Apatani shaman performing a pig sacrifice

Each year Apatanis celebrate the Myoko festival (late March to mid-April), in which a pig sacrifice is the main event : In the village or set of villages, that is playing host that year, each clan sets up a special altar on the left, of bamboo poles and shavings near a tree : Each family in the clan...

Full description

Full title: Apatani shaman performing a pig sacrifice [electronic resource] English.
Format: Photo           
Language: English
Published: [S.l.] : [s.n.], 1978.
Series: SOAS Digital Library.
FURER.
RSA.
PHOTOS.
Subjects:
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Summary: Each year Apatanis celebrate the Myoko festival (late March to mid-April), in which a pig sacrifice is the main event : In the village or set of villages, that is playing host that year, each clan sets up a special altar on the left, of bamboo poles and shavings near a tree : Each family in the clan then brings a specially reared pig to the altar where it is decorated with rice powder and rice beer : after a shaman chants over each animal as we see here, a few are killed on the spot, but most are taken home to be cut up : the blood from the Myoko pig is later mixed with rice and served in a feast : Only when a new bride eats that meal is she considered formally part of her husband's clan : the shaman seen here wears a special shawl, large hoop earrings and a textile headdress, and he carries a bow, which he points toward the pig : He stands on a special piece of wood : Very little of what we see in this photograph would differ from what we see today.
Language: English
Published: [S.l.] : [s.n.], 1978.
Subjects:
Series: SOAS Digital Library.
FURER.
RSA.
PHOTOS.
Access: © 1978, 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.