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Chapter One. The Material Background |
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carrying rice up to village ; renting of land |
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To carry the heavy baskets full of grain up to the village was hard work, and this task fell largely to the women. At this time, as, indeed, throughout the cultivating season, the owners of fields lying comparatively close to the village had to expend much less energy than those whose land lay at a distance of 3 or 4 miles. For this reason, rich men found it useful to rent land close to the village, and perhaps let out any plots of their own which were inconveniently situated. In 1936 the rent for such fields was usually paid in cash, but as money had no place in traditional Konyak economy, there can be no doubt that previously grain was paid as rent for land. |
