Tucked away in the eastern Himalayas, the narrow Apatani valley is a fertile realm of bamboo forests and carefully tended paddy fields, home to an eponymous tribe circumscribed not only by the mountains that border its valley but also by an acute sense of itself as a people. Folklorist Stuart Blackburn's latest is the second of two major monographs he has written on oral culture in the Apatani valley. In this closely focused follow-up to his more comprehensive 2008 Himalayan Tribal Tales: Oral Tradition and Culture in the Apatani Valley (Leiden: Brill, 2008), Blackburn provides a translation and interpretation of the Subu Heniin, a day-long chant performed by a shaman-like officiant (the nyibu) on the first day of a sponsored sacrifice called the Murung. In order to elucidate the significance of this oral performance, Blackburn provides, in addition to his translation and transliteration of the Subu Heniin, thorough discussion...

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