Apatani woman and young man on their porch
Gathered on their porch, these Apatanis probably saw the photographer before he saw them : the woman smoking her metal-bowl pipe and the young man at leisure are enjoying the sunshine : He wears his hair in the traditional manner, with a brass skewer through a tight knot : a bamboo sheath, carrying...
| Full title: |
Apatani woman and young man on their porch [electronic resource] English. |
|---|---|
| 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: |
Gathered on their porch, these Apatanis probably saw the photographer before he saw them : the woman smoking her metal-bowl pipe and the young man at leisure are enjoying the sunshine : He wears his hair in the traditional manner, with a brass skewer through a tight knot : a bamboo sheath, carrying a small knife, hangs from his neck, as does a small necklace with the then-highly-desirable safety pin and more traditional tooth of a jungle cat : She has the traditional wooden nose plugs and facial tattoos : at about age five or six, tattoo lines were made by pricking the skin with thorns and then rubbing in a mixture of coal black and cooking oil : One line was drawn from forehead to the tip of the nose, and another five on the chin : about the same age, a young girl's nostrils were pierced and wooden pins inserted : a few years later, when the hole was large enough, wooden plugs, also blackened with soot and oil, were inserted : In 1974, the Apatani Youth Association demanded that these practices be abandoned, and today nose plugs and facial tattoos are only seen on women above 35-40 years of age : Her large hoop, brass earrings and hair style have also been replaced by other fashions : apatanis live in nuclear families, narrow houses approx : 12 x 4 metres, and compact villages in order to use every square metre of land for wet-rice agriculture : Porches, front and back, extend the living and working area, and provide a public viewing gallery, as well : this type of roof with thatch on top of split and flattened bamboo was replaced by fully bamboo roofs more fire-resistant and water-tight, in the 1970s : Since the 1990s, corrugated iron sheeting has been preferred : another change is that houses are now only about 1 metre above ground, while in the 1940s they were higher : Wooden or concrete steps have also been substituted for the flat wooden board leading to the front porch : In other essentials, however, Apatani houses today look like the one seen in this photograph. |
|---|---|
| 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 -- Apatani River valley. |