Note 17 — GENERAL

The full dress of the Lhota warrior closely resembles that of the Sema and Ao. Besides the ornaments already mentioned, he wears on his head a wig (thongko) either of the long hair from the neck and shoulders of the Himalayan black bear, or of the fur of the arms of the male gibbon. In his wig he may wear three king-crow feathers (yizememhi) if he has done the head-taking “genna” once, or if he has done it more than once, one hornbill tail feather (reching’mhi) for each occasion. On his ears he hangs big pads of cotton wool, and sticks in the lobe of his ear an ornament (tera) of drongo and scarlet minivet feathers. If he has ever in his life raided enemies working in the fields and carried off their property, he adds to the tera little brass chains of Assamese, or very rarely Lhota, manufacture, which he loops over his ears. Across his chest he wears one, or, if he has dragged a stone, two baldricks (ritsen), which are really glorified strings for supporting the “tail,” which in turn is an elaboration of the “panji” basket. The Northern Lhotas wear baldricks bought from the Semas, made of blue cloth embroidered in scarlet with dog’s hair, and edged with a deep fringe of scarlet goat’s hair, with a line of yellow orchid stalk at the base of the fringe. Those worn by the Southern Lhotas lack the fringe and are usually embroidered with wool bought from the plains. The human hair “tails” are of two types, one (tsichap) in which the hair falls straight from the little basket, and the other (tsongotsichap) in which the hair forms a deep fringe hanging from a piece of wood sticking out behind with a slight upward curve. In the old days the hair for tails was obtained from women killed in raids, but this source of supply being now closed, it is bought from any woman who is willing to sell her tresses. I am told that one lady can produce two good crops, but that the third crop is apt to be coarse. A warrior of note may wear either on his chest or between his shoulders at the back an ornament called rüho (enemy’s teeth). This consists of a flat piece of wood, about ten inches long and five inches deep, covered with fine plaited work of red cane, with a border of cowries and a fringe of scarlet goat’s hair at the ends and bottom. It is supposed to represent the head of an enemy, the red cane being the tongue and palate, the cowries the teeth, and the fringe of red hair the blood pouring out of the mouth. A man who has dragged a stone may wear between his shoulders at the back the head of a Great Indian Hornbill, a bird regarded by the Lhotas as symbolical of wealth. The true Lhota cowrie apron (phuhorive), which is now being rapidly ousted by the bigger one worn by Semas and Aos, is about fourteen inches deep and twelve inches broad, the bottom two-thirds being covered with closely set rows of cowries. A man who has been first, second, or third spear at the killing of an enemy may have the plain cloth above the sheet of cowries ornamented with little crosses of cowries. An old ceremonial apron preserved as an heirloom by Ovungtheng of the Chorothui clan in Nungying village is possibly a specimen of the original type of this garment. The tradition is that the apron in question, which is a square of red cloth measuring ten inches long by eight inches broad, ornamented with two little circles flanked by little stars of cowries, is an exact copy made two generations ago of the original apron worn by the ancestor of the clan when he came down from the sky.17 The original was preserved till the time of Ovungtheng’s grandfather, when it was destroyed in a fire. To within living memory small round brass plates (pyabi) with a perforated boss in the centre were worn with cowrie aprons. Exactly similar plates are worn by Changs and Southern Sangtams at the present day. These plates were worn not only at dances and on ceremonial occasions, but also at the ceremony of calling a sick man’s soul. For dances the Southern Lhotas wear huge, bulging Angami leggings (chori) of plaited red cane, with a pattern in yellow orchid stalk worked in them. The Northern Lhotas wear a different type, which fits much more closely to the leg. These they buy from the Aos, who in turn get them from the Changs, to whom they are sold by the makers, the Northern Kalyo-Kengyu.