2026/07/22 by Sezolu Puro, Salam Anand Singh
Arts and Humanities · Psychology · #Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health #Indian and Buddhist Studies #Paleopathology and ancient diseases
paper · doi:10.1177/00302228261471050
crossref issued 2026/07/22 · crossref published 2026/07/22 · crossref published-online 2026/07/22 · openalex publication_date 2026/07/22 · crossref created 2026/07/23 · openalex created_date 2026/07/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/24 · crossref deposited 2026/07/25 · crossref indexed 2026/07/25
This study examines mortuary practices in pre-colonial Chakhesang Naga society, reconstructed through oral histories and ethnographic evidence, to analyze how death rituals organized social and cosmological life. Focusing on funerary meat distribution (Thuphre), intrapartum maternal death, and memorial stone construction, it argues that mortuary practices do not constitute a uniform response to death but instead differentiate social groups through practices of inclusion, exclusion, and ritual obligation. Thuphre operate as a ritual economy through which clan affiliation, economic status, and social reciprocity are materially reproduced via sacrifice, exchange, and consumption. In contrast, intrapartum maternal death is associated with danger, pollution, and cosmological disruption, leading to ritual suspension and spatial exclusion. Memorial stone construction generates gendered prestige, visibility, and public remembrance. Together, these practices demonstrate that Chakhesang mortuary rituals do not merely respond to death but actively produce and sustain social hierarchy, gender relations, and cosmological order.