The killing of the buffalo is called îrkîpti. It is done by striking the animal on the head with the back of an axe (masth). The animal is usually killed by one blow, though in some cases more are necessary. The wursulir are killed by the wursol and the ordinary buffaloes by men of the same division as the deceased, but of a different clan. Certain clans appear to have a prescriptive right to kill the buffalo; thus, among the Teivaliol, a Kuudr man kills at the funerals of members of all other clans, while at the funeral of a Kuudr man a member of one of the other clans performs this function. Among the Tartharol, the members of the Nòdrs and Kars clans appear to occupy the most privileged position, but the relations are more complicated than among the Teivaliol. At a Kars funeral the ordinary buffalo is killed by a man of Nòdrs, Taradr or Pan. At a funeral of a member of any of these three clans, a Kars man kills. At funerals in other clans, the buffalo is usually killed by men either of Kars or Nòdrs, but in the case of a Kwòdrdoni funeral, it seemed that the killing might also be done by a man of Päm or Nidrsi. Each buffalo is killed at the appointed stone or post, and the teiks at which the wursulir are killed is at some distance from the funeral hut, and a woman is not allowed to approach the spot lest she should see the sacred bell. [[355]]
Though there is no definite landmark for the killing of the putiir, each buffalo is killed at an appointed spot; thus, at the funeral of Sinerani (see p. [392]), the buffalo at the etvainolkedr was killed on the left-hand side of the funeral hut.
As soon as the buffalo is felled, the corpse is brought up and placed by the head of the dying animal ([Fig. 53]). At the funeral of a man, the covering of the body is unfolded and the right hand of the dead man is made to clasp one of the horns. At the funeral of a woman, the body is laid with its feet by the mouth of the buffalo.[10] At the funeral of a Pan man, Kwoten’s ring is placed on the finger of the deceased before his hand is made to clasp the horn. Then the men present come to the buffalo and salute it by bowing down and placing their foreheads on the horns and on the head between the horns.
FIG. 53.—THE CORPSE BY THE HEAD OF THE DYING BUFFALO.
The people then group themselves round the buffalo and corpse and cry together by placing forehead to forehead so that their tears and cries mingle. In the case of the sacred [[356]]buffalo, wearing the mani, this circle is composed of men only. The lament[11] usually consists in calling first the name of the buffalo and then speaking of the dead person, not by his name, but by the term expressing the bond of kinship between the lamenter and the dead. Thus at a funeral at which the buffalo killed was called Pundrs, one man would cry:
“Pundrsia, O Pundrs, en potch aia O my father. ivanersia, en potch aia”
I could not ascertain the meaning of ivanersia, except that its latter part is the word for buffalo with the vocative termination ‘ia.’
For a son, a man would cry after the name of the buffalo, “en mokh ûpa”; for an elder brother, “en potch anna”; and similarly for other relatives. For a wife a man would cry “iza kughia”, and for a husband a woman cries “iza mókhia” (iza is merely exclamatory).
It might appear from the form of lamentation that the buffalo itself was regarded as the father, son, &c., of the lamenter, and I could not satisfy myself as to what the people really had in their minds when they were lamenting in this way. It has been supposed that the lamentation is for the slaughtered buffalo, and I am unable positively to say that this is not the case. It is probable that the people grieve for the departure of one of their much-loved buffaloes, but I do not think that there is any decisive evidence that they are lamenting for the buffalo rather than for the dead person.