Mithun tied up for sacrifice

B&W photographic print. 'Ungma village is a pure Chongli village. The mithun (Bos frontalis) is a very important sacrificial animal among the Nagas. Normally it is allowed to roam free in the jungle, being fed salt occasionally by its owner. The sacrificial animal in the photograph is tied to a...

Full description


Date(s) of creation: October 1922
Level: Item
Format: Archive           
Main author: Mills; James Philip (1890-1960); colonial administrator and anthropologist
URL: http://digital.soas.ac.uk/LOAA004585
URL Description: Digital version available online at SOAS Digital Collections

collection SOAS Archive
id PP_MS_58.02.K.28
recordtype archive
scb_item_location Archive & Special Collections
item_location Archive & Special Collections
scb_loan_type Reference only
callnumber PP MS 58/02/K/28
callnumber_txt PP MS 58/02/K/28
callnumber-sort PP MS 58/02/K/28
prefix_number 28
title Mithun tied up for sacrifice
scb_date_creation October 1922
scb_level Item
level_sort 8/Collection/Sub-Collection/Sub-Sub-Collection/Sub-Sub-Sub-Collection/Series/Sub-Series/Sub-Sub-Series/File/Item
scb_extent 1 photograph
author Mills; James Philip (1890-1960); colonial administrator and anthropologist
author_facet Mills; James Philip (1890-1960); colonial administrator and anthropologist
authorStr Mills; James Philip (1890-1960); colonial administrator and anthropologist
author_letter Mills; James Philip (1890-1960); colonial administrator and anthropologist
format Archive
description B&W photographic print. 'Ungma village is a pure Chongli village. The mithun (Bos frontalis) is a very important sacrificial animal among the Nagas. Normally it is allowed to roam free in the jungle, being fed salt occasionally by its owner. The sacrificial animal in the photograph is tied to a post in the village by a collar made of creeper, the loop at the end being slipped round the post. Upon its neck is a basket containing a cock and decorated with two hornbill feathers. Tassels of bamboo fibre hang from its horns, The Mithun sacrifice is the culmination of the series of Feasts of Merit, the completion of which brings honour to a man, and an increase in the collective "aren" (a type of force) of the clan and the village. The sacrificer wins the right for himself and his family to wear certain cloths and ornaments and to decorate his house in a particular way. It is possible to deduce exactly what Feasts of Merit a person has given by looking at his house or his cloths and ornaments.'
scb_access_status Open
scb_copyright Copyright held by J.P. Mills
language No linguistic content
language_search No linguistic content
scb_scripts_material Unwritten
scb_physc_charac_tech_reqs 9.5 x 7 cm
scb_copies Digital version available online at SOAS Digital Collections
note Sacrifice
Mithun
Naga (South Asian people)
Ethnic group: Naga
Ethnic group: Ao Naga
scb_url http://digital.soas.ac.uk/LOAA004585
scb_url_description Digital version available online at SOAS Digital Collections
hierarchy_top_id_raw PP MS 58
hierarchy_sequence PP_MS_58.0002.00K.0028