Untitled - Life and Culture on the Tibetan Plateau

INTRODUCTION
Thirteen-year old Dpal mo mtsho's (b. 1994) hair changing
ritual in Brag dmar nang Tibetan Village, Dkar brjid
Township, Khri ka County, Mtsho lho Tibetan Autonomous
Prefecture, Mtsho sngon (Qinghai) Province, China is
described. The hair changing ritual is a coming-of-age
ceremony that announces that the girl is available for
marriage.
The book is divided into three parts. Part One reviews
relevant literature, study methods are described, <strong>and</strong> the
village is introduced. Part Two gives a generalized,
normative description of the ritual; how guests are invited
<strong>and</strong> identifies them; the girl's clothing; the girl's ornaments;
ritual helpers; labor division for ritual activities; food, drinks,
<strong>and</strong> cigarettes served to the guests; the girl's hair; the day
before the day of rituals; the gathering of children; the
gathering of villagers; the evening of the party day; the night
of the party day; leave-taking; <strong>and</strong> the party for ritual helpers
on the departure day. Part Three provides the same
information as Part Two, but with specific details for Dpal
mo mtsho's hair changing ritual as it was held in 2007.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Very little literature was found on hair changing rituals
among Tibetan females. Furthermore, what was found deals
with hair changing only in the context of marriage rituals,
<strong>and</strong> thus is peripheral to the present case. Chab 'gag rdo rje
tshe ring (1983), Tshe 'grub (1991), Blo bzang (1987), <strong>and</strong>
Hu'u pen (1984) each present a single hair changing speech.
However, the speeches are presented without information as
to who the orators were <strong>and</strong> where, when, <strong>and</strong> how the
speeches were collected. These four speeches share these
elements: how the matchmaker proposed marriage to the
girl's family; the girl's parents' initial disagreement;
divination; village elders deciding that it was best for the girl
to marry the young man who had proposed; the girl being
sad to leave her home <strong>and</strong> marry into the groom's home, <strong>and</strong>
being comforted; promises made to the girl that she would
receive clothing, ornaments, what was needed to dress her
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