| caption: |
corpse platform, and of the dead |
| text: |
(121) Not far from the village of Kanching the gaonburas were waiting for us in a rest house which was built directly over the path leading to the fields. They gave us madhu, a welcome drink in the heat of the day. Below the village we saw a corpse platform, or rather a platform built over the grave. It is decorated with carved hornbill bird heads. Panjis are stuck into the ground around the grave so that the deceased will not meet his enemies. Here Akong-du-tangba is the lord of the land of the dead (Moi-he). (See S.P. 3 p. 15 following and 24.) The dead go to the south. In Kanching I sat down in a morung and found out a lot about the village foundation ceremonies. (notebook 3 p. 17 following.) Furthermore about the morung's ownership of fields. |
