Kuki (Indic people); Lushai (Asian people); Lushai language
The skulls of mithan killed on these occasions are placed on posts
to one side of the entrance to the house of the giver of the feast,
and it is the highest ambition of the Lushai to have a long line of
such posts in front of his house. Each post is cut out of a tree of
considerable size, which is dressed until the lower 7 or 8 feet are
only some 8 or 9 inches thick. Above this the tree is roughly cut into
a plank some 8 or 9 inches thick, forming an irregular quadrilateral,
the lower side being a foot or so long and the upper from 2 to 3 feet,
while one side may be 18 inches and the other 2 feet or a little more;
at each of the upper corners there is a perpendicular projection some
12 inches long terminating in a spike, a short distance below which
a ring of wood is left. The skull is placed on the higher spike,
while on the lower an egg is affixed by a thin peg of fir wood. This
use of fir may be a survival of the time when the clan lived east of
the Tyao, where fir forests are still found.
Posts are erected on similar occasions by many of the Kuki-Lushai
clans. Among the Khawtlang the quadrilateral portion is only two or
three feet from the ground, while the projections are far longer. Among
the Vuite the custom is to put a thin straight post slightly carved on
one side of the house and to plant a number of branches in a clump on
the other. The Tangkhul Nagas, to commemorate the slaying of cattle,
plant lines of dead trees in front of their houses.
The method of killing the mithan at these feasts is strictly laid
down. After the puithiam has said a prayer, the giver of the feast
stabs the animal behind the shoulder in the region of the heart, but
only sufficient to draw blood. The poor beast is then despatched by
other men with sharp bamboos or clubs; it must on no account be shot.
Buh-ai.--This is a feast given by a wealthy person who has had an
exceptionally good harvest. It is not one of the feasts which a
would-be Thangchhuah has to give, nor is there any idea of obtaining
advantage in the next world, as there is in the Ai ceremonies performed
after the killing of animals or men, but it is a thank-offering for
a good harvest. It is not worth performing Ai for a crop of less than
100 baskets. An old red cock and a pig are killed and much zu prepared.
There is a special pot of zu prepared on the platform in front of
the house of which no one who has not performed the Buh-ai can drink,
for others to drink of it is "thianglo." The person who gave the last
Buh-ai feast is entitled to the first drink at this zu, which is called
the "Buhza-zu" (the 100 baskets of rice zu). There is ordinary zu for
the others to drink, and if it is not all finished the first day the
guests return on the morrow.
The flesh of the animals killed is eaten by the guests. At night the
girls and lads dance the Chai, as in the Chap-char-kut. To give such
a feast reflects great glory on the giver and improves his standing
in the village.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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