Vuite Memorial.
Rāngte Grave.
On the birth of a female child, zu is drunk, but should the child be a son, a pig and a fowl have to be killed, and three days later the puithiam comes and sprinkles the mother with water, muttering charms as he does so, after which ceremony she can go out. Immediately after a death everyone present seizes the nearest weapon and slashes wildly at the walls, posts, shelves, and partitions, shouting, “You have killed him! We will cut you limb from limb, whoever you may be.” The young men then go out in search of wild birds and beasts, the bodies of which are hung on posts round the grave. The corpse is adorned with the head-dress of hornbill’s feathers, as among the Vuite and most of the Old Kuki clans. The corpses of ordinary persons are buried without much ceremony close to the house, but the Thangchhuah are carried round the village, as among the Khawtlang, and then enclosed in hollow tree trunks, and kept for periods varying from two months to a year in special sheds, with fires smouldering beneath them, after which the bones are buried. In this it will be noticed that the Rāngte custom is a composite of Lushei, Vuite, and Khawtlang.
Lukawng is only paid if the deceased has been a great hunter or warrior. In their marriage ceremonies the Rāngte differ but little from the Lushais. The “Khāl” sacrifices are omitted, but most of the others are performed.
Thangchhuah honours are attained by giving only two feasts—the “Chong,” at which a hen has to be sacrificed and two pigs and a mithan killed, and the “Mai-thuk-kai,” at which two mithan, three pigs, and a hen have to be killed. The guests hold hands and form a circle round the house of the giver of the feast, who has to anoint the head of each of them with pig’s fat. The Buh-Ai is unknown, but the Ai of wild animals is performed as among the Lushais.