The Nagas

Hill Peoples of Northeast India

Project Introduction The Naga Database
caption: footnotes
text: 5. The Nzemi have two theories about this custom. One is that the death is directly caused by the neglected and slighted ancestors; the other, and more common, holds that the hera think that since the man drinks first, he is older than his ancestors (the senior man is always the first to drink) and is therefore long overdue for death.