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The Oraons of Bengal worship the Earth as a goddess, and annually celebrate her marriage with the Sun-god Dharme¯ at the time when the sa¯l tree is in blossom. The ceremony is as follows. After sacrificing some fowls to the Sun-god and the demon of the grove, the men eat and drink. "The priest is then carried back to the village on the shoulders of a strong man.
The Oraons or Uraons of Chota Nagpur worship a goddess called Anna Kuari, who can give good crops and make a man rich, but to induce her to do so it is necessary to offer human sacrifices. In spite of the vigilance of the British Government these sacrifices are said to be still secretly perpetrated. The victims are poor waifs and strays whose disappearance attracts no notice.
Suppose, for argument's sake, that in prehistoric Greece the mouse had been a totem, as it is among the Oraons of Bengal.
Something like this is reported of the Hervey Islands, New Zealand, the Hawaiians, and other tribes. Among the wild tribes of India, the Khonds and the Oraons, or Dhangars, hold to annihilation of the soul in certain cases. Miss Kingsley reports a specially interesting view in Congo to the effect that souls die when the family dies out.
The Kols inhabit the delta of the Indus and the neighbourhood of Gujerat, and stretch almost across Central India into Behar and the eastern extremities of the Vindhya Mountains. Other Dravidian tribes are the Oraons, Jouangs, Buihers, and Gounds. All these races have a stature of about five feet, and, though much crossed, present more or less marked Negrito characteristics.
Amongst the Oraons and Mundas of Bengal, when the time comes for planting out the rice which has been grown in seed-beds, a party of young people of both sexes go to the forest and cut a young Karma-tree, or the branch of one. Bearing it in triumph they return dancing, singing, and beating drums, and plant it in the middle of the village dancing-ground.
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