The Puzhutpimi Ceremony
In the puzhutpimi ceremony a man digs up a little earth in front of the entrance to the buffalo pen. The digger must belong to the Tartharol, if the dead man is one of the Teivaliol, and vice versâ; thus, at the funeral of Pursevan (53)[3] of Kuudr, the earth was dug by Kedjeri (6) of Nòdrs. In this case the Tartharol were told to send someone to dig, and they selected Kedjeri.
At the funeral of a Tarthar man the earth is first thrown by the wursol, who must be, on this occasion, one of the Teivaliol. A Melgars wursol may not perform this office. After the wursol has thrown earth, it is thrown by certain relatives of the deceased who are present. At a Teivali funeral only the relatives perform this ceremony, no one corresponding to the wursol taking part.
Before the people begin to throw earth, one of the dead man’s division asks “Puzhutkina?”—“Shall I throw earth?” and a man of the other division replies, “Puzhut!”—“Throw earth!” At the funeral of Pursevan a Teivali man asked the Tartharol in this way, and the Tartharol responded. At this funeral earth was thrown by the following: Punatvan (53), a younger brother of the dead man; Kuriolv and Piliar (52), Pöteners (54); Targners, Pungusivan and Tevò, the sons of the [[345]]dead man, and Pòl, the son of Punatvan. In this case all who threw earth were not only Kuudrol—i.e., of the same clan as the dead man—but were also of the same family, so that their relation to one another can be traced in the genealogies. Kuriolv, Piliar and Pöteners would all have called Pursevan “aia,” or father, and were first cousins once removed according to our system of kinship. I do not know whether the earth-throwing is usually limited to the nearer relatives in the same clan. The family to which Pursevan belonged was unusually numerous, and it is probable that in most cases other families of the clan are called upon to take a part.
At a funeral seen by Mr. Walhouse[4] the earth was thrown into a circle made of rough stones laid upon the grass with an opening on one side, and Mr. Thurston[5] records a similar case in which the earth was thrown into a circle of stones about a yard and a half in diameter, which had been constructed for the occasion. This is probably done when the funeral is held at a place where there is no tu, and it is possible that these funerals were not being held at regular funeral places of the clan, and that the circles of stones were intended to represent buffalo pens. At the funeral seen by Mr. Walhouse the ‘priest’ handed a bag to the nearest relatives, who tied it to the stick with which they turned up the earth.
Each man, as he throws, kneels down, facing the opening of the pen, and then bows down so that he touches the earth with his forehead, many saying “Swami” as they do this. Three handfuls of earth are thrown into the pen, and then three handfuls are thrown backwards on the corpse, the man standing up as soon as he has done this. Each man covers his head with his cloak before he throws, as shown in Figs. 49 and 50.[6] [[346]][Fig. 50] shows the special action employed in throwing backwards, the hand being turned inward.
FIG. 49.—THE ‘PUZHUTPIMI’ CEREMONY. IN THE CENTRE IS THE CORPSE. THE FOREMOST MAN ON THE LEFT IS KNEELING DOWN PREPARATORY TO THROWING EARTH.
The earth-throwing ceremony is one of several funeral rites, in which men of one division take part in funerals belonging to the other division. Thus, at a Tarthar funeral the earth is dug by one of the Teivaliol; the Tartharol then ask for permission to throw the earth, and the permission (or order) is given by the Teivaliol—i.e., those who have dug the earth have to give the word that the earth may be thrown. [[347]]