OLAC Record oai:www.mpi.nl:1839_00-0000-0000-0017-C566-F

Metadata
Title:		Cholim - Wihu prayer, song and discussion
		The Traditional Songs And Poetry Of Upper Assam – A Multifaceted Linguistic and Ethnographic Documentation of the Tangsa, Tai and Singpho Communities in Margherita, Northeast India
Contributor:		Meenaxi Barkataki
Contributor (consultant):		Lukam Tonglum (Loekyam Cholim is his Cholim name; Lukam is the name used by other Tangsa groups)
Coverage:		India
Date:		2010-12-30
Description:		SDM-12-2010-12-30-03-MB-Kharangkong-Lukam-Wihukuh-prayer.wav LT recites the prayer in Cholim, says it can also be sung. This prayer is said before an animal is sacrificed. SDM-12-2010-12-30-04-MB-Kharangkong-Lukam-Wihu-song.wav LT sings a bit of the Wihu song. SDM-12+ass-2010-12-30-05-MB-Kharangkong-Lukam-Wihu-song+explanation+misc-disc.wav Lukam Tonglung first said the ‘rhim-rhim’ prayer in Cholim and explained it in Assamese as follows: begs the Wihu spirit that there is dhan-laxmi stored somewhere, please bring it, you are the malik of everything, of the sun, moon, wind, preserver of earth and oceans, so give us wealth and prosperity; we will all get together with our family, clan and relatives for Wihu, give us enough to eat full stomach (and also all through the year) and also to be able to feed the guests. It is an invitation as well as a request. He then sang the song while sacrificing a chicken in full and then explained it as follows: listen o chicken, it is not that I am witch that I want to eat your meat, nor do I want to show my power, I am neither a witch nor am I strong, I am weak and blind, I have no power to kill you, or to eat your meat, but today the day has come for you to die, you were told by the Gods to stay with humans and to do as they tell you to do at the beginning of creation. So today you will have to die in order to invite the Wihu to our house and you have the power (we are blind and cannot see) in dying to put your claws in such a way that we can read the future and may the future be good. You will go to the gods today, go and bring wealth and prosperity to us. The chicken is killed in order to do augury with the claws; first during the prayer the host tells the chicken what to do, the spirit is hearing and then later does as told. The house spirit invites the spirit of Wihu into the house;
		This project contains linguistic, musicalogical, ethnographic and other cultural information about three communities in Upper Assam: Singpho, Tai and Tangsa. The recordings and analyses have been done by Stephen Morey, together with Palash Kumar Nath (Gauhati University), Juergen Schoepf (Phonogrammarchiv, Vienna), Meenaxi Barkataki Ruscheweyh (Goettingen Academy of Sciences), Chaichuen Khamdaengyodtai (Rajabhat University, Chiang Mai), Zeenat Tabassum (Gauhati University), Karabi Mazumder (Gauhati University), Krishna Boro (Gauhati University), Paul Hastie (LaTrobe University). The key aims of the project were • to provide a comprehensive documentation of the varieties of Tangsa language spoken in the Margherita Subdivision of Upper Assam, India, • to provide a comprehensive documentation of the traditional songs, and poetry of three endangered language communities in the Margherita Subdivision: the Tangsa and Singpho (both Tibeto-Burman) and the Tai (Tai-Kadai), including a study of Tai traditional manuscripts, which are highly relevant for language and culture maintenance among the Tai. Within each of these communities there is considerable linguistic and cultural diversity, so all the files have been divided up and named according to this system: Tai SDM01 Phake SDM02 Aiton SDM03 Khamyang SDM04 Ahom SDM05 Khamti Singpho SDM07 Turung SDM08 Numhpuk Hkawng SDM09 Diyun Hkawng SDM10 Tieng Hkawng Tangsa SDM11 Youngkuk SDM12 Cholim SDM13 Kimsing SDM14 Tikhak SDM15 Lochhang SDM16 Ngaimong SDM17 Maitai SDM18 Shechhyv SDM19 Mossang SDM20 Khvlak SDM21 Lakkai SDM22 Lungri SDM23 Hakhun SDM24 Lungkhe SDM25 Ronrang SDM26 Sangte SDM27 Sangwal SDM28 Halang SDM29 Haseng SDM30 Morang SDM31 Moklum
		Three short recordings in which Lukam Tonglum talks about the Wihu song, a style of song performed at the festival of Wihu Kuq This consists of the following sound files: SDM12-2008Tascam-117.wav, length 4'00"; recorded on 9/1/2008 SDM12-2008Tascam-118.wav, length 3'29"; recorded on 9/1/2008 SDM12-2008Tascam-119.wav, length 2'07"; recorded on 9/1/2008 The contents of each recording are as follows SDM12-2008Tascam-117.wav, Singing the Wihu song already performed by the girls of Kharang Kong in SDM12-20071215-01-1178_GirlsDancingGroup 2'40". This recording includes some discussion SDM12-2008Tascam-118.wav, Further discussion of song styles, with relation to SDM12-20071215-01-1178_GirlsDancingGroup 2'40", singing the dance style as well as the Wihu Kuq style SDM12-2008Tascam-119.wav, Further discussion of song styles, with relation to SDM12-20071215-01-1178_GirlsDancingGroup 2'40"; includes discussion about how the children learned the songs
		Lukam Tonglum (Loekyam Cholim) is the leader of the Cholim community in Kharang Kong. He came from Burma in the 1950s to join his brother who had already set up in Kharang Kong. He is very knowledgeable about all aspects of Cholim culture.
Format:		audio/x-wav
Identifier:		oai:www.mpi.nl:1839_00-0000-0000-0017-C566-F
Publisher:		Stephen Morey
		Research Centre for Linguistic Typology, La Trobe University
Subject:		Ritual/religious texts
		Unspecified
		Tase Naga language
		Tangsa (Cholim)
Subject (ISO639):		nst
Type:		audio
OLAC Info
Archive:		The Language Archive at the MPI for Psycholinguistics
Description:		http://www.language-archives.org/archive/www.mpi.nl
GetRecord:		OAI-PMH request for OLAC format
GetRecord:		Pre-generated XML file
OAI Info
OaiIdentifier:		oai:www.mpi.nl:1839_00-0000-0000-0017-C566-F
DateStamp:		2017-04-21
GetRecord:		OAI-PMH request for simple DC format
Search Info
Citation:		Meenaxi Barkataki; Lukam Tonglum (Loekyam Cholim is his Cholim name; Lukam is the name used by other Tangsa groups) (consultant). 2010-12-30. Stephen Morey.
Terms:		area_Asia country_MM iso639_nst
Inferred Metadata
Country:		Myanmar
Area:		Asia