Lepchas of Sikkim

Chapter One. The Lepchas and Sikkiic i. The Lepchas original inhabitants of southern and eastern slopes of Kinchenjunga—a subject race for at least three centuries—submerged in Sikkim and British India except in the Lepcha reserve of Zongu in Sikkim—Lepchas in India converted to Christianity. ii. To make converts the Baprists revived the artificial Lepcha script, invented in the eighteenth century for the lamaist converts, and almost forgotten—General G. G. Mainwaring took the Lepchas under his protection in the nineteenth century—in t92<> Miss Stocks collects Lepcha folklore. iii. The Native State of Sikkim: peaceful in the last seventy years—^indirect British promction abolishes slavery: effect on Lepdhas. iv. Lepchas an unusual society because they have been influenced by more highly develop^ non-European societies but un touched by Europe—insoluble questions of culture contact. V. The position of Zongu and Lingthem. BOOK ONE. LEPCHA LIFE Rehitiotu with the environment Chapter Two. The Homes of the Lepchas i. Physical description of Zongu—^temperature—clothes: Lep chas no longer weave—^villages of Zong^—derivation of names—the serpent eaters of Pantoong. H. Description of Lingthem monastery. iii. The consliuction of Lqidia hoioes—^mteinal di^»sition— absence of dkcotation excqpt for some private lamaist altars in die dif-ewy^painting and wood-carving alien arts—lama's attitude to painting—use of knife and bamboo. hr. New houses rarely built nowadays—nadve traditions—choice of hoise-site chiefly dependent on lamaist metaphyrical deaderata: details—methods and ritual for building and repairing houses-all building doiw co-operatively without payment and without an overseer—the' house goblin' Thyak dum: how he has to be treated if he cannot be controlled. V. Eacqit for the garden in front of the house individual land is scattered all over the ndghbourhood. vL Incorrect to describe Lepchas as animists—supematurals live in various phenomena but are quite distinct from them—^rare exception of supematurals' dwelling places being worshipped: the kkes whic^ are the ' mothers' of family lines, ptsc — devils sometimes seen and heard. vii. The landscape of the Talung valley. Chapter Three. Getting Food i. Impossible to overestifflate the importance of food-getting in primitive sodety—^food-getting not of much religious importance to Lepchas but of very great emotional importance —^Lepchas nearly omiuverous—shunting falling into desuetude —rituak and rules connected with hunting. ii. Lepchas have two typ« of cultivation—permanently culti vated land and land cleared once every ei^t years—permanent cultivation, ike leiiaces and cSudamum, a new social feature widi great implicit economic changes—^no exploitation so far —prosperity derirable but fraught with supernatural danger —story of Ginoo moong the devil of jealousy. in. Detrils of Lepcha agriculture—alien ceremonies imported with cardamum, bringing with the Nepali ban on menstruating women—Lepcha agricultural calendar—groups of field- workers. iv. Lepdia food and drink—^millet grown exclusively for chiy— metiiods of fermenting and preparing—Lepcha fondness for alcohol—methods of cooking food—Lepcha high standard of living. V. Animals more important for prestige and sacrifices than for eating—^attimde to and treatment of cattle—goats—^pigs: all boars castrated yoimg as a Lepcha who ate boar-flesh would commit sodomy: instances—^pigs scavengers—dogs— —^women must never kill animals; to eat an animal killed by a woman is supematuially jlangerous—llamas also must not kill them. vi. Land and property belongs to the houseowner—divided if joint families separate which is rare—^women cannot own land— if there is no direct hdr a suitable person is dedgnated as ki-tsop by Mandal: examples—^in a household condsting of mote than three people the dependents, women and children have a certain amount of animals and land as their own private property—methods of working and examples—^in Zongu land can only be owned by Lepchas and transferred by Court permission. vii. Possible history of Lepcha agriculture. Relations with Foreigners Chapter Four. Money Lenders and Trading Friends i. The stores in Mangan owned by money lenders, kanya, who have control of the cardamum trade—their methods of ex ploiting and cheating the Lepchas: details—only Lepcha co operation and the benevolence of the Court have prevented the Lepchas being completely enslaved by debt—die richest people also the most indebted—regulation of inter-village debts. ii. The institution of ingiong, trading friends, between Lepchas, Sikkimese, Nepali—^its mythological origin and ceremonial— after performing ingiong ceremony two ingion% are considered as blood-brothers and inter-marriage for nine generations becomes incestuous—relationship now less important and term used loosely between Lepchas to indicate ' special friends.* iii. Lepchas have to send boys to Gangtok to act as servants to the Maharajah and to be trained as state carpenters—decreasing necessity of travel for Lepchas. Relations with other Lepchas Chapter Five. Law and Order i. Zongu administered in Gangtok by a Kazi—internally divided into twelve villages under Mandals—the recendy invented position of Muktair, the local superior to the Mandals— originally two Muktair, one on Teesta one on Talung side —Talung Muktair father of Tafoor—why Tafoor did not succeed him—Tempa gets given post-—Wstory of Tempa— became overweaning-^eposed by joint action of the Mandals. ii. Mandal hereditary office—rights and duties of Mandal— history and description of Chala Mandal of Lingthem— youmi with whom Mandal consults chosen from ex-gyt^SOy the village officials who do all the work: each household does three years in turn on a rota. iiL Village officials have to collect taxes and keep order—details of taxes—taxes not heavy but some arrears in Lingthem— little actual crime—old nun Hlatam suspected of being a poisoner: details—theft very unusual: methods of dealing with if witnessed—Lepcha society founded on the belief that people don't steal so unknown thieves can only be dealt with supematurally by sorcery—methods of killing people by sorcery—examples—who can do it—not done in recent years and not feared—permissive line for adultery—disputes about boundaries—the taking of oaths : the fate of perjurers—the encrmous social importance of stopping quarrels—methods of patching up quarrels by youmi and gyapon—two serious quarrels of recent years due to Mrs. Jiroong, who has there fore been permanently forbidden to attend monastery feasts— details of the quarrels she caused. Chapter Six. The Rules of Kinship and Marriage i. Kinship terms—changed when too irrational—descent-calcu lated nine generations on father's side, four on mother's— personal names only used for children—^names functionless— emotional importance of extended kinship terms: crucial case of ' little mother'—shame relationship: strongest between spouse and parent-in-law of opposite sex—lack of shame before blood relations. ii. The patrilineal clan or ptso now almost exclusively an exogamic unit—distribution of ptso in Lingthem—ptso super- naturals and their worship—different for brother and sister —ptso unimportant. iii. Lepchas' horror of incest—the number of blood and affinal relations considered incestuous—cases of ' brother-sister' incest—the lesser evil of one man sleeping with mother and daughter, or one woman with husband and son. iv. Owing to wide incest bans spouses almost always have to be sought from distant villages—Lepchas marry young—two stages of Lepcha marriage—marriage arranged by uncles and go-betweens, never by parents—people usually strangers till betrothal—a number of marriages between two groups per missible—expense of marriage may be reduced by consent or cooperation—komok myoV. or resident sons-in-law. V. Methods of breaking down incompatible betrothals or marriage. Divorce. vi. Lepcha marriage contract between two groups—sororate and levirate rights in theory and practice—list of hereditable spouses—^a man or woman may and usually does sleep with all potential hereditable spousesj during their husband's or wife's life-time—how this should be done—by this rule most boys are sexually educated by older women—suggestion that regdations were made to prevent in-group jealousy and splitting of group—mythology shows absence of jealousy among brothers—no word in Lepcha for jealousy—Lepchas not aggressive—rights not used outside Zongu—^readjust ments if two brothers marry two sisters—disadvantage of levirate marriages through disparity of age—example of Ch£l6 who inherited his aunt. vii. Right to. take second wife if first wife is sterile: methods and examples—second wives taken when first wife has produced children—^very disruptive situation—examples— Lepchas try to ignore personal and passionate love—they separate love and sex—a weak man or one who travels much may coopt a younger brother as co-husband—arrangement unpopular and rare. ✓iii. Bastards from unmarried women a great disgrace—^what must be done—^after birth neither mother nor child suffer disadvantages—great sterility and low fertility rate of Lepcha women : some suggested causes. ix. Childless people can adopt children—methods of doing so— examples—children gain property by adoption but appear to be warped psychologically and unhappy—six out of seven adopted men with abnormal characters—Lepcha life arranged on the hope of regular births and deaths—households too small—only two in Lingthem approach ideal. Relations with the supernatural Chapter Seven. Religion I: Lamaism i. Lepchas practise simultaneously two contradictory religions —lamaism and the old Mun religion—points of contrast— points of agreement: ambivaltat attitude of supematurals— meaningful character of dreams: details and examples— cross-identification of lamaist and Mun supematurals owing to the fact that names are unimportant to Lepchas—all super- naturals have at least two names—confusions and recon ciliations—usually ceremonies of two religions performed simultaneously—veiled rivalry between priests. ii. Sikkim coverted to lamaism about 1641—Lingthem monastery built 1855 belonging to the subsect Lhatsun-pa of the sect Nyingma-pa ' Red Hats.'—importance of lamaist scriptures —lamaist ethics founded on aim at individual freedom from idncarnatioii—lamaist attitude to the tepeating of prayers orally or medumically—lamaut. belief about the soul— social organisation of lamas—converted Lepdus have accepted scriptiues, mythology, view of priesthood and social organisa tion but haw rqected individualist ethics—rsuggested rule about imported complexes into integrated cultures. Ui. Lamas deagnated by birth-horoscopes and by bang the sons of lamas—education—the diiiierent grades of lamas, with* their special duties and feasts to validate each rise in grade— corresponding grades of nuns less important. iv. Duties of lamas personal and individual, set monthly and calendri^ services, and ministering to the sick or threatened —rosaries—description of bi-monthly monastery feasts and calendrical feasts—the killing of the quarrel demon. V. Enormous variety of exorcisms and apotropaic rites for the VI. benefit^ of individuals—generalisations—parallel between Lepcha's attitude to reli^ous ceremonies and supematurals and a hypochondriac's attitude to doctors, germs and vitamins— employment of lamas depends on personal inclinations and werith—great importance of and belief in horoscopes: obligatory on many occasions. Mystic pr^tices of the higher-grade lamas—Tafoor's training for stopping the rain falling: details. Chapter Eight. Religion II: The Mun i. The Mun have no social organisation : priesthood by posses sion of supemamrals resident in family lines—padem, pau,^yanu less important parallel priests—'black Mun' and 'white Mun'—the Mun Gongyop describes his posses sion by P^em and Mun spirits, his training, his feeUngs aunng the bieni^ festivals when he is possessed by the spirit and prophesies in trance, what he sees when he Mrrificfs— possession accompanied by sense delusions. ii. VaUda^g mythology of the Mun: the sacred story of IV. Gweas only known in full by Mun—the sacred story of the ongin of mamage—other stories of origin—story of orimn of menstruation-peculiarities of Lepchi stories. ^ community. performed for individuals-some performed together with lamas— Chenm ceremony to avert illness from the ifmo ne«*ssary in the lives of individuals than SSTT**" dfansing by /wSt-ing—the sacrament of /oot-generahsations about Mun exorcisms—some Chapter Nine. Religion III: The People of Matbl i. The worship of the People of Mayd in connection with die u. 111. rice and m«lW harvest shows some sw^ anomalous fetiues as to suggest that it was oii^nally a diffiaent idigion-— descripdon of the mythology of the People of Mayel—^dheir country visited by human beings in oldm times. The rites of sowing and harvesting rice—^the bli^ting efl^ of a person who has seen crops drying in die sun before the sacrifice has been offered. Sarrif?*^ to Pong rum the god of hunters, who is the guardian of the road to the country of Mayel—^how the god persecutes those who displease him wth poltergeist phenomena— examples—daily food sacrifices. BOOK TWO. LIFE OF THE LEPCHAS Chapter Ten. The Rhythm of Lepcha Life i. Reladonship of the author with the Lepchas—present giving 11. 111. IV. —imselfishness of Lepchas. The Lepcha working day: household life—LepAa feasts a continuous interruption of ordinary life—description of monastery feast—food and drink and their results. Lepchas' constant verbal preoccupation with sex—examples suggested reasons for this—sex is always funny. Speech of very great importance to Lepchas as their art and their intellectual entertainment—the elegant speaker: honorific words and symbolical words (jtang-bor)—the story teller— importance of stories, when told and by whom—Lepcha tendency to monologue. V. Speech also social sanction—people shamed by speech social rebukes may drive people to suicide: why externalised social disapproval has so much weight—the great importance of malicious gossip and scaiklal a strong urge to social con formity—Lepchas' emphasis on behaviour and lack of interest in individual character differences. vi. Characteristics of the average Lepcha—vivid and exact memories—no number sense—do not dramatise—extremely tolerant—lack feelings of inferiority—contented and indiffer ent—antithetic emphasis on social conformity and individual lihertv oroducK different types of behaviour in the privacy of Ss home and in pubUc—Lepdias much dislike hurrying _^7not allow for*^ quarrelling or aggression but admit sulking—differences in squeamishness—very low disgust reactions—physical dirtiness. vii. Hie Lqida nandaids of physical beauty—care of die body. vifi. No ihatp contrasts in Lepdia Bfie—^leUttve obscuiiQr of ddldhood and cxneme old age^^-die best of bfis is yondL OiAFm Eleven. Birth and Childhood i. Lepdia dieory of conception and development of foetus— second five moons of pregnancy a time of great watchfulness for bodi parents who have to observe very many pre-natal precautions—-sex 'of infimt fixed after five monifas but can be dteied willingly or surreptitiously—ffliscaniages-—Mtin ritual—special cAi prepared s^punst delivery—women de- bveied in dieir homes—treatment of newborn child—diniosal of afteriurtb—lurdi accidents and didr significance—nniitiplf Itirtfas very rate—still-bom babies and infimts turn into dustdevils—balues sddom reared if die mother dies at or soon after cbildlMrtfa—children witness birth of subsequent siblings. iL A child only officially bom on the diird day—^die third day Birth Feast—die diild's bracelet and necklace; ^ ®*®Mng dtuation—children seldom weaned before tw^ tan talk—weaning sometimes accompanied by jmysical separation—diildren normally only iwicH«id by one woman—^Lqidia women bctate with great ftdlity owy w youngest duldren occanonally continue suckine tin pube^--exainples—balues fed whenever diey cry —ttachmg^ of sphincter control starts early by die baby oeing earned out on to die verandah—^not tteat^ with apectation of the development of tn£mm—duldren abnost always carried—training in passivity Ldi^Ubies rely a great deal on elder siblings—three-year- old babies have mostly acquired the typical cbar^. explicit about the aims of education—two categories of children : only fixed about the age of tc:^—signs that a child may develop badly. V. Childhood a relatively unpleasant period—a time of neglect— children do not make a group opposed to adults—adult status a d^irable aim—childish bashfulness—little boys have more freedom than little girls—choice of companionship limiteci—Lepcha children have no toys—play by themselves or in groups but not organised play—Lepcha plays imitations of adult life—special childish language—some sexual plays considered funny by adults—children liked the author play ing with them : reactions—excessive fear of devils a childish trait—fear of devils not obsessive—occasional bullying stopped by elders—few children have a choice of homes— except for lonely children and exceptional cases childhood is not an actively unhappy time but a time of obscurity. Chapter Twelve. Sex, Marriage and Maturity i. Lepcbns' contrasted attitude to male and female puberty— belief in the necessity of external intervention for women to attain puberty—no formal marked entry into puberty—no wo.d for puberty—children given a socially sexual role very early: usually betrothed before puberty—parents play no role in children's marriage—method of demanding a girl as wife—bride-price gifts : dedication—visits of the groom to his bride • the two are meant to copulate under the supervision of their uncles but often refuse to—hostility to betrothal frequent, especially on the part of the girl who will have to leave home—examples Nariya, Kond^, etc.—boys want to grow up but are uninterested in marriage—the period between betrothal and marriage the most humiliating in a man's life— a groom is the servant of his father-in-law. ii. Most Lepcha boys start their sexual life with the wife of an elder brother or uncle—this is considered desirable education —great sexual freedom of Lepchas until the birth of their first chiid—different types of sexual experience—behaviour when a couple are unrelated and unmarried : these unions occasionally achieve social recognition—sex not part of hospitality pattern—seduction not elaborated in any way—no overt jealousy of fathers and brothen. about the sexual life of daughters and sisters—sex not made a secret of except for very recent adultery—remarkable potency of Lepcha men— methods of sexual intercourse—Lepcha theories of sexual physiology—danger of menstruating women—menopause not recognised but sexual activities of very old people con sidered slightly ludicrous—Lepchas' separate sex and emotion —sexual activity not a reason for social obligations. iii. The feast and ceremonies of bringing home the bride and the post-nuptial visits. iv. Marriage makes litde difference to the sodal posidon of the husband, but more to that of the wife—^young married people still in a subservient posidon—the birth of a child alters their status—the ideal gradual development of responsibility is falsified by a very uneven death rate. Chapter Thirteen. Death i. The Lepchas have endrely antagonisdc atdtudes to death and the dead : death is contag;ious and the dead only return as devils—after a death the two things to do are to get rid of the dead man's soul and to prevent his death affecting the living—danger of death local and nothing is done if people die abroad except in the case of young children—the clash between lamaism and the Mun religion is most obvious in the attitudes towards and the ceremonies surrounding death and their views of the afterlife—Mun perform no ceremonies for lamas and nuns—lamas and nuns usually cremated and never buried—laymen usually buried and never burned—both may be thrown into the river—position and hour of death important for horoscopes—lamas instruct and feed dead man before body is disposed of—treatment of corpse. ii. Cremation—burial—disposal by water. iii. Exorcising the devils of death—the ceremony of Sand6 moong —of Shidook moong—of Arot moong—the ceremony of Dek Flee for the death of a child. iv. The sanglion, the speeding of the soul—the lamaist ceremony —the Mun ceremony—the treatment of the dead man's clothes and possessions—the memorial services held a year after death. V. The Lepchas formalise grief very little. BOOK THREE. LIVES OF LEPCHAS Chapter Fourteen. Deviants and Defectives i. The Lepcha stereotype a compromise between the ideal personality and observable behaviour—types of deviation —Rigya, the border. 11. Mental^ defe^ves—Sangkyar the cretin—the subnormal wandeeert"—Kanden die wanderer—are the clinical symp toms of insanity culturally determined ? CHAPin fifteen. The Life of Koiuia i. Reasons for collecting prinuttve liffe-histories: the Unk between psychology and sociology—advantages of die method. ii. Kiuma offered his own story freely—^his character—his atypical traits and circumstances. iii. Kurma's story of his own life. iv. Journal of Kurma's acdons and sayings. Chapter Sixteen. The First Dorj£ Lapoon, his Famuy and JlROONG i. The author regrets that he was unable to get the life-histoty of a well-adjusted Lepcha to counterbalance Kurma's ob'^us maladjustments—well-adjusted Lepchas have inadequate self- feeling. ii. Story of the first Dorji Lapoon—of his son Datoop—of Mrs. Datoop—of their children Pembu and Pichi. iii. Story of Jiroong, his wives and sister.