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Chapter Four. Religious Beliefs and Practices |
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Gawang, creator of the universe, thunderbolt sender, god |
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The people of Wakching imagined Gawang as dwelling in the sky and as having existed before all other beings and things. It was he who created the firmament and who caused the thunder to roll and the lightning to flash. The Konyaks firmly believed that the small neolithic celts which they found occasionally on their fields were the thunderbolts of Gawang. When lightning hit a tree near a village the oldest men sacrificed a chicken and begged Gawang not to harm the settlement. |
