The groups have similar cultures and traditions, and form the majority of population in the Indian state of Nagaland and Naga Self-Administered Zone of Myanmar (Burma); with significant populations in Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in India; Sagaing Region and Kachin State in Myanmar.

According to the Burma Gazetteer, the term 'Naga' is of doubtful origin and is used to describe hill tribes that occupy the country between the Chins in the south and Kachins (Singphos) in the Northeast.

[9] After India became independent from British rule in 1947, the Naga became Indian citizens, though an ongoing ethnic conflict exists in the region since 1958.

[9] According to the Burmese chronicles Tagung Yazawin, the first Chaopha of Mongkawng Samlongpha (1150–1201 CE) with the main town in Mogaung captured Naga country in the early 1200s.

[10] According to the History of Hsenwi state chronicle and Mengguo Zhanbi, in 1318, Si Kefa, the ruler of Mongmao appointed his brother Sanlongfa as the general and led an army of 90,000 to attack the king of Mong Wehsali Long ( Assam).

[11][12] In Yan-aung-myin Pagoda inscription found in Pinya of Myanmar mentions that the Kingdom of Ava under Minkhaung I (1400–1421) in the early 1400s extended till the territories of the Nagas.

They use beads in variety, profusion and complexity in their jewellery, along with a wide range of materials including glass, shell, stone, teeth or tusk, claws, horns, metal, bone, wood, seeds, hair, and fibre.

[15]Craftwork includes the making of baskets, weaving of cloth, wood carving, pottery, metalwork, jewellery-making and bead-work.

The early Western missionaries opposed the use of folk songs by Naga Christians as they were perceived to be associated with spirit worship, war, and immorality.

As a result, translated versions of Western hymns were introduced, leading to the slow disappearance of indigenous music from the Naga hills.

They believed in a Supreme Being and various lesser spirits associated with nature, conducting rituals and sacrifices to appease these entities.

In Myanmar, the term "Naga" holds significance in Buddhist mythology, referring to serpent-like beings often depicted in religious art and architecture.

[26] Today, it covers a number of ethnic groups that reside in Nagaland, Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh states of India, and also in Myanmar.

The British adopted this term for a number of ethnic groups in the surrounding area, based on loose linguistic and cultural associations.

This expansion in the "Naga" identity has been due to a number of factors including the quest for upward mobility in the society of Nagaland, and the desire to establish a common purpose of resistance against dominance by other groups.

The Naga territory in Myanmar is marked by Kabaw valley in the south bordering to the Chin state, the Kachin on the north and the Burmese on the east.

Hkamti township is populated altogether by all the Naga tribes majority and with a number of Burmese, Shans, Chinese and Indians.