The People

Customs of Lakher Society

Death

The Lakhers believed that one would die when the God or the spirits would be angry with one and hence would snatch away one's soul from the body.

Disposal of the Dead

After death the body would be washed in warm water and it would be dressed in best clothes.  Then it would be placed on a mat in a reclining position. Above the head a shelf would be made where rice, meat and egg would be placed. Friends and relatives would gather in the house, they would bring with them rice beer. Mithun, pigs and fowls would be sacrificed and feasts would be held for three days. Some food would be placed in the mouth of the dead. There would be dancing  with beatings of drums and gongs. Thus the dead would happily go to athikhi'.

The young men of the village would dig a grave in front  of the house. The body would then be taken out one evening after three days of the death. The pupa of the deceased would perform some rituals and sacrifices and then the body would be laid to rest. On the grave some wooden posts would be put on which the heads of the animals killed in the funeral ceremony and some fruits would be placed. After some days a memorial stone would be  erected on the grave.

Generally, the chiefs would be buried in a family vault. Along with the body, valuables including ornaments and gums used by the deceased would be placed near the body. When another person of the family would buried the vault would be opened by the deceased's sister or sister's son, failing that by daughter  or daughter's son and the remains of the body would be collected and would be placed in one corner, wrapped in a cloth. The person opening the vault would take all the valuables buried with the body.

After the death of a chief, the entire village would remain in mourning till the head of an animal could be obtained. During this period the family would offer some food daily to the deceased, placing it near the hearth. During the mourning period the relation did not wash their bodies or grease their hair. The mourning would end with erection of a memorial stone, in a ceremony called Athiteukhai.

Death Due

Death due or ' ru' was an important Lakher custom regarding property. A person who would inherit the deceased's property must also pay the ru. Ru was payable by the eldest son of  the father or any one else inheriting the property of the pupa, mothers brother of the deceased. In case of a woman, the ru was payable to her brother, by her husband  or youngest son. The person claiming the ru would have to kill  a pig. The ru would vary from clan to clan and would often be settled by negotiation  through intermediaries like the chief and other noblemen. The woman's ru would generally be the same  as her marriage price. Instead of paying the ru the husband could return to her brother all the woman's personal effects. The amount of Ru usually varied from twenty rupees for a commoner to one hundred rupees for a nobleman.

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