Apatani shaman chanting during an animal sacrifice
This man is Chige Nyime, an Apatani shaman (nyibu). Here he is chanting to an unseen mithun before it is sacrificed. As Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf explained in his diary, this sacrifice was done in his honour: ‘…the priest began a long incantation, accentuating every phrase with a forward lung...
| Full title: |
Apatani shaman chanting during an animal sacrifice [electronic resource] English. |
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| Format: | Photo |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
[S.l.] :
[s.n.],
1944.
|
| Series: |
SOAS Digital Library.
FURER. RSA. PHOTOS. |
| Subjects: | |
| Online access: |
Click here to view record |
| Summary: |
This man is Chige Nyime, an Apatani shaman (nyibu). Here he is chanting to an unseen mithun before it is sacrificed. As Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf explained in his diary, this sacrifice was done in his honour: ‘…the priest began a long incantation, accentuating every phrase with a forward lunging movement of a long sword of Tibetan kind. He addressed the mithan and asked him not to grieve over his death; he would die for a good cause—to cement the friendship between the Apa Tanis and the government and thereby bring about the destruction of Licha... As the Apa Tanis are enemies of Licha, so should the mithan’s soul become an enemy of Licha and go there to trouble the people of Licha. The mithan should not complain about being sacrificed, for the gods had given the Apa Tanis mithan for slaughter. In such a vein, N[y]ime went on for a long time, always addressing the mithan.’ |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
[S.l.] :
[s.n.],
1944.
|
| Subjects: | |
| Series: |
SOAS Digital Library.
FURER. RSA. PHOTOS. |
| Access: |
© 1944, The Estate of Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf. The Estate is currently (2015) represented by Nicholas Haimendorf, son of Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf. ----- Creative Commons (by-nc-nd). -- This image may be used in accord with Creative Commons license Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs. |
| Place of Publication: |
India -- Arunachal Pradesh -- Lower Subansiri District -- Dutta -- Apatani River valley. |