278 Taugkhiil Folk Tales a7id Notes on some
In regard to the advantages in this life gained by the giver of these feasts there is more uniformity. With each successive feast the social position of the giver is improved. In some tribes the higher posts in the village polity are reserved for those who have completed the series of feasts, while posts of danger in deahng with the powers of darkness are reserved for old men who have given no feasts — worth- less people from whom the community has received and can expect to receive no advantage. Among the Angamis and cognate tribes the performers of these ceremonies seem almost to form a class apart, and the idea crosses my mind whether we may not here have relics of a secret society. Perhaps this idea may gain support from the acts of self- denial, involving abstention from the most popular articles of diet and from the pleasures of the conjugal couch, which are demanded of the aspirant for fame ; and in some cases they are continued after its achievement.
In the insignia or distinguishing marks by which the givers of these feasts are known from the common herd there is considerable variety, but the right to wear some special pattern of cloth is almost universal. I have men- tioned that a Lushai gains the right to have a window, and it is curious to note that a Garo also has to give a feast before he can do so.^ The Garos are a Bodo tribe living to the west of the Khasia hills, at least 150 miles in an airline from the area I am dealing with. The Lushais also put up forked posts for each mithan killed, and these forked posts are a very common form of insignia, with which I will deal later. Some special form of roof ornamentation is a very common mark of having gained social pre-eminence. In some cases the main feature of the feast is the rebuilding of the giver's house.
Among many related tribes, of which the Angami is the chief, the erection of monoliths is the most important part of the ceremonies. I am not prepared to discuss the
^ The Garos, p. 37.
