Part 7 — APPENDICES

APPENDIX A

THE LHOTA CALENDAR

Ndri (February). “The month of the ndri flower.”

Emhu (March). “The blowing month.”

Ephi (April). “The dry month.”

Cheshi (May). “The watching month,” i.e. all watch to see if the crops will sprout well.

Oten (June). “The month of millet” (teni).

Nnung (July). Derivation unknown.

Chikanika (August). “The month of quarrels,” because poor men have come to the end of their resources and try to borrow from rich men, who refuse to lend.

Ndrangtso (September). “The bursting month,” because the pots are bursting with new rice.

Rongorongyi (October). “The going backwards and forwards month,” i.e. carrying the crop up to the village.

Chopuk (November). “The month of ease.”

Shotokuk (December). “The month of ceremonies.”

Echon (January). “The spreading month,” i.e. the rats scatter the straw about the abandoned fields.

In order to correct the calendar an extra month or part of a month called Chotantsu is put in after Echon whenever necessary. The months being periods of the agricultural year the whole Lhota country is not in the same month at the same time. The inhabitants of a cold village where the crops are late may be struggling through Chikanika while those of a warm village are enjoying the peace and plenty of Ndrangtso.

APPENDIX B

MENSURATION

There is no standard of weight in use throughout the tribe, but in every village there is kept a stone (ephwa) which is used in apportioning the shares of meat at feasts. The weight is generally nine to ten pounds. For trade a balance of the bismar type is used, notched to weigh in Indian seers and fractions of seers.

The standard measure for rice is chukoluk, which is regarded as one man’s wage for a day and usually weighs about six pounds. The table would be as follows:—

2 chukolukruso = 1 chukoluk.

3 chukoluk = 1 sitsi.

1½ sitsi = 1 enokyak.

Two baskets (etek) are regarded as going to one enokyak. The size of the baskets varies from village to village, and the buyer must accept the standard of the village from which he buys.

Though nowadays Lhotas occasionally try to state distance in English miles, the real measure is by echen, the distance between one temporary granary and that at the next stage on the path up from the fields. It varies from village to village. On an easy slope it may be a mile and a half, on a steep slope it will be a mile or even less.

The depth of water is either measured in echam (the height of a man) or eshi (kicks). That is to say, if a man having dived to the bottom of a pool has to kick his legs three times before he reaches the top, the pool is reckoned as three “kicks” deep. A tree is spoken of as so many phunchap (ladder-steps) high.

Just as fingers and toes are the usual counting apparatus, so the Lhota uses the distance between the various parts of his body as standards of measurement. The distance between the tips of the fingers of the outstretched arms is called ntiya, and that from the middle of the chest to outstretched finger-tips monyak. A cubit is kecha. The spans of the thumb and first finger and thumb and middle finger are ekohundro and ekosüpo respectively. The breadth of a finger is yingro. These measurements are used for all conceivable purposes. The size of a mithan, for instance, is not stated in terms of its height at the withers, but in terms of the length of its horn in ekosüpo and yingro. Similarly, to measure a pig you pass a long slip of bamboo round its chest and measure the bamboo. Thread is never measured by length or weight. If it is in a skein, the thickness round the skein is taken, the circles formed by thumb and first finger and thumb and middle finger being called etsokhundro and etsoksüpo respectively. If it is in a ball, the ball is reckoned as a keraksüpo (big handful) or keraktero (little handful).

APPENDIX C

HUMAN SACRIFICE

The story goes that long, long ago a rich Lhota was very ill. In vain pigs, cattle and mithan were slaughtered. Finally he had one of his slaves sacrificed in cold blood, in the hope that the slave’s life would be accepted in place of his own. The man died, however, in spite of this last sacrifice, and Lhotas, seeing that it was unavailing, have never imitated his example. This tradition and the practice of spearing the opya at the oyantsoa “genna” point to a time when human sacrifice was practised to avert evil fortune, but it would be safe to say that within historical times no such custom has been followed by them.

NAGA-ASSAMESE GLOSSARY

As far as possible Naga-Assamese words have been avoided. For the following, however, no convenient English equivalents exist.

apodia. From the Assamese āpăd (“misfortune”). Certain forms of death by misadventure are spoken of as “apotia” deaths (see p. 160).

chunga. A section of bamboo with a node left intact at one end. Used as a drinking vessel or for carrying water.

dal. Lentils.

dao. A heavy bill used by Nagas both as a weapon and for agriculture.

deo-bih. Literally “spirit-poison.” The juice of a certain root formerly used by Nagas for poisoning fish. The practice is now prohibited.

genna. A very common Naga-Assamese word and one used in various senses. (1) A Naga ceremony; (2) = “forbidden” (e.g. “It is genna to take the head of a man of your own village”); (3) = “tabued,” as Angami kenna, of which the word is a corruption (e.g. “my house is genna to-day”).

jhum. Naga cultivation (see description on p. 45). Also used = a field which has been cultivated in this way.

khel. A division of a village (see description on p. 24).

lengta. The small apron worn by the men of most Naga tribes.

machan. A bamboo platform.

madhu. Rice beer.

mithan. Bos frontalis (domestic) and bos gaurus (wild).

morung. The “bachelors’ hall” in which the boys and unmarried men of a khel sleep.

pan. A leaf which is chewed with betel nut and lime.

panji. A bamboo spike stuck in the ground to impale enemies or game.