The People

Customs of Lakher Society

Ceremonies Connected With Cultivation

After sowing, the main work is periodic weeding.  A well burnt jhum would remain comparatively clear of weeds, otherwise growth of weeds would be prolific and labourious weeding would have to be carried out intensively.

The men and women cut the ripened paddy ears and they are brought to the jhum hut where the grains are separated from the chaff by trampling on them. The first such operation is celebrated by friends and relatives over feasts and sing - songs. Also sometimes threshing and winnowing are done from a platform about 3 metres high with a sieve. After the harvest has been collected in the jhum hut, the paddy is shifted to the home in the village. Thus, almost the whole year is spent in the full operation of one jhum.

Paddy is commonly measured in terms of a full-load of kerosene tin which contain about 8 Kilogram of paddy. Three tins of paddy measure a load called phur. A Mizo considers 15 phurs of paddy as the annual food requirement per person. This comes to about a Kilogram of paddy per day. There are different traditional measures of the conical heap of paddy when the collected paddy is put together before threshing. Mipa Zawn means the heap unto a man's height and Hmeichhe-zawn, up to a woman's height. Kak zawn is a heap going upto the fork of thumb and index finger when the hand is vertically raised above the head. Silai zawn is upto the end of a gun held vertically above the head of a man.

Apart from the main jhum field, every household has a small field generally near the house or at the bottom end of the jhum, where vegetables and maize are grown. This is like a kitchen garden. It is called Leipui and is very convenient and useful for every family.

There were ceremonies and sacrifices connected with each phase of jhumming. Rialongchhi ceremony was performed by the whole village when the jhum was half cut. The villagers would gather in the middle of the village with a particular type of fruit and make a bonfire. After the jhum were fully cut the villagers would perform a dance called Pakhupila and a feast, Khutla, would be held. Everyone in the village would participate in the festival for good crops. The rich men of the village would liberally provide beer and others would also contribute. Pigs and fowls would be killed for the feast. For two to three days men and women would dance, going from one house to another. Accompanied by drums and gongs the men alternating with women would form a ring and with arms over shoulders the dance would go on in slow rhythm over long periods. After this festival, the jhums were burnt and paddy was sown in the field. This festival was to make everyone happy and fit to start the hard work in the jhum for good crops.

The next ceremony was Leuhrangna which was performed jointly by the ones whose jhums were adjacent. They would sacrifice a sow and a red cock or  a boar of same size and a hen to propitiate the spirit of the slope on which their jhums were situated. Another sacrifice performed was Sachipachhua when a black fowl would be sacrificed and some seeds of rice and other crops which had been sown would be anointed with the blood. Before the second weeding a sacrifice called Chithla was performed. This was to please the spirit of  the field who would protect the crops from animals and ensure a good harvest. Posts were erected in front of each jhum house and fowls, pigs, dogs etc. would be sacrificed and certain ceremonies of cooking in a jhum house with the use of salt were performed. After the paddy plants had been pulled up and before the grain had been gathered, a sacrifice called Leuhmathawna was performed in front of each jhum house. With chanting for bountiful crops a red hen would be sacrificed and seeds would be anointed with blood. After the sacrifice, the people would go to the field and collect the paddy. During the harvest strangers were prohibited from entering into a jhum house. There was also prohibition for eating certain types of meat like bird and rat. After threshing, the grains would be collected in a granary in the jhum house. On storage of all the paddy, a sacrifice called Sikisa would be performed in which a white fowl or a dog would be sacrificed and the family would come to the village to eat a meal with meat. While returning to the village, the people would blow a bamboo whistle to call back their spirits from the jhum to the village.

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