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Chapter Twenty-one. Head-Hunting Rites |
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functions of head-hunting and effects of stopping it |
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Thus the bringing in of a head not only furthers in a magical way the fertility of the village, but also in a more concrete manner acts as an incentive to trade and production. In fact, the prohibition of head-hunting deprives the Nagas, not only of an exciting sport, but also of a stimulant to economic effort. In the life of primitive tribes every institution is linked so closely with the whole social structure that any enforced infringement has more far-reaching consequences than it is possible to foresee without intimate knowledge of the whole social and economic organism. |
