr George van Driem, along with Dr Jelle J P Wouters, will lecture in the event ‘Makhel Lecture Series, 2021’ organized by Asufii Christian Institute, Punanamei, Mao. He has conducted field research in the greater Himalayan region since 1983. Professor van Driem has published several grammars of previously undescribed Himalayan languages and authored the book “Ethnolinguistic Prehistory; the Peopling of the World from the Perspective of Language, Genes and Material Culture” (Brill, 2021). He occupies the chair for Historical Linguistics at the University of Berne, where he directs the Linguistics Institute
On May 12, 2021, Prof Dr George van Driem will lecture on the topic ‘The Ancestral Homeland of the Naga Peoples Based on Language and Genes’. Dr Jelle J P Wouters will lecture on May 14, 2021 on the topic ‘Thinking through Naga origin and migration stories’. The event will be chaired by Dr Sahiinii L Veikho.
The aim of the ‘Makhel lecture series’ is to understand the history of the Nagas. Based on folklores, many Naga tribes accept `Makhel’ as the final settlement place for the Nagas, before they moved to their present villages; the location `Makhel’ is in Makhel village, Senapati, Manipur. Migration routes of the Nagas, prior to Makhel, are not recorded. Specialists of the Trans-Himalayan culture and language, from diverse disciplines, are invited to discuss their findings—with special reference on the Nagas. Registration is free and open to all (Seats are limited). Scholars working on Naga culture and languages are particularly welcome (https://sites.google.com/view/makhellectures/home).