| caption: |
spearing of tree with sticks in Kongan ; methods of cattle slaughter |
| text: |
The climb up to Kongan was one of the worst I have done here. In addition I made the mistake of going through the village of Kongan because I believed it to be a short cut. However I saw something of interest there. A tree in front of the village was literally spiked with bamboo sticks. When in March a young man had died a bad death in Namsang Sumniching, Kongan and all neighbouring villages had held a genna when they heard of it. (144) On that genna day the Kongan boys speared the tree with bamboo sticks. One fresh corpse immediately below the upper morung filled the air with stench. Cows were tied up next to the morung and most houses ready for the Bihu which will be held in about ten days. Even two buffaloes were already tethered. They are being sacrificed by the morungs. Formerly in Kongan cattle was slaughtered like in Namsang by hacking off the legs, but today supposedly they observe the prohibition of this custom. All the Kongan houses are built like the Wakching houses. Only the numerous girls' sleeping quarters have an open gable at the front. |
