Lahote

Lahote
This tribe is living in the Naga hills of Nagaland. Their population is 30,565 (1991
census) and sex ratio is 1:1.
Their physical features is brown skin color and straight long hair (they do not cut their
hair until they kill at least one enemy and women cut their hair when they are seven years
old).
They speak a mixture of Sema and Aao Naga languages (Tibet-Burma language family).
Their village usually on the mountaintops includes 12 to 100 households. A village is
divided into two khels (division of village) and every khel has some gotra. Lahote are
divided in three group – Tompachkatsera, Izmotsera, me-Pongsande. Every group has 7
to 8 gotra and subgroup of gotra.
It is a patriarchal society. Women’s status is secondary and they are only engaged in
domestic work. Property is inherited from father to son but elder married sons get less
property, while the youngest brother gets maximum share.
Birth Ceremony
Lahote celebrate the pregnancy with some rituals. After the occurrence of pregnancy they
celebrate Chorpa (a ritual in which they worship their God and giving dinner). They
worship Sitingo (god of wild animals), who protects pregnant women. If a family does
not get any children they can adopt only a male child. They only celebrate the birth of the
male children.
Marriage Ceremony
Due to the influence of bride wealth, service marriage (if a person is not in a position to
pay the bride wealth, he serves his in-laws and does their domestic work till it becomes
equal to the bride wealth) is also in practice. Installment bride wealth based marriage is
also prevalent. Levirate marriage is permitted and a person can marry with the widow of
his father, if she is not his real mother. Divorce is very common and in general practice
the female side offers it. Due to the poor financial condition, Lahote male like divorce.
Within a gotra, marriage is prohibited.
Death Ceremony
This ceremony is spread over three days. They bury the dead person in their house and
make a hut like monument on the burial site. On the day of the death, the concerned
village does not go hunting. On the third day, they worship Rangsi (god of welfare) and
give a dinner in the honor of the soul of the dead person.
Religion
They are converting Christianity but they have faith in nature. They worship many gods
and goddesses. Potso (god of earth) observes their lives and protects them. Potso tells
about the future events to Ratsen (the Lahote priest). Sitingo (god of wild animals)
protects them from wild animals. Rangisi (god of welfare) protects their village.
Chhupphu (god of river) provides them water.
They also have faith in soul. Omon and mogai are the two types of souls among their
cultural life. Omon (shadow of man) lives with man till his death, while mogai present in
the earth after the death. Gena (community dinner) is celebrated in the honor of mogai.
Anybody can celebrate it. They worship Mingetung (a tree which was connected with the
headhunting of men).
Education
Lahote are living in remote areas with negligible education (4.5%). One missionary
school up to class eight is there.
Economy
Lahote are cultivators and hunters. They do jhum (shifting cultivation) and they hunt
pigs, deer, lion and elephant. They are expert in fishing with osa (a special net for
fishing).
In the last two decades they have understood the value of economy of agriculture, so they
are producing betel cotton on large scale and sell it to government agencies. Paddy
cultivation is generally carried out.
Now women are engaged in weaving work and make beautiful shawls. They are good
dyers. Males strictly carry bucket manufacturing, while females do pottery (it is a social
taboo of sex division in these home industries).
In every khel has a champo (youth home) is a must. Female entrance is a taboo, while
males learn every aspect of socio-cultural life in the champo. The oldest person of the
khel governs the champo.
Dav (an implement) is used for hunting and woodcutting. They use olo (bow) for hunting.
To have olo is the unique sign of identification of a Lahote.
Due to expansion of education and acculturation, human head hunting is totally banned.
They are approaching new trade for their betterment and village is now governed by
village panchayat (Panchayati raj system), instead of the traditional panchayat. 52 Lahote
men are engaged in bucket manufacturing with the help of government aid. 17 Lahote
families are producing cotton for trading. Tobacco is a new field for their traditional life.
12% are producing tobacco for financial betterment. Now they are making concrete
houses instead of bamboo. The government is using the champo (youth home) for
different training programmes. The government officials meet the Lahote men in Champo
to distribute the knowledge of new government policies and Lahote are adopting this new
approach.