The Lhota Nagas

Medicine Men. Some Lhotas say that the peculiar powers believed to be possessed by medicine men (ratsen) are hereditary.46 [164]Most people hold, however, that anyone, man or woman, is liable to develop the symptoms which are associated with ratsen. The person affected falls into a fit at the dark of the moon, and while in this state says that friends are coming, though none of the bystanders can see anything. These fits are liable to occur throughout life at the change of the moon, and are certainly very violent. I myself saw Yimbomo of Rephyim, a well-known ratsen, fall into a sudden fit down at the Doyang river when a large number of men were “poisoning” the water for fish. He laughed and shouted incoherently, and kept throwing himself onto the ground with such violence, that two men had to be told off to restrain him. In order to bring a man round from these fits powdered ginger is blown into his nose and ears. When a man shows these symptoms for the first time an experienced ratsen is called in to diagnose the case. If he proclaim it to be genuine he strangles a cock, from the head of which he is believed to extract a small stone called ratse’ha. This stone he gives to the budding ratsen, who is supposed to keep it inside his head, and occasionally even show it to very intimate friends. It is said that a few years ago ’Ntengo of Lungsachung was foolish enough to show his stone to a rival ratsen called Khumeshiyo of the same village, who grabbed it and managed to retain possession of it. The result was that ’Ntengo went mad and died soon afterwards.

Every ratsen possesses a “familiar” (sonyo), which is usually a leopard,47 but occasionally a snake. The Lhotas are perfectly familiar with the “leopard men” who are found among the Semas, and clearly distinguish them from their own ratsen. They say that the soul of the Sema “leopard man” actually enters his leopard, while the ratsen [165]is merely very intimately connected with his sonyo, which is an ordinary leopard indistinguishable in form from other leopards. If, however, the sonyo of a ratsen is killed the ratsen will sicken and perhaps die unless he can get another. As the powers of the ratsen grow so his sonyo increases in size, until in time it may even become unmanageable. This happened to a ratsen from Akuk called Mungchemo. His leopard became so big and fierce that he begged the villagers to kill it. They ringed it, but Mungchemo, who was helping, shouted in his excitement and so gave the leopard sufficient warning for it to escape. This failure to get rid of his sonyo so weighed on his mind that he eventually committed suicide. Ordinarily, however, the sonyo is believed to be under such excellent control that its owner can call it up from the jungle at will. This he rarely does, however, for if another man sees his sonyo the ratsen becomes ill. There are numerous stories, however, of leopards having been seen actually in ratsens’ houses. Naturally a ratsen ordinarily objects strongly to his sonyo being killed, for it may entail his own death. The result is that several villages have told their ratsen that since he cannot stop his leopard killing their pigs they cannot allow him to be present when they ring the leopard, for at leopard hunts the ratsen is supposed to warn the quarry either by shouting to it or spitting on bits of worm-cast and throwing them towards it. In some places if a ratsen’s leopard is hunted and killed he lays a cloth over the body as a mark of respect. The fits from which a ratsen suffers are believed to be in some way connected with his sonyo. They usually occur at the dark of the moon, at which time he has most influence over his leopard, and when he falls in a fit the soul of the leopard is believed to walk over his body. The soul is of course invisible, but visible tracks are supposed occasionally to be left on the ratsen’s chest.

In addition to the ordinary food taboos a ratsen is forbidden to eat bamboo rats, frogs, or king-crows. They are supposed to be able to foretell the future by gazing into “madhu,” or water held in a leaf, but their chief occupation in life is to “extract” foreign bodies from the persons [166]of sick people. This is always done inside a house where the bad light makes sleight of hand easy. The patient is rubbed with a leaf, usually a wild lemon leaf, upon which the ratsen repeatedly spits. Finally he will show the patient a small pebble or a bit of leaf or hair, which he says was causing all the trouble by lodging in the body. In cases of laboured breathing the ratsen says that there is a hole in the lungs. He then by sleight of hand makes a leaf seem to disappear into the patient’s chest, and after a few minutes extracts it and announces that the hole is now stopped up. Coughs are usually cured by pretending to extract a lump of hair from the throat. Usually the foreign body which is extracted is simply thrown away anywhere, but in cases of rheumatism, which is regarded as in some way especially connected with lightning, the ratsen “extracts” bits of wood from the patient’s joints and throws them away near a tree which has been struck by lightning. Into the trunk of the tree he sticks a piece of iron, which he leaves there, and throws down one or two eggs as an offering. Often the ratsen will say that the illness is due not to the presence of a foreign body, but to the capture of the patient’s soul by an evil spirit. He will then announce the whereabouts of the evil spirit in question, and the appropriate ceremonies must be performed. These have been described under the section on private ceremonies.

Luck-stones. The Lhota believes that certain stones called oha bring good fortune. They are smooth, water-worn stones, varying in size from that of a man’s head to that of a walnut, and are kept either under the mingetung, or at the foot of the carved post of the “morung,” or by individuals in their houses or granaries. Ratsen, however, as has been mentioned above, are believed to have the peculiar habit of keeping their oha inside their heads. Those kept under the mingetung are usually large, and on them the luck of the whole village depends. Those kept in the “morung” affect the prosperity of the section of the village to which they belong. Stones of these two classes have been handed down from generation to generation and are never added [167]to nowadays, though they are believed occasionally to increase spontaneously. But individuals still from time to time find small oha in the jungle and bring them home to keep as private luck-stones. The distinguishing mark of an oha is that it should be round and smooth, and be found resting on the ground in a little nest it has made for itself.48 Anyone finding such a stone brings it home, and then notices whether his family increases quickly, or he has good crops, or is particularly successful in trade. He thus finds out what particular form of good luck is attached to the stone in question. Bad oha are not unknown. One kind called ekyulung (“coughing-stones”) causes the owner to fall ill. Yet to throw them away would mean certain death. The possessor of an oha which brings luck in trade keeps it with his money. Similarly a rice oha is kept in the granary. A famous oha is the Phi-tsong-lung (“drying-increasing-stone”), which is in the possession of a member of the Othui clan at Pangti. It is said to be a portion of the famous stone at Kezakenoma,49 called by the Lhotas Ketsarhontsü, which miraculously increased rice dried on it, and was broken off by Rangti, grandson of Longchentang, who according to one tradition came out of the earth and founded the Mipongsandri phratry. This was before the Angamis, Semas, Rengmas and Lhotas split up and became separate tribes. Formerly the Othui clan used to provide one of the Puthis at Pangti, and the Puthi of the Othui clan always used the Phi-tsong-lung as a pounder for husking the rice at the ceremony of eating the first-fruits (mshe etak). There are only a few broken fragments of the stone left now, which are kept with other oha in the possessor’s granary. Oha are treated with great respect. The ceremony connected with them at the Oyantsoa “genna” has already been described. Before [168]doing the Liritang ceremony at the beginning of harvest a man must make a small offering of meat to his oha.50 At the time of the Pikuchak “genna,” too, all possessors of rice oha must inspect them, taking care to wash their hands both before and after. It is curious that the reason given why the Nyimshamo kindred of the Othui clan in Yekhum cannot set up stones after doing the mithan sacrifice, is that they have never been allowed to touch the village oha, when they had to be carried on migration, or indeed to have had anything to do with oha. What the connection is, however, between the two kinds of stone is not precisely stated.

Charms. Love potions are commonest in the villages near the plains. I remember a youthful widow of Sanis who was so indiscreet as to get engaged to two men in two different villages at the same time. When the tangle was brought to me to unravel she said she really had only meant to get engaged to one, but the other one had rubbed a love charm on her neck—at least she thought that was what he must have done, though she had not actually noticed him do so.

Certain old women are supposed to possess the knowledge of these charms, which is handed down from mother to daughter. One Amhono of Pyangsa is said to retail a root called loha, which has to be ground up and given to the shy loved one with cooked fish.51 If the suit is hopeless the recipient of the root removes all doubt by being sick on the spot. My informant had never seen the root; he had only heard of it. Another charm is a feather of a bird called tsentsü—probably mythical, at least I could never find out what it was. If a man can once touch a woman’s hand with this she is his for life.

Witchcraft, in the evil sense of the word, was probably never common among the Lhotas, though the practice used to exist of making a straw image of an enemy in another village, and after addressing it by name spearing it. This, however, could never be done by one Lhota to another. [169]It is believed to be possible, too, to bewitch a man by calling a stone or bit of wood by his name and cursing it. This belief in the power given by knowledge of a man’s name is of course world-wide, and among the Lhotas gives rise to the custom of giving a false name at birth in order that the lurking evil spirits may go away thinking they have the real name. Besides their ordinary name most, if not all, Lhotas have a private name which is never revealed to any but relations or intimate friends. If two men bear the same name they regard themselves as bound together by a particularly close tie and address each other as akam. Similarly Lhotas are particular that no enemy should get hold of bits of their hair or clippings from their finger or toe nails. While the Naga Labour Corps were on their way back from France some Lhotas planned to offer to cut some Semas’ hair for them, and do “genna” with the clippings when they got home.52 The plan was only just vetoed in time by one of their own headmen. The commonest charm against evil spirits is a kind of wild mint called rarakham (Ocimum basilicum).53 At all “gennas,” or when going to a place supposed to be haunted by evil spirits, a Lhota wears a sprig in the lobe of his ear and rubs some in his hair. A small onion (sandhra) or a cowrie carried on the person is also considered to be effective.

Apparently the only charm used to make crops grow is a piece of rhinoceros (molung) bone hidden near the field.54 It must be many, many years since any Lhota has killed one of these animals, but I am assured that pieces of bone are still carefully treasured, though they are never shown to strangers.

Ghosts. Ghost stories abound. The following one, which was told me by a man from Rephyim, is typical: “One day I [170]was coming up from the fields with others when I saw my elder brother’s wife coming down to meet us. We called out to her, but she did not answer, only coughed and spat and turned aside into the jungle. When I got up to the village I found she had died in her husband’s house while we were down at the fields.” Another one, also from Rephyim, runs as follows: “When my brother and I were children we met our uncle on our way up from the fields, but when he got near us he disappeared up into the sky and threw down a big stick and a stone. The stick just missed us, but the stone fell into my brother’s basket.” A very common story is that of hearing someone cutting jungle near the path, and on going there finding nothing. It is very unlucky to be touched by a ghost (omon). A man called Mhomo is said to have been caught by the leg by a ghost and died as a result. If the sound of cutting is heard from a bamboo clump, and it is found that there is no one there, the owner of the bamboos will die in the course of the year. To hear at night the sound of someone stamping down the earth on a grave means that there will be a death in the village shortly. The only ghostly animal I have heard of is a serow said to exist near Okotso. One man’s gun is said to have missed fire ten times while the animal stood and looked at him, while another man threw his spear clean through it, and instead of killing the serow was ill himself for a year.55

Dreams. Like all primitive people the Lhota attaches great importance to dreams.56 In them he believes that the souls of the dead visit him, and his own soul leaves his body and [171]wanders.57 Thus, if a sick man in his delirium dreams that he is in a certain place he knows that his soul is under the influence of some evil spirit which is drawing it to that place, and takes steps to appease the fiend with sacrifice. Or if a man fights with another man in his dreams he believes that the two souls really meet and fight. To dream of the building of a new “morung” forebodes ill to the village, for the dreamer’s soul has travelled to the land of the dead and seen a new village being prepared there for those who are about to die. If a man dreams that he is carrying a child along the Road of the Dead the child will die, and the dreamer may die too. But to dream that he is driven back by dead men means that he will have long life, for the souls of those gone before are not yet ready to receive him.58 If in his dream a man go to another village he will not live long, for the other village is really that in the Land of the Dead, to which his soul has gone on ahead. Similarly, to kill a chicken in a dream is bad, for the chicken seen is the soul of that which will be killed at the dreamer’s death not long after. It is most unlucky to dream of dead men, for it means that they have come to call the dreamer. The only way of averting the disaster is to kill a big boar and give the meat to an old professional dreamer (hahang), who offers it to the souls of the dead in his dreams. The night before hunting too it is most unlucky to dream of a successful hunt, for it means that the dreamer’s spirit has been out hunting and driven all the game away.59

Many dreams are regarded as symbolical. For example, dream water = real crops, so that a vision of a deep pool means a good harvest, but a dry nullah means a lean year. Similarly, dream jungle roots = real meat, so that to dream of digging and finding many roots means that large presents of meat will be received, but unsuccessful digging means [172]small presents. Again, dream fire = real children. A fire which burns up well when the dreamer lights it means a big family, but a fire that goes out foretells deaths in the home. To see an earthquake or one’s own teeth falling out is regarded as particularly unlucky and forebodes the certain death either of the dreamer or of one of his family. Anything red, such as a red spear or red goat’s-hair, represents man’s blood and means that someone will get hurt.

View of the Forces of Nature. The earth is regarded as flat and stretching to an unknown distance in all directions. In the west, where the sky meets it, lives a big snake which sometimes causes earthquakes by moving its body.60 During an earthquake the meat rack over the fire and the vat in which the daily supply of rice is kept are seized and held by the inmates of a Lhota house. If this is not done it is believed that supplies will fail the next year.61 The sky is regarded as being hard like a stone, and forming the floor of the world of the Potsos, who in turn have another sky and Potso world above them, and so on for an unknown number of worlds. It used to be nearer to the earth than it is now, but for some reason not known it has gradually got further and further away. The sun is a flaming plate of hard metal as big as a piece of ground on which one basket of seed rice is sown. It travels along its path in the sky during the day and at night travels back under the earth and lights the Land of the Dead. The moon is like it. In fact, it was once the brighter and hotter of the two, till the present sun, seeing that the earth was being scorched and burnt with the terrible heat, smeared the face of the moon with cow-dung, so that it now gives a very feeble light.62 An eclipse of the sun or moon occurs [173]when a giant dog which lives in the sky tries to eat them.63 An eclipse means that many great men will die, and the day after one is kept as an emung. Stars are little points of fire, and are vaguely regarded as being endowed with life. Shooting stars are the falling dung of stars. The clouds have nothing to do with rain, which is poured down by the Potsos from reservoirs in the sky. They are simply the accumulated smoke of thousands of fires all over the earth. The belief with regard to hail is a curious one. The Potsos who live in the sky have above them yet another world of Potsos, who are evil and try to injure the Potsos living nearest to us by throwing down huge lumps of ice on them. But whenever a fusillade begins the lower Potsos take care to walk about with the door of their houses held over their backs like rain-shields. The lumps of ice are shattered on the doors and only reach the earth as small fragments which men call hail. [174]