Note 2 — LAWS AND CUSTOMS

In the Mipongsandre phratry the Muri and Othui clans are regarded as descendants of two cousins named Muri and Othui who lived when the Lhotas were settled near Lazemi,2 and were the great-great-great-great-grandsons of Longchethang, the first man to dig himself out of the earth according to one tradition. The Eni clan is believed to be descended from a slave or “jungle man” brought up by Othui. Thangwe in turn are descended from a “jungle man” caught by Eni when he was in the jungle cutting a species of bamboo called ticho. It is believed that in the year when these bamboos seed and die a large number of the Thangwe clan die. Members of the Thangwe clan are not prohibited from using these bamboos in any way. The Lapung clan, which is practically confined to Lotsü village, is regarded as closely akin to the Thangwe clan. The small Chorothui clan originated as follows. An old man of the Othui clan3 was in the act of sacrificing a pig, when on drawing back his spear for the thrust the butt came in contact with someone behind. The old man looked round and found a stranger standing watching. He took the stranger to his house and fed him, but the only reply he could get to his questions as to whence he had come was the one word “Chorocho”—“I came down,” i.e. from the sky. From this the name of the clan is derived. Ezong and Tsangle are regarded as original clans, sprung from cousins or brothers of Muri and Othui. Yanthang means “Rengma,” and the clan is descended from Rengmas who rejoined the Lhotas after the two tribes had split up. The Moyoyanthang clan is only found in Lakhuti. Their ancestors are said to have been a wandering band of Rengmas who were only allowed to settle there on condition they never claimed any rights in the village. To this day they can never provide a Puthi and may not take any part in the dance at the building of a new “morung.” This is a unique example among the Lhotas of a particular clan being regarded as of inferior status. With this exception all clans have equal rights, whether they spring from a supposed extraneous origin or not.