Note 25 — DOMESTIC LIFE

Much though he enjoys the sport, the Lhota hunts primarily to get meat. The division of the spoil is therefore carefully regulated by custom, which is strictly adhered to. In the case of deer the first spear gets a hind-leg, second spear a fore-leg, and the owner of the dogs a hind-leg, the head, liver and heart,25 the remaining fore-leg going to the oldest man of the hunting party. The rest of the meat is divided among the remaining spearmen, the older men getting slightly bigger shares than the younger. A spear which only hits the animal in the face or on the hock does not count. Were the thrower to claim a share of the meat on the strength of such a hit it is believed that either he or one of his family would die. From every deer killed Sityingo is given his share. This consists of six little bits of liver wrapped in one leaf and five little bits in another. These are eaten by the oldest man in the village of the clan of the owner of the dogs. Wild pig (oni or lipung) are occasionally hunted with dogs, but generally are only speared if a man happens to meet one. The same applies to bears (sivan). A wounded bear is not generally followed up till next day. It is then relentlessly tracked, alike over soft ground where every footprint is plain and over rocky slopes where nothing but a few bent leaves show which way it has gone, for a Lhota will pick up what, to European eyes, is a hardly perceptible trail as easily and quickly as he will follow an ordinary path. In the case of animals such as pig and bear killed without the aid of dogs, the first spear gets the head, hind-leg, fore-leg, liver and heart, and the second spear the other fore-leg and hind-leg. Remaining members of the party take the rest of the meat. There are no chiefs as there are among the Semas and Changs to get a share of the meat whether they join in the hunt or not. Dogs are also used to hunt porcupines (liso), an animal much sought after for its flesh, the skin of the back being especially esteemed. For a tiger (mharr) or leopard (mharrtero) hunt the whole male population of the village turns out with daos and shields and spears, and, in Moilang and its neighbours, wearing cane helmets. A rough circle is cleared round the piece of jungle in which the beast has been marked down, and a V-shaped palisade is built at the bottom. Outside this the old men wait with their spears ready poised, while the young men drive the animal downhill, cutting the jungle as they go. Any man who is charged falls with his shield over him, while a shower of spears distracts the tiger’s attention. Eventually if all goes well the tiger is driven into the palisading and speared by the old men waiting there. If a tiger happens to break a spear the shaft must either be left in the jungle or stuck in the ground under the head of the quarry when it is hung up after a successful hunt. If this is not done the owner will some day be killed by a tiger. The tiger’s head is cut off by a man who has done all social “gennas” and is a warrior of repute, and the paws by a man who belongs to a family a member of which has been killed by a tiger. This in a sense removes the curse from the family.26 The head and paws are hung on a tree by the side of the path up to the village, and tsombhondhro leaves are stuffed in its mouth, some say to prevent it eating people in the Land of the Dead, and some say so that it may not be able to tell the dead what clan killed it. Under the head the hunters jab the ground with their spear butts till it is thickly covered with little marks. If the spirit (omon) of the tiger comes wandering round it will see these marks and refrain from troubling a village which possesses such a mighty army of warriors. The man who cut off the tiger’s head must not eat beef, pork, goat’s flesh, jungle birds, taro or any boiled relish, or have intercourse with his wife for twelve days. A similar prohibition for one day applies to the other men of the village.