THE YAKHA: CULTURE, ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT IN ...

1979:53). We were told of two other foods in Tamaphok said to be
prohibited nationwide, namely goose (rt5jahi3-s) and long-eared goats. It
did not appear that any of these items had ever been in the Yakha diet,
or, if they had, their loss was no hardship to the Yakha, The Yakha
also appeared to accept the caste restriction on killing cows and eating
beef. e.. On the other hand, Yakha persisted in eating foods which were
supposed to be inedible for high caste Hindus such as pigs, buffalo and
alcohol. This was the source of a cultural division between them and
the caste Hindus which could be crudely defined as pig/alcohol versus
cow/mi lk.
Yakha tended to favour pork over all other types of meat. Quite
apart from taste, goat and buffalo meat was said to go off quickly in
comparison (an important considerat ion at Dasai -, when there was a
sudden surfeit of meat in many households), While pork was said to
develop a rancid smell it was still considered to taste good. It was
also said that goat and buffalo fat congealed horribly whereas pig fat
was softer: an important consideration if leaf plates were not going to
be used and washing up was required after, For the Brahmins and
Chetris, pigs were traditionally seen as abhorrent, aithough as we shall
see elsewhere, it was not unheard of for them to eat it.
Alcohol had a similarly important place in Yakha culture, and apart
from refreshment was a major medium of sociai exchange. Its restriction
for some other groups made it, like the production of pigs, a symbol of
caste identity. Unlike the blanket coverage of alcohol in the Muluki
m, however, the Yakha regarded the two main types of domestically
produced alcohol they consumed, cuha and raksi, rather differently.
This difference was remarked upon by Hodgson, who wrote that the 'KirBnt