Chapter X: Part IV: Religion (2)

A person suffering from intermittent fever or some similar slight ailment gets rid of it as follows. He gets up from his seat in his house and puts any bits of rubbish, such as sticks or leaves, into an old carrying-basket. Taking up this load he says aloud, “I am going out to get some things.” Having reached the outskirts of the village he hangs his load on a bush and says, “Watch this; I am coming back very soon.” He then leaves the load with the illness watching it, as he thinks, and returns to his house by another path. Semas practise a similar custom for ophthalmia.

The Social “Gennas.”

There remain to be described the social “gennas,” which play such an enormously important part in Lhota life. Beginning from the first small “genna” they increase in costliness and importance till the ceremony at which two stones are dragged is reached. Almost every one of them entitles the doer to wear a distinctive cloth. The wealth and consequently the importance of a man is gauged by the number of these social “gennas” he has done, for the Lhota, like all Nagas and members of not a few other races, is a great respecter of wealth. It is therefore the ambition of every man to perform the full series if he possibly can. At the first stone-dragging ceremony one stone is dragged, and at the second, third and so on two stones are dragged. There is a limit to the number of times the stone-dragging ceremony may be done, which varies in different villages, but is so rarely reached that it practically exists only in theory. The only man the writer has ever come across who has reached the limit is Wonchă̤̱mo of Pangti, who has dragged twenty-five stones. The only course open to him now if he wishes to do any more social “gennas” is to “become a boy again” and sleep in the champo and begin the whole series again from Wozütana, the first small “genna.” This he does not propose to do. Though cases have been known in the past of men reaching the limit, there is no tradition of anyone who began the series again. [144] The “gennas” are public feasts which the whole village attends, but the man who proposes to do one must never announce his intention beforehand except in a whisper to his nearest friend and the necessary religious officials. This custom is strictly adhered to. Even a Lhota in Government employment who wishes to go to his village to perform a social “genna” will never say when he applies for leave what he wants it for. Were a man to announce that he was going to do one of these ceremonies and then not be able to do so it would, it is believed, entail a serious illness or some other misfortune.

For the ceremonies where a mithan is sacrificed a black hybrid or black bull may be substituted, but the substitute is invariably spoken of as a mithan. The following defects [145] make an animal unfit for sacrifice—a hole in the horn, one horn deformed or shorter than the other, one horn missing, teeth missing or broken, white marks on the body, white on the tail or forehead (though an animal with white both on the tail and forehead may be sacrificed), deformed hoof and white on the leg unless all four legs are white. It is believed that were a man to sacrifice an animal with one of these defects he would almost certainly die. Under no circumstances may the flesh of an animal which has been sacrificed be eaten either by the sacrificer or any of his household. It is believed that anyone who broke this rule would go mad. There is a man in Pangti who is supposed to have become insane for this reason. Whatever may be the real cause he is certainly afflicted with madness, and of a kind particularly obnoxious to the writer, for it takes the form of making interminable complaints about imaginary wrongs. Again in Humtso the writer came across a case in which a woman tried to poison her husband by scraping shavings off the horns of a mithan he had sacrificed and mixing them with his “madhu.”

[The First Social “Genna.”] Like all social “gennas” the first one, Wozütana, is usually performed in the cold weather when there is a certain amount of leisure from work in the fields. It is a very simple affair which is often performed by a man before marriage. He invites all the men of his clan in the village who have done Wozütana, and kills a bull of any colour behind the house. This is divided up among the guests and much “madhu” handed round. Little presents of meat, too, would ordinarily be sent to fellow-clansmen in neighbouring villages. Next day the man who has done the “genna” must not give a drink of “madhu” to a man of another village. The head of the bull sacrificed on this occasion is not kept. The man who performs this “genna” is entitled to wear the cloth called phangdrap.

[The Second Social “Genna.”] The second social “genna,” Shishang, or, as the Southern Lhotas call it, Wozüyua, is a much more elaborate business and is usually not performed till after marriage. A big pig and a bull of any colour are bought and “madhu” is prepared and kept in the middle room. From the time the “madhu” is made till the end of the “genna” the man doing the “genna” must not eat meat from the kill of a tiger or leopard or other animal. When all is ready he calls a Wokchung to his house, gives him a “chunga” of “rohi madhu” and formally announces to him that he proposes to do the Shishang “genna.” The Wokchung thereupon offers a prayer for the performer’s welfare, and after pouring a little of the “madhu” on to the floor drinks the rest and departs. Then the husbands of women of the sacrificer’s clan go into the jungle and fields and bring yutso leaves and plantain leaves for cups for the next day’s ceremony. Next day the same men kill the pig and the bull in front of the performer’s house, the bull by cutting the skin over the heart and then pushing a sharpened stick home, and the pig with a blow of a stick on the back of the head. In “the good old days” before the Hills were administered the bull was beaten to death as slowly as possible—“great fun,” as old men often say with a sigh. The two Wokchungs and two ’Nchukos are in attendance, and the latter lay out six small pebbles in the form of miniature hearths in the mpongki, a piece of ceremonial for which the Lhotas can give no reason. The meat is then all divided up, and the Wokchungs and ’Nchukos first go into the house and cook and eat a little of the meat. Then the guests go in and feast. For this day they are mostly the husbands of women of the sacrificer’s clan, with a sprinkling of blood relations and senior men. At night, after much singing of songs in which good wishes for the sacrificer are expressed, the guests disperse and the ’Nchukos throw away the six small pebbles. Next day about midday two small pigs provided by the sacrificer are speared by the Wokchungs outside the house. The hindquarters of one are the perquisite of the parents of the sacrificer’s wife. The rest of the meat is eaten in the evening, when all men of the sacrificer’s clan in the village who have done the Shishang “genna” collect round a fire outside his house and sing and drink his “madhu.” The Wokchungs and ’Nchukos each hold a cock and sing songs in which the good fortune of the sacrificer is desired. The cocks are then killed and the meat divided among the guests. The rest of the evening and most of the night is given up to singing and drinking, the old men especially getting happier and happier and more and more boastful of the deeds of their youth.

[The Third Social “Genna.”] The third social “genna” is called Etha. Nowadays the tendency is to combine it with the fourth social “genna” at which a mithan is killed, or even omit it altogether. The procedure is much the same as that of the Shishang “genna,” except that Humtso, Chami, Kikung, Pathong and Nguli clans claim that they alone have the right to sacrifice a bull, other clans being content with pigs. The performance of this “genna” confers the right of wearing the cloth called ethasü.

After Etha and all subsequent social “gennas” a ceremony called osoni-woala is performed at the granary of the man who has done the sacrifice. The two Wokchungs sacrifice two pigs outside the granary, and kill two fowls by knocking their heads against the door. The meat is then divided up and the fowls’ feathers are tied to bamboos outside the granary as a sign that the ceremony has been performed there.

[The Fourth Social “Genna.”] The fourth social “genna” is that at which a mithan is killed (Tsirotsoala). The man who proposes to perform this “genna” tells the two Wokchungs of his intention. The Wokchungs tell the husbands of married women born in the sacrificer’s clan, and they (the husbands) in turn give public notice in the village and are called Wothang (“announcers”). Rice is pounded, with much singing, and “madhu” prepared. On the day of the sacrifice the mithan, which must be a bull without blemish, is tied up in front of the sacrificer’s house, with its horns decked with rezüyo leaves. It is given a drink of water and allowed to lick salt out of the hand of the sacrificer’s wife. The Wokchung touches it on the head with a stick and recites dranda. It is thrown, and a spear thrust into its heart by an old man, not necessarily of the sacrificer’s clan, who at once runs away while all present pelt him with lumps of earth. After the mithan is dead its nose is pierced by the Wokchung and a string of kuro bark passed through and tied to a post in front of the house. The man performing the “genna” then takes his dao in his left hand and draws it across the flanks and neck of the animal as if he were cutting up the meat. He then cuts the string and walks widdershins round the mithan up to the door of his house, which he enters after washing his hands and his dao. The meat is divided up as follows: the chest to the clan of the performer of the sacrifice, the hindquarters to his wife’s clan, the fore-legs to the husbands of women of his clan (echantyoi), the meat of the head to the Wothangs, the tongue to the man who helped to buy the mithan, and the lower part of the stomach to the old man who killed it. The performer must on no account eat any of this meat. Probably he will avoid mithan meat altogether for a year, in case an enemy should give him some of his own mithan to eat. The skull and horns must be kept in the “morung” till the sacrificer has dragged a stone, when he is allowed to put them up in his house.

[Stone-dragging.] Before the ceremonies [146] begin a man who proposes to drag a stone must build a little shed at the back of his house called emungrangki, in which he and the whole household must sleep till the ceremonies are finished. All being prepared and a stone selected, two Wothangs announce the date of the ceremony on behalf of the performer, who must allow no strangers from other villages to enter his house, and must remain chaste from the time the stone is dug out of the ground till the completion of the ceremonies. On the appointed night rice is pounded in front of his house with much singing and “madhu” made after daybreak. (Here and throughout, most of the work is done by the echantyoi, i.e. husbands of women whom the performer calls “sister”). The “madhu” is put in baskets to ferment and a bunch of green stuff called soko-mma (“madhu-forbidding”) is put over the door. [147] On the fourth day after this the performer must feed the Wokchungs and their assistants in his house, receiving their blessing in return. The next day a path is cleared for the stone, the workers being feasted on a large pig. On the following day an old man called Lungchakdhro kills a little chicken in front of the house by cutting its throat with a sharp piece of bamboo, and prays that the stone may be carried up safely and unbroken. The chicken is thrown away. Then the Wokchung kills a small pig which is cooked by the performer’s echantyoi in his mpongki. Every man is given a piece. The older men eat their portions, but the younger men only touch theirs and throw them down, for it is believed that they would become weak and unable to lift the stone were they to eat this meat. Then all the men of the village, both those of the performer’s clan and his echantyoi, go down to the stone, which may be as far as two miles away, and make a frame of bamboo, on which it is put and bound with cane and creepers. When all is ready the two Wothangs sprinkle a mixture of “rohi madhu,” “saka madhu” and rarakham in all directions and make a pretence of lifting the stone. These preliminaries over, all take up the frame and carry [148] the stone with much ho-hoing and grunting up to a place on the path called züchanpen (“stone-discussing-place”). There they are met by a procession of men in full dancing dress, consisting of all men of the dragger’s clan who have dragged stones before, the rear being brought up by the performer himself, followed by two men called Eso and Yuso, Eso being the last man of the same clan who dragged a stone before the present puller, and Yuso the last dragger before Eso of the same clan. The performer himself carries an axe wrapped in yutso leaves, an egg and a chicken. After the inevitable interval for eating, drinking and talking the senior Wokchung holds the chicken in his hand and utters prayers for the prosperity of the village in general and especially for that of the performer and his wife. He cuts the chicken’s throat with a sharp piece of bamboo and places it with the egg in front of the stone. The two Wokchungs and the performer then all hold the axe together and make eight cuts to the right and eight to the left, as if clearing a way in front of the stone. The stone is then carried up to the village and laid in front of the performer’s house. The evening is spent in feasting and singing. The performer supplies a bull, which is killed and divided up. The entrails are cooked and eaten by the carriers on the spot. The head goes to the performer and the meat is distributed to all except the performer and his clan and household. The songs sung are called orrüeya (“enemy-songs”), and detail the heads taken from every hostile village in the neighbourhood. The next day the Wokchungs show the exact place where the stone is to be set up and a hole is dug. All chant a prayer for the good fortune of the performer, holding in their hands curious cups of “madhu” made of folded plantain leaves ornamented with long horns of rezüyo leaves, similar to the cups used by the Aos at their big sacrifices. Two boars are then killed and cooked and eaten. A procession now emerges from the performer’s house consisting of two old women followed by the performer’s wife wearing her charaksü cloth for the first time, and another old woman. All four must wear their cloths bound round them under the armpits and not over the shoulders. The four women walk round the hole, which they approach from the side opposite to the Road of the Dead. Each one waves her foot over the hole as she passes. They then wash their faces and hands and re-enter the house. The stone is now tipped into the hole, set up and covered with mats, and the rest of the day spent in feasting and gaiety. In the morning the mats are removed and the ceremony is at an end. Among the Southern Lhotas three days elapse between that on which the stone is dragged into the village and that on which it is set up. During these three days the dragger is “genna.” He must not speak to strangers or eat any unclean meat. [149]

Occasionally big forked posts (tsongzü), ten or twelve feet high, [150] are put up instead of stones to commemorate a mithan sacrifice. The usual reason is that suitable stone is not available, but the Nyimshamo kindred of the Othui clan in Yekhum are a unique example of a kindred which is forbidden to set up stones and must always set up posts instead. The reason given is simply that they have never been allowed to have anything to do with the village oha. The kindred came from Yemkha on the Sema border and may represent an immigration of Semas who still retain their own customs, but there is no tradition to that effect.

Birth.

In addition to the articles of food which women are forbidden to eat at all times, there are certain other things which are prohibited during pregnancy. Neither the woman nor her husband may eat tortoise or pangolin, [151] indeed she must not even touch a tortoise, and her husband, though he may touch one, may not bring one into the house or allow anyone else to do so. The wife may not eat bear’s meat or the kill of any wild animal, and if her husband eats any of these things he must sleep apart from her the following night. It is most important that neither the husband nor the wife should kill a snake during this time. Were they to do so the expected child would have a tremulous tongue. Some pregnant women even object to a snake being killed in their presence. It is also forbidden to an expectant mother to cut her hair. Any hairs which fall out are carefully collected and twisted into the hair-band. At the time of delivery the woman lies on her side and is attended to by an old midwife called Oshangessi (“thrower-away of afterbirth”). The husband and female relations may remain present. The household goods are only put outside when delivery is delayed. In cases of very painful birth the father either makes fire with a fire-stick and fumigates the woman, or exchanges drinks of hot “rohi madhu” with her. Occasionally the father spits on his fingers and puts a little of his saliva on the woman’s stomach. This is regarded as an infallible remedy in cases of difficult delivery. [152] The Oshangessi, the moment the child is born, calls it by some name other than that which is to be its real name, in order that the evil spirits (tsandhramo) who are listening at the door may be deceived and go away, thinking they are in possession of the real name, which is not given till six days later in the case of a boy and five days later in the case of a girl. The name finally chosen is invariably one which has been borne by a member of the clan before. The false name having been given, the Oshangessi washes the child and puts a little boiled rice into its mouth. The navel string is put into a “chunga” and carefully kept by the parents in their house. If it were thrown away and eaten by a dog or pig or otherwise destroyed the child would die. The Oshangessi wraps up the afterbirth in bits of rag and tsampen (wild lemon) leaves in the case of a boy and michem leaves in the case of a girl, and putting it in a little basket hangs it up on a michem tree, a tree with white flowers, well out of the way of dogs and pigs, who would cause the death or serious illness of the child if they ate it. There is one such tree on the outskirts of every “khel” which is used for afterbirths. [153]

For the next six days in the case of a boy, or five days in the case of a girl, the parents must not speak to any strangers, nor may any strangers come to the house. [154] Freshly killed meat too must not be brought into the house. For these days the child is regarded as in a sense still in the process of being born. The custom until recently was to regard a mother who died during this time as having died in childbirth, [155] and abandon the house and all its contents. At the end of five or six days as the case may be the ceremony of first carrying the child is performed. Into the hands of a son the father puts a miniature “madhu chunga” and wooden dao and says, “If I go on the warpath, if I go hunting, if I go fishing, I will take you with me. Grow up a strong, famous man.” He then places the child for a moment in a carrying cloth on the back of the first “carrier” (Ngaromuchung), who must be a boy for a male child and a girl for a female child, but may be of any clan. For a daughter the father puts into her hands a miniature weaving sword and belt and says, “If I go to the fields, if I go to pick leaves in the jungle, I will take you with me. Grow up quickly and be strong.” She is then given to the Ngaromuchung to carry for a minute. For the rest of that day the Ngaromuchung must avoid going down the path by which the spirits of the dead leave the village, in case he or she should unwittingly carry the child’s soul (omon) with her. After the child has been carried by the Ngaromuchung the lobes of the child’s ears are pierced with a sharp bamboo needle. The Oshangessi usually does this, but if she is old and her hand unsteady the father drives the needle through at the place indicated by her. A little plug of cotton wool is put in to prevent the hole closing up.

Boys are suckled for three years as a rule and girls for two, but a little “grown-ups’” food is given from a very early age. Bat’s-flesh soup is considered to be a good tonic for a child whom its mother cannot suckle properly for any reason. Within about a month of birth the child is given its first taste of meat. If possible bulbul is given, because this bird twitters so much that by eating it a child will soon learn how to talk. Substitutes are a small fish called ngolelop, or a species of cuckoo called liyosangsü, which is said to be able to imitate the call of all birds and animals.

As soon as the mother is well enough to take the child out of the house she cuts off a little of its hair and either throws it away or wraps it in a leaf and keeps it. The heads of little boys are shaved except for a little piece on the crown, which is gradually allowed to increase until by the time he can run about his coiffure is like that of a grown man. Little girls have the whole of their heads shaved till they begin to wear a skirt, which is generally when they are five or six years old. It is then allowed to grow, beginning in the spring, “so that it grows with the jungle,” as one informant expressed it to the writer.

Marriage.

Girls usually marry between the ages of fourteen and eighteen, and boys between seventeen and twenty-two. The ceremonies are intricate and differ in the northern and southern sections of the tribe. Among the Northern Lhotas the customary procedure is as follows. A man having decided that he wishes to marry a certain girl, he tells his parents, and either his mother or some elderly female relation goes and sounds the girl’s parents. If they are agreeable she goes again with a “chunga” of “rohi madhu,” which they drink, but by so doing do not bind themselves to give their daughter in marriage. The marriage-price is then discussed and settled by the two families, and the bridegroom gives the girl a rain-shield (phūchyo), a small carrying-basket (eyingkhangdro) and a dao handle.

These preliminaries being satisfactorily settled, at the next Pikuchak the ceremony of tsoyuta (“eating and drinking”) takes place. The man takes a cock, which he has killed and cooked himself, and some “madhu” rice, and goes to the girl’s parents’ house accompanied by an old man of his clan called Hantsen, and another male relative, a sort of best man. The Hantsen enters the house first, then the bridegroom and then the best man. They hand the “madhu” rice to the girl’s father, who in turn produces some. The rice of the two families is mixed by the girl and a brew prepared from it which may be drunk by all except the engaged couple. The bride and bridegroom sit side by side on the bed in the lhurhui, and the Hantsen squats opposite to them, holding in each hand a leaf containing sixteen tiny scraps of the cock which the bridegroom brought. He then swings his hands backwards and forwards eight times, praying that the couple, who by this ceremony are made man and wife, will live long and happily together. From this time the bridegroom will work in his father-in-law’s house for about a year. [156] It is forbidden for him to have connection with his wife before tsoyuta. [157] To do so would, it is believed, cause the marriage to be sterile. But he may sleep with her when working in her father’s house. When the fields have all been cut the bridegroom’s relations stack a quantity of wood in the jungle, and bring up one load each to the bride’s father’s house, receiving a drink of “madhu” for their trouble. Four or five days later the lantsoa (“road-making”) ceremony takes place. The husbands of women born in the bridegroom’s clan and their wives fetch up all the wood which was left stacked in the jungle and heap it up in front of his father-in-law’s house. The bridegroom kills a pig and gives about twelve pounds of meat to his father-in-law. That night in the latter’s house the Hantsen strangles a chicken and watches how the excreta fall. If any remains in the vent it is an evil omen indicating that the woman will die in childbirth. The Hantsen examines the entrails also, and from them claims to be able to say which will die first, whether the first child will be a boy or a girl, and so on. The chicken is then cooked by the Hantsen and taken away as his perquisite. The married couple may watch, but must never say afterwards what the omens revealed. Next day men of the bridegroom’s clan distribute the wood heaped up in front of his father-in-law’s house among all members of the father-in-law’s clan, being rewarded with shares of the twelve pounds of pork.

The bridegroom still continues to work in his father-in-law’s house till the next Tuku comes round and the halam ceremony puts an end to his rather laborious honeymoon. For this the bridegroom builds a small house called kithandro, and buys a big pig, which is speared through the heart with a sharp bamboo in front of his parents’ house by the husbands of women born in his clan. It is taken to his father-in-law’s house and there singed and cut up. The head goes to the bride’s father, who also shares with other members of his clan the left fore- and hind-quarters. The chest and right fore- and hind-legs are laid aside. The bride collects cotton from all married women of her clan, and gives them shares of meat from the chest in exchange. In the afternoon all women, married or unmarried, of her clan bring two bobbins of thread each and are regaled with “madhu” in front of her father’s house, returning to their houses at nightfall. At night men of the bridegroom’s clan make preparations to escort the couple to their kithandro, and collect and drink outside his father-in-law’s house, the bride and bridegroom meanwhile remaining inside. The drinking over, they put some meat wrapped in leaves and a “chunga” of “madhu” against the house and call out, “Let them come. Any further talking can be done to-morrow. Any further talking can be done the day after to-morrow. It is forbidden to come after cockcrow. If you do not let them come now we will burn your house.” After they have been summoned in this way three or four times the procession emerges: first the wife of a man of the bridegroom’s clan, then the bridegroom in full dress, followed by the bride wearing her loroesü (marriage cloth) for the first time, with the wife of another man of the bridegroom’s clan bringing up the rear. The first and last woman must not be pregnant at the time. Before leaving the house the couple each take in their hands a small piece of meat of the pig which was killed earlier in the day and two pieces of thread. The husband waves his spear widdershins round the hearth before leaving the house, a ritual act of which the meaning is not known. They must both maintain absolute silence from the time they take the meat and thread in their hands to the time the Hantsen completes the ceremonies at the kithandro, whither they are escorted by the bridegroom’s male relations. Four of these relations stay behind, and after asking the way to the kithandro—a mere pretence, of course—pick up the right fore- and hind-legs of the pig and take them there, having let the bridal procession get well on its way first. The couple find the Hantsen waiting for them outside the kithandro. He takes the bridegroom’s spear from him, jabs the butt into the ground and leaves it standing outside the house. The meat and thread he takes into the house, and having poured water over the couple’s hands leads them in. Standing in front of him, the man to the right and the woman to the left, they genuflect to him eight times. They may then speak and he leaves them. The couple sleep in the kithandro that night, but sexual intercourse is forbidden, and two small boys of the bridegroom’s clan sleep with them. In the morning the boys go down to fetch water, talking loudly all the way, for it would be a very bad omen were they to meet a squirrel or other wild animal on the way. During the day neither of the couple may go to the wife’s father’s house. On the third day they go with a present of meat, and are feasted there in return. [158]

Three or four days later the ceremonies are completed by the Ponyiratsen (“man-and-wife-magicians”). After a drink of “rohi madhu” the couple go into the jungle alone and bring up a load of yutso leaves and sixty-four small bamboo “chungas” in eight equal bundles. All are cut on the slant except two in different bundles, which are cut with a level rim and are called tsungta. In each “chunga” of the two bundles containing tsungta are put eight pieces of shambuk pith and eight pieces of shamburi pith. When this has been brought the two Ponyiratsen are called to the house. They are two old women, wives or widows of men whom the bridegroom calls aporamo, and who have dragged a stone. These are given a full “chunga” of “rohi” to drink and proceed to tie up little scraps of pork in yutso leaves. They make four parcels each containing four scraps of meat, four each containing six, four each containing eight, four each containing ten, and finally two each containing thirty. These little parcels they put in a basket with a “chunga” of “rohi.” Then each throttles a cock and watches the position of its legs when it dies. If the right leg is down and the left up the husband will die first. If the right is up and the left down the wife will die first. If the legs are crossed the couple will quarrel. The excreta and entrails are also examined in the usual way. The husband then singes the cocks and cuts each in half slantwise, so that the head is in one half and the vent in the other. He puts yutso leaves on the ground on his right and left, and puts the halves of two different cocks on each. These are wrapped in leaves and put in the load with the pork and “madhu.” Then all wash their hands and the Ponyiratsen put eight narrow strips of plantain leaf over each ear of the bride and bridegroom, who sit down in front of them, the husband to the right and the wife to the left. The elder of the Ponyiratsen next takes a small basket and puts into it a pair of pewter bracelets and waves it in front of the couple, while she mumbles a prayer that they may be happy and have many children. Only women know the right prayer, which is mumbled purposely in order to prevent the husband hearing it properly. The prayer finishes with “hohoho” said eight times, the other Ponyiratsen keeping count aloud. From the house the old women go to the Ponyiratsentung (“Ponyiratsen tree”) belonging to the “khel,” taking with them the basket containing the parcels of pork and chicken and the “madhu,” and four bundles of bamboo “chungas,” eight yutso leaves without blemish, an egg, and two garments which have been worn by the husband and wife respectively. The old women are supposed to lead away with them all evil spirits. It is therefore considered very unlucky to meet them and their devilish train on their way. When they leave the kithandro the wife shuts the door quickly behind them in order to keep out evil spirits and keep in good. Arrived at the tree the elder Ponyiratsen divides the “chungas” into two equal heaps and puts the egg between them, with a parcel containing thirty pieces of meat on each side. They then go to the younger Ponyiratsen’s house, and having divided up the rest of the meat there the elder one goes home. That night the couple for whom the ceremony is being done must sleep apart.

Next day the Ponyiratsen come again and take the omens in the same way, except that two hens are used instead of two cocks. After swinging the basket containing the bracelets and mumbling the charm, the elder Ponyiratsen lays a bamboo mat on the ground outside the door on the side farthest away from the Road of the Dead. By the mat she lays the two worn garments which she took the day before, the husband’s to the right and the wife’s to the left. She sits at the right end of the mat, facing her assistant Ponyiratsen, who sits at the left end, and rolls an egg along the mat. Omens are drawn from the direction in which the pointed end lies when it comes to rest. If it points towards a hostile village the husband will get heads, if towards the plains money, if towards the house rice. It is a very bad omen if it points towards the Road of the Dead. The assistant Ponyiratsen rolls the egg back and the process is repeated eight times. A sickle is then slid along the mat eight times and omens are taken from the direction of its point, just as they were taken from the direction of the pointed end of the egg. When this is finished the elder Ponyiratsen shakes the two cloths eight times each to get rid of any evil there may be in them and returns them to their owners, and as she picks up the mat, gives it a flick and sends the egg, which is still lying on it, as far as possible in the direction opposite to that of the Road of the Dead, saying as she does so, “I am throwing away all evil fortune and poverty.” She then shakes the mat eight times, and both the Ponyiratsen go to their own houses. The wife rolls up the mat and stands it on end inside the door between the mpongki and the lhurhui. The couple must sleep apart that night, and the mat must not be removed before cockcrow next morning. This ceremony of the Ponyiratsen is regarded by Lhotas as a sort of initiation into married life. It is only performed for each individual once in his life. For example, were a bachelor to marry a widow it would be performed for him. Were a married man to take a spinster as a second wife it would be performed for her. But were a married man to take a widow it would not be performed at all.

Among the Southern Lhotas there are certain differences of detail. The first ambassador is usually an old man of the bridegroom’s clan. If the girl’s parents drink the offered “madhu” negotiations are considered to have begun. Later the old man brings a present of meat and “madhu” and says, “This is so-and-so’s meat and ‘madhu.’ Will you eat and drink it?” If the girl’s parents say, “Yes,” the couple are regarded as engaged, and the man will help in his future father-in-law’s fields and make himself generally useful, though he sleeps with his parents till after tsoyuta. For that ceremony the bridegroom prepares “madhu” and kills and cuts up a pig, and goes to the girl’s father’s house accompanied either by an old man of his clan and an old woman of the girl’s clan or vice versa. The old woman enters the house first, followed by the old man, the bridegroom bringing up the rear. The girl’s parents offer “madhu” to the old man and woman, drinking in turn some of the “madhu” which has been brought. It is not mixed as among the Northern Lhotas. The engaged couple sit on the bed in the lhurhui, the man to the right and the woman to the left. The old man and woman sit opposite to them, each holding a leaf containing six pieces of the pork they have brought, and all four swing their arms backwards and forwards, while the old man and woman say, “Live long and have many children.” The lantsoa ceremony is performed as among the Northern Lhotas. For the halam ceremony a few details are different. The bride and bridegroom are accompanied to the kithandro, not by two women, but by an old man of the bridegroom’s clan and the wife of a man of his clan. The bridegroom does not wave his spear round the hearth, but carries six pieces of meat and six bobbins of thread, while his wife carries five pieces of meat and five bobbins of thread, which the old man takes from the bridegroom’s hand, and the old woman from the bride’s hand. There is no Hantsen as among the Northern Lhotas.

A well-to-do Lhota usually has two or often three wives. Very occasionally a man will have four or even five. All are of equal status, though the oldest wife naturally occupies a position of some authority in the household. The husband usually sleeps with her in the middle room. It is forbidden for him to have connection with more than one wife on the same night. Possibly a vestige of a former system of group marriage is found in the custom of a Lhota who expects to be away from home for some time giving his brother permission to have marital relations with his wife during his absence. [159] On a man’s death his widow or widows are expected to go to his brother, who will not, however, receive them into his house till all the ornaments on the dead man’s grave have been cleared away and he has finally gone to the Land of the Dead. A man who thus takes his dead brother’s wife performs no marriage ceremony and pays no marriage price. If the woman marries a man of another clan, the late husband’s clan realize from the new husband a marriage price equal to the original marriage price. If a woman does not wish to marry again she may keep one of her husband’s mithan heads instead of putting it on his grave. This is equivalent to a vow of perpetual widowhood.

The money which is paid by the husband for his wife is known collectively as oman (marriage-price), but is divided into a number of items. The first payment of all is known as chüka, and is paid not to the girl’s parents, but to her mother’s father or mother’s brother. The amount is Re. 1. This is paid as soon as tsoyuta has taken place. The second item is nzuiman (Rs. 8 to Rs. 10), paid to the girl’s parents as the cost of bringing her up. Thirdly comes nvaman (Rs. 10), the price of not working in his father-in-law’s house. The fourth payment is kitsoman (Rs. 2), the price of not building his father-in-law’s house. The third and fourth items are of course only paid in cases where the bridegroom prefers to pay compensation rather than work in his father-in-law’s house. The fifth item is halamman, the cost of the pork given to the father-in-law at the halam ceremony. The sixth is tsangchüman (Rs. 2), paid in cases where the bridegroom does not distribute wood to members of his father-in-law’s clan. The seventh is sontsoman (four annas), paid if the bridegroom does not build a granary for his father-in-law. The eighth is tsoroman (Re. 1), the price of the bride’s breasts, and the ninth lentamoman (Re. 1), price of intimacy with the bride. Men with land usually let the girl’s parents cut one field once. If not, a tenth payment of one rupee or two rupees is made instead. The eleventh item is otyai-etsoman (the price of feeding the bride’s brothers), the marriage-price proper. This is shared by the girl’s father and brothers. It amounts to about two hundred and fifty baskets of rice, or thirty rupees if paid in cash. The rice or money is paid in instalments, often at long intervals. The result is that it is by no means uncommon to find a son paying off the last instalment of his old widowed mother’s marriage-price. Should a woman die without children her husband makes a final payment varying from two rupees to five rupees, called etchhiman (“price of death”). Once they have received etchhiman the girl’s parents can claim no further instalments of otyai-etsoman. If the woman dies leaving children a payment of one or two rupees, called mingishi, is made to her parents or their heirs, who can in this case claim any of the otyai-etsoman which may be outstanding.

Divorce.

There is no ceremony connected with divorce as there is among the Aos, and the proceedings are not protracted, the wife generally settling the matter by running away to the house either of her parents or some admirer. In that case all that remains to be done is to discuss the return of the marriage-price. Sometimes the girl’s parents return the full amount of the marriage-price which they have received up to date, plus a fine of ten rupees, and sometimes, in cases where the marriage-price has already been divided up and spent, it is arranged that the aggrieved husband shall recover the marriage-price from whoever marries his runaway wife. In cases where the woman runs off with another man the co-respondent has to pay the husband the full amount of the marriage-price, plus compensation amounting to fifty or a hundred rupees. It is very rarely that a man simply turns his wife out. If he does so he cannot recover his marriage-price and has to pay her parents or their heirs a fine of ten rupees. He naturally, therefore, puts up with a good deal from his wife, sooner than lose his marriage-price. Among the Aos the divorced wife can claim a share of the household store of grain. Among the Lhotas she can only claim the thread and chickens she brought with her at her marriage or their equivalent, together with the clothes she wears and all the thread there may be in the house. Any ornaments given her by her husband must be returned to him.

Death Ceremonies.

In cases where the death agony is prolonged the Changs cut a carrying-string on the threshold of the house in order to release the spirit, but there appears to be no such practice among the Lhotas. At death the nearest relation present closes the eyes and washes the face of the corpse. No hole is made in the roof to let the spirit out as among the Konyaks. A very old man ties a cowrie to a chicken’s leg and places it for a moment in the dead man’s hand. He then kills it in order that it may go clucking along the Road of the Dead and give warning that the deceased is coming. It is hung by the neck above the head of the corpse, and after the burial the wings are cut off and stuck up on the left wall of the house and the body either thrown away or given to the buriers (mungpen) to eat. When the deceased is a man who has taken heads, or killed a tiger, a dog is led into the house on a string and the string put into the hand of the corpse for a minute. After the body has been buried the dog is killed in order that it may go barking down the Road of the Dead and frighten away the ghosts of enemies and tigers slain by the dead man during his lifetime. The flesh is eaten by the mungpen. The corpse is buried as soon after death as possible. A grave about six feet deep is dug in front of the man’s house. The body is buried fully dressed, and often decorated with all the ornaments worn during life, if the deceased so desired. Nothing of foreign manufacture may be worn by a corpse. A cornelian bead is tied to the dead man’s wrist to give to a spirit called Etchhilivanthamo, whom he will meet on the Road of the Dead, in exchange for a drink of water. Among the Northern Lhotas a sharp piece of bamboo is also put under the head of the corpse at the time of burial, in order that the soul of the deceased may be able to cut any creepers which he may find obstructing his way. The body is wrapped in two or three good cloths and carried out of the house by the mungpen. Over it in the grave are put short lengths of bamboo laid crosswise, and on them two planks from the dead man’s bed, which are in turn covered with a piece of bamboo matting. In certain villages of the Northern Lhotas rich men were till recently buried in wooden coffins called “boats” (orhung), cut out of one log of wood, with a rude representation of a hornbill’s head and tail at the head and foot respectively. [160] It is noticeable that they were made in villages which do not make dug-out canoes, [161] or indeed anything more serviceable than a type of bamboo raft which “floats” about six inches under water. These coffins took a considerable time to make and were begun as soon as the illness took a bad turn. If a man recovered after his coffin had been made he was supposed to live a long time. [162]

Stones and thorns are heaped on the top of the grave to prevent pigs and dogs scratching up the earth, and a low fence is built round it. Two bamboo posts are then put up, one at the head and one at the foot, with a cross-bar between them. In the case of a man’s grave a basket containing a gourd of “madhu,” a little boiled rice and six pieces of meat is hung on the post at the head. His wooden dao-holder, and bear’s-hair wig, cloth, cowrie lengta, ivory armlets, etc., are hung on the cross-bar, and his spears are stuck upright on the grave. In the case of a woman’s grave only the basket is hung at the head, containing five instead of six pieces of meat. A fire is lighted on the grave. For six days after the death of a man and five days after the death of a woman no member of the household must speak to a stranger or kill any living thing. When this period of “genna” is over the man’s possessions are removed from the grave, and imitation spears, or very old ones, put in their place. On the cross-bar above the grave round bamboo basket balls are put to represent the number of times the deceased has done the head-taking “genna.” Sometimes roughly carved wooden heads are used. Tigers made from a short length of bamboo, with short bamboo “legs” and “tail,” commemorate his prowess in the chase. [163] On this day the wings of the “death chicken” are taken down from the wall, and cut with a dao on the step between mpongki and lhurhui, six times for a man and five times for a woman, and a prayer is offered that the dead person will not haunt the house, and in the case of a man who has taken heads a mithan and a pig are sacrificed by his clan. For a woman, or a man who has not taken heads, only a pig is sacrificed. The fire is kept alight on the grave and the offerings of food are renewed until the tuku emung, when the dead man is supposed finally to take his departure to the Land of the Dead, and all ornaments being removed the grave becomes part of the village street again.

Offerings to the dead are made not only on the grave, but also by the side of the path from the village which leads to the Land of the Dead under Wokha Hill. Immediately after death two relations, calling upon the dead man to follow them, go down the path, taking with them a gourd of “madhu” and a stick nicked to show the “gennas” the deceased has performed and the heads he has taken. The stick is stuck up by the side of the path and the gourd tied to it. These are to support and refresh the deceased on his way. When the six days of “genna” are over, in the case of a man, a bamboo erection (nritangpeng) is put up by the side of the path, with tallies of heads taken and tigers slain such as are put on the grave. On the memorial of one mighty hunter the writer saw two elephants made of black cloth stuffed with straw. For a man who has done no “gennas” a single bamboo pole is put up. On the tuku emung, when all ornaments are removed from the grave, the final offerings are made by the side of the path. [164] The relations go out before dawn, and for a man erect a little bamboo platform or tiny altar composed of a small flat stone supported on little bits of bamboo. On it are laid six pieces of meat and some rice and scraps of any favourite fruit of the deceased. A new dao-belt, with a miniature dao-holder, is stretched between two sticks, and a little wooden dao and spear are put near it. Sometimes a little bamboo platform (eno) with a little notched stick for the ghost to use as a ladder [165] is put up, and on it are laid ear ornaments and offerings of food and drink, and imitation beads made from pith. This offering made, the living have performed their duty towards the dead, and the village can begin a new year with little fear of hauntings. [166]