Note 7 — LAWS AND CUSTOMS

Every village is an independent unit in the tribe. Leagues of villages were formed for purposes of war, and in these cases the advice of the most powerful village would naturally carry most weight. Thus Pangti and Tsingaki respectively were the informal heads of leagues against the Aos and Semas. But except for war no village ever acknowledged the authority of any other village. There are very rarely definite boundaries between the lands of different villages. In the case of villages situated close to one another the lands of individuals of either village are inextricably mixed up. The writer once asked a Lhota why they had no village boundary disputes like Semas and Angamis, to which he replied, “It would be a shameful thing. Every man knows where his own land is, so how could there be a quarrel?” The fact that the Lhotas do not suffer from shortage of land as the Semas and Angamis do also helps to produce this peaceful state of affairs. In the days when villages were constantly at war each village was ruled by a chief (ekyung) assisted by an informal council of elders. The chieftainship was hereditary in the family of the man who originally founded the village, but did not at all necessarily pass from father to son. The most suitable man became chief by force of character. His main function was that of a leader in war, and his perquisite all the spoils brought home from raids. In some villages he is said to have had the privilege of the free labour of the village for his field two or three times a year, but this right has not been exercised anywhere within living memory and apparently lapsed before the Hills were taken over, if indeed it ever existed. The Pax Britannica having put an end to his raison d’être and its sole concomitant privilege, the post of ekyung has virtually ceased to exist and the word even is rarely heard. Villages are now managed by an informal council of old men and men of influence, with headmen selected by Government through whom the village is dealt with. The old men are appropriately called sotsoi (meat-eaters), for they inflict fines of pork in petty cases and eat the fine. Sotsoi are divided into two classes called tongti, the upper division, and chochang,7 the lower division. Under them is a council of vague dimensions called pangi. Usually the village is run as an undivided whole, but where the “khels” are big the tendency is for the leading men of each “khel” to manage their affairs independently. Among the Aos every village is divided up by an ancient and elaborate system into working companies. The Lhota system is far simpler. Working companies (yengaten) are composed of the children of neighbours. Boys and girls work together and help in the fields of the parents of the various members of the company when there is a pressure of work. Anyone who is short of labour may hire a company for the day, giving them their midday meal and a small wage.