Through their functional use, identity, and warrior traditions, bamboo mugs of the Chang Naga tribe of Nagaland are a perfect mix. The other half of each mug is the hollow bamboo, which is decorated with intricate, traditional pokerwork, a decorative art of burning patterns on surfaces using hot tools. Usually, those designs depict motifs of the tribe, images that symbolize various meanings. Each mug has a long cane handle firmly attached to assist easy carrying and holding. These handles indeed aid in the functionality of the mugs while providing them with an exclusive look. The bamboo mugs can particularly be identified as those that belonged to the head Takers and great warriors and, thus, were valued for their use as practical drinking vessels as much as for their recognition as attestations of status throughout Chang Naga warrior culture.
Among the Chang Naga, the warrior class was an exalted one, and anything owned by a warrior was decorated honorably to keep the memory of his valor alive. These mugs would symbolize the strength and bravery of the warrior who bore them, probably being used in feasts, rituals, or ceremonial gatherings. The bamboo and cane-the materials used for making these mugs should be readily available in their natural environment show the insight of this tribe into ecology and their arrangements of fashioning durable tools out of their surroundings. Today, such objects are highly valued cultural artifacts that represent the martial memory of the Chang Nagas and their living traditions in art.