Two decades ago, the hill-lock in Phungcham Yangreiram known as ‘Longthan Kaphung’ (Village- dialect) had an almost deserted look, free from any human settlement.
Be that as it may, there is a romantic story attached to this place. As narrated by my grandparents, back in the 1960s and early 1970s, many young and energetic Sema boys from Zunheboto (Nagaland) used to be encamped here and most Nagas would know the reason for the same. Their stay on this hill-top was so long that many of the Sema/Sumi Nagas began speaking the dialect of Phungcham Yangreiram, rather fluently.
On select days, some of them would be permitted to leave their camps and they would descend in the village proper for Meisum(Courtship with the village girls). And often times, they would also be found searching and scrambling for food in the paddy fields and some of the enthusiastic villagers would often rush home to bring freshly cooked meals for them. Many years after their sojourn came to an end and their struggle ceased, some of them even returned to just have a look at the village and the hill-lock they so dearly missed. I hope some of them are even alive to tell the stories.
One of the earliest of Tangkhuls to join the erstwhile NNC in 1959 was Lt. Masasui Vashum (Colonel retired) who hailed from this very village, but succumbed to his injuries in 1989 at Hazik-Lungku. Thereafter, another citizen of this village Lt. Ringphami Pheiray(1969 graduate) was one of the few graduates to join the NNC in the 1960s.
Back in the 1960s, some Ao men from Mokokchung also descended at Phungcham Government High School (Paocham High School established in 1959) for their High School education, since almost the whole of Nagaland was embroiled in violent rebellion. In one of the unfortunate incidents that transpired in 1968, then Headmaster of Paocham High School C. Yangya (MA in 1966, Guwahati University, 1st Tangkhul MPS officer and one of the 17 graduates or one of the 5 MA degree holders of the village in the decade 1960-1970) was removed from the service as the Headmaster of the School for the wrong and unverified suspicion of aiding the NNC rebels, only to be reinstated when he was proven innocent of the allegations and false charges.
Immediately behind Longthan (dispersing point of the tribe) hill-lock is located Longsam (resting point of the tribe), simply to mean ‘Long-nga-than’ and ‘Long-nga-sam’ for the Tangkhul Nagas of the Northern (Yang & Raphei) and Western (Kharao) Regions when they first descended in the present Tangkhul territory.
