Haohuk Ai.—The Ai of a “haohuk,” or gibbon, means a feast given to all who care to attend. Twenty pots of zu are required, but they are of a small size. A pig has to be killed and eaten. This Ai is especially necessary because of the superstition connected with the killing of these animals, which will be found in [Chapter V].
8. Sacrifices connected with jhuming. Lohman.—When the jhum house has been completed, the sacrifice has to be performed by the owner of the jhum. The puithiam has to be called and two fowls killed by him. A small hole is dug in the ground under the house and lined with plantain leaves and then filled with water, and three small stones are dropped in. The puithiam cuts the throats of the fowls, allowing the blood to fall into the hole. The sherh are then cut off and hung under the house, and the rest of the flesh is cooked and eaten in the jungle. The next day is hrilh. The first day after this on which they work, some rice and vegetables are placed on the top of one of the posts of the house platform as an offering to the Rām-huai.
Fānodawi.—The chief prepares zu in his house. Puithiam and two upas go just outside the village on the road to the jhum and sacrifice a cock, and its wings are hung on either side of the road and the sherh are placed in the middle of the road. Next day is hrilh; no one goes out of the village except to carry water. This is to make grain fill in the ear, and is performed in July.
5. Priesthood. There is no regular priesthood; the nearest approach to priests are the puithiam (great knowers). These men pretend to be able, by feeling a sick man’s pulse, to tell which sacrifice is needed. The only training necessary is to commit to memory the various “hla,” or charms, which have to be muttered while performing the sacrifices. Any man who thinks he has a call can acquire these from a puithiam on payment of a fee of a few rupees. His success in his calling appears largely to depend on luck.
There is generally one puithiam appointed by the chief, but there is no limit to the number there may be in a village. As has been said, the important Sakhua sacrifice requires the presence of a puithiam of the clan concerned, but other sacrifices can be performed by a puithiam of any clan. The services of a puithiam are not given gratis. For performing those connected with cultivation he receives a basket of rice; for other sacrifices he receives sums varying from a rupee up to ten rupees, but for some it is not customary to take payment, and the fees depend chiefly on the position of the person who has to pay them, as the puithiam, on the principle that half a loaf is better than no bread, will generally perform a sacrifice and take what he can get rather than get nothing. For the more important sacrifices, the fees, however, are always higher.
6. Ceremonies connected with child birth. The particular sacrifices to be performed in connection with a child’s birth vary considerably in different clans and families. Within seven days of the birth, the sacrifice known as the “Arte-luilam,” consisting of a cock and a hen killed just outside the house, must be made; till this is done the woman cannot go to the spring and is “sherh,” and had better not leave the house.
Should the woman not observe the custom the child will suffer in health. Three days after the birth of a child a small chicken and seven small packets of rice and vegetables are suspended under the edge of the front verandah. This is called “arte-hring-ban” or “khaw-hring-tir.” The object is to satisfy the “khawhring” (see [Chapter V, para 5]) and prevent it entering the child.
If a woman has difficulty in bringing forth, a fowl is killed and divided equally. The portion with the head is put at the upper end of the village with seven pieces of cane rolled into bundles, the other half at the lower end of the village with five rolls of cane, and the woman is given a little water to drink. This is called “arte-pum-phelna”—i.e., “to open the stomach with a fowl.”
For seven days after a child’s birth its spirit is supposed not to be quite at home in the little body and to spend some of its time perched like a bird on the parents’ bodies and clothes, and therefore, for fear of injuring it, the parents keep as quiet as possible for these seven days. If either of the parents works during these seven days and a red rash appears on the child, the illness is called “borh,” and the cure, which is called “borh keo,” is as follows:—A certain creeper called “vomhrui” is brought and coiled round and round, forming a sort of cylinder, and into this the child is dipped three times. This is done at night after the fire is out, and no fire can be lit again till morning.
Two days after the birth of a child its parents give a big drink to their friends and relatives—this is called “nau”—and seven days later another big feast is given. Some families give the name at the first feast, some at the second. The proper custom is for the “pu” to name the child, but nowadays parents generally do this.