The Maui news. [volume] (Wailuku, Maui, H.I.) 1900-current, 1922-10-06
Tiger Born Race"
Does Little Hunting
But Tills The Sol

1 COS
MaiD-The Lahus are n of the
hitherto little known tribes described
by Ralph Henderson, an American
wayfarer, whose travel pictures have
been appearing in The Rangoon Ga
zette. These sturdy, yet sociable peo-
pie live mostly in the Chinese pro
vince OF Gunnan, a wild country Dor
dering on the northeast frontier of
Burma. Referring to their life and
customs, Mr.. Henderson writes:
W. met more Lahus than any 9th
er tribesmen, | think. Lahu is the
tribes nam for itself, and means the
'tiger-born' race. The tribe is a big
one and spills across into Yunnan, or
rather, spills from Yunnan into Bur-
ma, since they originally came from
China. The Lahus live by agriculture,
the men doing a little hunting on the
side when they can get hold of a gun
that shoots forward, instead Of back
ward or in all directions at once.
Every hill man who considers himself
of any Importance at all must have
his gun. There is a factory in Keng-
tung where muz~zle-loading guns are
manufactured. A few carpenters and
blacksmiths sit beneath a big banyan
tree and make them. When a gun is
made, some bold workman fires it to
see if it will go off. If it does, it is
sold at once.
But not all hill men are so forum
ate as to be able to secure one of
these 'Hsamtun' guns. Many of them,
therefore, make their own. Then they
make their W powder AMI shot, and,
when all is finished, have the sell.con-
idence or temerity to go hunting with
their creation. l carried a repeating
shotgun up there, and it is not sur
prising that they regarded it with an
awe that amounted almost to eve
ence. \ friend of mine carried an old
revolver. He had paid three dollars
for it in America, and, since that time
the handle had become broken. He
was offered the equivalent of S65 for
it, broken handle and all, by a friend
ly robber chief.
The Lahus have a formal and i'm
personal way OF making love. The
young men build a fire, and the maid.
ems another, these fires within a
stones toss of each. Then each group
sits about its own fire, and the court
ings begins. The groups sing love
songs to each other in turn. This may
continue for hours. Then at last comes
a song saying the time has come for
parting, and with hat the two groups
rise from about their fires and come
together for a moment. In this mo-
ment, a youth may exchange turbans
with the lady of his heart. These eX-
changed turbans are worn for several
days, and the whole proceeding serves
the same purpose as our engagement
and engagement ring. If either party
regrets the compact, he or she may
demand a return of turbans, and
there's an end to everything. Other.
wise, marriage follows.
"Lahus commonly have large
families, and to save a great deal of
mental effort on the part of the
parents in devising names for their
progeny, they employ an ingenious
scheme-a kind of calendar of names,
They have a cycle of - days in their
week; dog day, pig day, rat day, cow
day, tiger day, ass day, death day,
crocodile day, sheep day, pony day,
chicken day and louise day. A child
born on dog day is called Master OF
Miss Dog; on rat day, Master or Miss
Rat; on sheep day, Master or Miss
Sheep.
at might be supposed that a child
born at midnight "a rather vague and
inclusive term in a land without time
pieces would catch the baptismal
wheel on dead center, and would be
in a fair way to get two names OF
none. Not so. The child is merely
Master or Miss Midnight. What more
simple! To introduce a comfortable
amount of variety, the first horn is
| usually called Master or Miss First
Commonly The name derived from the
day is also added and the result is
> such a mann as Master First ASS, OIL
= Miss Second Pig.
5 THE child whom it's parents expect
to be the last may likewise be called
Master or Miss Last. 1t must be an
noying to the inventors of the system
that there is at least a modicum OF
= uncertainty in ~bestowing the name OF
Master or Miss Last on a child. The
future cannot be surely foretold, and
2 consequently it is not uncommon tc
find in a family two, or even three
+ children bearing the name Last"
2 -St4s--