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

jerked by the strings of broader social, political and economic forces,
this chapter has argued for the Tamaphok Yakha as conscious actors,
taking advantage of the diverse and changing opportunities offered to
travel out of the immediate community and experience life in other
cultural and environmental milieux, Yet the movement of people and
ideas out of Tamaphok was not simply one way. No account of Yakha
culture and environment would be complete without reference to changes
from the outside coming into Tamaphok, These are the subject of the
next chapter.
Notes: Chapter Seven
1, I mean here the physical world. Taking a Yakha perspective, it
could be argued, would also involve looking at migration through the
spirit world. After death, every soul had to migrate to another world,
and various ceremonies were performed both to symbolize this movement,
and to ensure it took place (Chapter Four), The difference between this
and other forms of movement is that no-one professed much interest in
knowing more about the 'other world' after death, "How can we know
where we go when we die?" said one ma~gaoba to us in response to such a
question. Many of the rituals of marriage (Kohn, in press) could also
be seen as a symbolic representation of the movement the bride makes
from her natal home towards incorporation in her marital home. Un! ike
the variety of Brahmin and Chetri life-cycle rituals, the only life-
cycle rituals regularly observed by the Yakha, it seemed, were those
dealing with what could be interpreted as movement through space (rather
than movement through time).
2 Cf, Poffenberger (1980:64): "A final group of variables that have
not been examined are the differential cultural determinants of
migration, For example, it seems reasonable to assume that attitudes
towards and be 1 i ef s about the benef i t s of seasona 1 , semi -permanent , and
permanent migration might vary considerably from group to group and
village to village. Attitudes would in part be determined by the
historical experiences of a village or a family with regard to