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Sangtam bride-price and betrothal |
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1. A rich man's daughter: |
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in return the bridegroom receives: |
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5-6 pigs (of which 1 must be a sow) |
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3. Poor or ordinary status: |
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(If a sow is not included in the pigs, the couple will not get any children). |
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Betrothal - in rich families usual when boy and girl are small, this is to avoid the relatives getting a right of temporary usage over the movables. Sometimes the boy's father gives a dao to the girl's - this links them. After the harvest, marriages taken up. A strict ban on pre-marital intercourse - if a girl has an illegitimate child, the boy is heavily fined - the baby is starved - genna to breast feed it - the girl stays in her parent's house - a concoction of salt, some bitter jungly leaves - up to 2 months abortion possible, after that not. |
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Once betrothal has been celebrated with a dao, the young couple can sleep together - otherwise not. The ordinary assumption is that every Sangtam girl is a virgin at her marriage - older tradition - strict segregation - but nowadays the Ao custom of free mixing is creeping in, semi-christian villages also a demoralising factor, plus Govt. ban on starvation of illegitimate children has weakened the old sanction. |
