Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-07-31
HUNT Hun HEADS
TO PREVENT
CROP FAILURE;
Tribe in Burma Makes Bust
ness Of Hunting Heads
Each Year.

Rangoon-Ralph e. Henderson, .
Harvard graduate, who has spent h
past eight months travelling in south
ern Asia, has just completed a trip
through the British 'unadmlnistered
of northeastern Burma and
Ilnto the Chinese province of Yunnan,
neither OF which nave been thorough
~ explored by white men.
Among the wild. tribes encountered
on this "trip were the head-huntlng
Was. Hitherto little has been definite
lly known concerning the life and GUS
who intruded upon Wa territory fail
ed to return. The Was do not hunt
heads primarily from cannibalistic
motives, but rather because OF their
belief that their crops will fall unless
some fresh human skulls are import
ed every year. Under this impression,
they organise head-hunting expedi.
tions every spring, and 1t Is small
consolation to tho unfortunate travel
er who falls into their hands hat it
u only his skull that Is wanted.
Keen Hunters.
writing Of tho Wild Was, Mr.. Hen
sThe Was are especially keen on
hunting heads during February,
March and Aprtl-tust before th'
! planting season, From the Was angle
! OF looking at 1t, the business Isn't
the madness wo take It to be: 1t is a
convention, and quite as reasonable
as afternoon tea. Every decently re-
listous Wa knows that unless the
seed grain Is properly charmed n
conjured with a human head, the
crop raised from 1t will be a failure.
| And who wants to starve? In fact, 1t
worst m to worst, and there are
NO heads Forthcoming from raids on
neighbors, tho Was prefer to take the
! head Of some feeble person In the
village, rather than run the risk OF
soant crops and consequent empty
stomachs.
TN February. March and April,
then. the Wild Wa men go a-hunting.
OF course, any head that offers itself
to be collected IL regarded as fair
game, and It behooves the man work
ing aione cutting jungle or the wom-
an hoeing alone in the field to be
cautious when the Wa are afoot. A
common artifce Is to barricade some
Jungle highway and lie in ambush,
some just behind the barricade. some
on either side to rush down on the
TANKS Of any party caught n the
trap.
Ceremony IL Held.
fHeads Of men, women and chill
dren over IL years old are acceptable
Heads marked with smallpox, for
superstitious reasons, r not desired
A successful foray Is n which yields
] one OF more corpses. Immediately the
! heads are cut off and put in bags
+ Then back home go the rejoicing Was
! not neglecting to take the bodies
4 ~l@~~ H~p $ha 1oHSAr orH 70 iofnp .
whooping and hulabaloc
along the way. At home there's a GER
emory to perform. The wife or moth.
err Of the man who made the kill takes
the head out Of the bag and proceeds
Ito vail over it formally. She must
wash the blood from the dead face
y and wall an unconditional song as she
does so. She must work herself int
q sentimental frenzy, which feat un
der the circumstances is usually cas-.
Of performance. If her" wailing lack'
the ring oftgenuineness, her husband
helps to- supply that which is lacking
J by b~eatingsher. b
This song, strangely enough, be
! eeeches the aid of the spirit Of thu
I head, and addresses it as a might,
: ruler. It Is this spirit which is to pro
mote the growth of the crops, and !
/; Ikust be treated with great reverence
/: I, heard this song ono
after the head has been WASHED
\ and walled over, a raw egg is put int
the dead mouth, to feed the spirit
! Then the head is thrust up on a pole
A basket OF seed paddy (rice, is pu
under it and left for a few days. A.
the head decays, the droppings fal
into the seed paddy, and are thor
oughly mixed with it. The paddy Il
then readyeto plant, and a good crol
8 Is assured.3S