The Nicobarese have no conception of a Supreme Being, or a future state, but there is a universal belief in evil spirits, who are in part ghosts of the wicked, and who can be propitiated by offerings and kept away by exorcisms.
MAN AND WOMAN OF KAR NICOBAR (in profile).
These creations of the imagination, who in the northern island are called Síyas, seem much akin to the Náts of Indo-China, but are far less localised, and, as a rule, have no particular tree, rock, or stream for their abode. They are the cause of every misfortune and disease that occurs to man, but death in the ordinary course of things is considered to be a natural event.
“Scare-devil,” or device for exorcising evil spirits (Kachal).
It would appear that in Kar Nicobar, Teressa, and Chaura, where the superstitious practices are nearly alike, some idea is entertained of spirits not altogether inimical to mankind; but in the other islands, whose beliefs are all homogenous, the Iwis are all harmful to human beings, and are kept at a distance by a redundancy of charms and talismans that does not occur in the north.[156]
The latter, which include various objects, such as figures of men, women, animals, etc., pictures, banners, and so on, are none of them regarded as idols or worshipped, neither are they fetishes—the instruments of spirits, or themselves endowed with life—although those of them representative of living objects are from time to time given such food as pork or coconuts. They merely act as "scare-devils," putting to flight the demons of sickness and guarding their constructors from any misfortune. They are effective only on behalf of those who make them, and at such person's death it is the custom to destroy or discard the talismans.
