|
After sowing, the main work is periodic weeding. A well burnt jhum would
remain comparatively clear of weeds, otherwise growth of weeds would be prolific
and labourious weeding would have to be carried out intensively. After the
last weeding in September, the cultivators celebrate the end of the hard season
by having songs, dances and feasts. The vegetables in the jhum are
harvested in June and July, maize in August, and the early paddy in
September. The harvest of the principal paddy starts in the middle of
October and ends by the middle of December.
The men and women cut the ripened paddy ears and
they are brought to the
jhum hut where the grains are separated from the chaff by trampling on
them. The first such operation is celebrated by friends and relatives over
feasts and sing - songs. Also sometimes threshing and winnowing are done
from a platform about 3 metres high with a sieve. After the harvest has
been collected in the jhum hut, the paddy is shifted to the home in the
village. Thus, almost the whole year is spent in the full operation of one jhum.
Paddy is commonly measured in terms of a full-load of kerosene tin which
contain about 8 Kilogram of paddy. Three tins of paddy measure a load called
phur. A Mizo considers 15 phurs of paddy as the annual food requirement
per person. This comes to about a Kilogram of paddy per day. There are
different traditional measures of the conical heap of paddy when the collected
paddy is put together before threshing. Mipa Zawn means the heap unto a
man's height and Hmeichhe-zawn, up to a woman's height. Kak zawn is a heap
going upto the fork of thumb and index finger when the hand is vertically
raised above the head. Silai zawn is upto the end of a gun held
vertically above the head of a man.
Apart from the main jhum field, every household has a small field generally
near the house or at the bottom end of the jhum, where vegetables and maize are
grown. This is like a kitchen garden. It is called Leipui and is
very convenient and useful for every family.
There were ceremonies and sacrifices connected with each phase of
jhumming. Rialongchhi ceremony was performed by the whole village when the jhum was half
cut. The villagers would gather in the middle of the village with a particular
type of fruit and make a bonfire. After the jhum were fully cut the villagers
would perform a dance called Pakhupila and a feast, Khutla, would be held.
Everyone in the village would participate in the festival for good crops. The
rich men of the village would liberally provide beer and others would also
contribute. Pigs and fowls would be killed for the feast. For two to three days
men and women would dance, going from one house to another. Accompanied by drums
and gongs the men alternating with women would form a ring and with arms over
shoulders the dance would go on in slow rhythm over long periods. After this
festival, the jhums were burnt and paddy was sown in the field. This festival
was to make everyone happy and fit to start the hard work in the jhum for good
crops.
The next ceremony was Leuhrangna which was performed jointly by the ones
whose jhums were adjacent. They would sacrifice a sow and a red cock or a
boar of same size and a hen to propitiate the spirit of the slope on which their
jhums were situated. Another sacrifice performed was Sachipachhua when a black
fowl would be sacrificed and some seeds of rice and other crops which had been
sown would be anointed with the blood. Before the second weeding a sacrifice
called Chithla was performed. This was to please the spirit of the field
who would protect the crops from animals and ensure a good harvest. Posts were
erected in front of each jhum house and fowls, pigs, dogs etc. would be
sacrificed and certain ceremonies of cooking in a jhum house with the use of
salt were performed. After the paddy plants had been pulled up and before the
grain had been gathered, a sacrifice called Leuhmathawna was performed in
front
of each jhum house. With chanting for bountiful crops a red hen would be
sacrificed and seeds would be anointed with blood. After the sacrifice, the
people would go to the field and collect the paddy. During the harvest strangers
were prohibited from entering into a jhum house. There was also prohibition for
eating certain types of meat like bird and rat. After threshing, the grains would
be collected in a granary in the jhum house. On storage of all the paddy, a
sacrifice called Sikisa would be performed in which a white fowl or a dog would
be sacrificed and the family would come to the village to eat a meal with meat.
While returning to the village, the people would blow a bamboo whistle to call
back their spirits from the jhum to the village.
|
