Birth and Deaths

During the period of pregnancy, the Sherdukpen women receives special attention from her husband and family members. The childbirth takes place with the help of experienced woman of the village. As soon as the woman is delivered of the child she takes a bath and the new baby is also given a warm water bath by a woman. It is at the age of three days that the child is given a name by the local priest by consulting sacred books.

Among the Sherdukpens, both cremation and burial are the customary methods of disposal of the dead. In case of a rich man the body is cremated, while the body is buried in the case of an ordinary person. Customarily, it is the duty of the members of the Chhao class (Inferier class) to wash the corpse wrap it in a piece of new cloth and carry it for cremation or burial because it is considered taboo for a thong (superior class) to touch a dead body. On the third day of death, some rituals are performed by the village priest with the offering of water, rice and maize in the name of the departed. The mourning is observed for several days.

Marriage and Divorce System

The Sherdukpen society is monogamous in character. In selecting a marriage partner norms of class endogamy and clan exogamy are strictly observed in their society. The usual mode of marriage arrangement is negotiation by parents of either side with however prior consent would be bride and bride groom. Traditionally, preference of marriage to particular kin such as parallel and cross- cousins and levirate and serrate of both junior and senior types are suggested in their society but are not rigidly prescribed.

Divorce is recognized in the Sherdukpen society and it is normally affected in cases of adultery and frequent quarrels.

Festivals

The Sherdukpens observe a number of festivals both Buddhist and Non- Buddhistic. Their main Buddhist festivals are Lossar and wang, while Khiksaba is a non- Buddhist festival which is meant ot appease the forest deities. The lossar is observed like the Monpas. The wang is observed by the Sherdukpens for two days in the month of June or July in honour of Lord Buddha. The Khiksaba festivals observed in November or December and this festival ensures that the forest spirits will not attack the people on their long trek through the jungles done to the plains. Feasting and drinking, scarification of goats and Fawls and offerings of rice, flowers, fruits etc. are the important events of Khiksaba festival. There are also several other festivals like Rek Lapsang Chhongba (Agricultural festival), Photenya (Another agricultural festival), Chekor festival etc. which are regularly celebrated by the Sherdukpens.

Dances

The Sherdukpen have mainly two types of dances – the kienpa and Brehpu. In these dances there is no regular training but the novices learn the dance from the senior dances. Like the Monpas, the Kiengpa dance is performed by two young men wearing wooden masks. On the occasion of choker festival fot the welfare of the villagers. The Brophu is a group of dances performed for merriment on festival occasions like chekor festival, marriage ceremony etc. It is performed by both men and women and generally at night. Ho musical instrument is played to the accompaniment of these dances. Beside, the sherdukpens being Buddhist have a great variety of pantomimes which are remarkably similar those of the Monpas like Deer dance, Ajilamu dance, and yak dance etc. Each of these pantomimes is associated with a story and some of them have a definite moral purpose intended to emphasis the fate of sinners after death.

Games and Amusements

Hunting

The Sherdukpens resort to hunting in their leisure time and they practice both individual and community hunting. The organization of the group hunting is informal. All the dogs belonging to the participant in a hunt are entrusted to the charge. One man who usually goods them forward to come out the jungle. The hunters lie in wait and as the animals being frightened by the barking noises of dogs and yelling hunters get close to them release their poisoned and non- poisoned arrows which hit the animals. They also use other methods kike from platforms built on trees, bamboo enclosures etc. the game includes Deer, Bear, Tiger, Leopard and boar. All the hunters get their shares however, the leader of the party and successful marksmen get larger share.

Fishing

Most of the sherdukpens are highly expert in fishing and they devote themselves to the sport sometime or the other as the reverse and streams in their habitats are abundant with fish. Thee most common method of fishing besides, traps and angling is by damming the water with logs and stones and diverting it on to dry land or higher level, leaving the fish on dry ground where they are readily caught by hand. The huge catch is dried and smoked and kept for future use.

Other Games

The other games popular among the sherdukpens are wrestling (Jamdipa),Hand wrestling (Ikhang dipa), Kipping (Tak-luba), Dragon’s tail, Archery, Target shooting(Mit-rek-pa), Tug of war(Tak-Kindi-pa), Long jump(Chao-dipa), High Jump (tak-tinkan-gi-chaudin), putting the shot(che-lung-terdim), leap frog(chaodia),Race(chow-cha-dim) which needs no description as they are played as in other part of the country or world . However, some o much interesting games not too familiar with any other common games in sherdukpens are Hide and Seek (ukba-sauba) in which the players divide themselves into two parties of equal numbers and one party hides, while the other seeks, when the Kwi-ba is given, in which case the game is more in the nature if treasure hunt especially when they make wager of boiled or toasted maize. Pick-a-back-kick-fighting in which players consists of two boys kicking one another while riding on the back of two other stalwarts and it is known as Wirela-khiadia, sta-rekba or starekdim a play similar to the games of marbles played in other societies, Rolling the Wheel, a game in which young sherdukpens children enjoy by running up and down with wooden wheel attached to a bamboo handle, and so on. Wrist gripping completion, cock fight (Bhcha lodim-chim) and stick wrestling (Chow-dim) are also common recreational games of the sherdukpens.

Food and Drinks

The traditional diet of the sherdukpens is very simple cosseting mainly of cereals, fish, vegetables and beer brewed from maize and millet. They have a detailed knowledge of honey collections from the hives found in the jungle. The honey is taken with food particularly with fried maize which is regarded as a great delicacy.

Property and Inheritance

The immovable property of a sherdukpens family consist of the house, the cultivable lands and the areas reserve for fishing collection of honey and fuel gathering. The movable property includes livestock, household belonging cloths, ornaments domestic utensils, agricultural implements and so on. If a member of the family produces manufactures or acquires property through his own efforts he exercises exclusive rights of ownership over it and can disposed it of at his discretion. Domestic animals are owned by the man folk, but ordinarily they are not disposed of with out the consent of the elder members of he family. Women do not have and right or claim over immovable property. They are however, encourage to rear poultry and breed cattle which they can sell on their own and retain the sale proceeds for personal use.

On the death of a father, the eldest son gets a major share of the property and the rest is equally divided among the other sons. The adopted son too has the right over the property. If a man dies without leaving a son, his estate goes to his nearest male relative. The person who gets the major share in the estate left by the deceased person has to perm the death rites and bear the expenses of the funeral feast.

Dresses and Ornaments

Traditionally , a sherdukpens man wears a piece of cloth, either mill made or indri silk, diagonally covering the upper part of the body and securing its two ends on the shoulders and a full sleeved jacket that reaches below the hip. He usually wears a cloth for the nether garment for head dress he puts on a skull cap, made from yak’s hair that has tassel like projection. The woman wears a sleeveless shirt which covers the body from shoulders to knees and round the waist a colored sash. She sometime wears a small full sleeved coat made of mill cloth. Both men and women adorn themselves elaborately on festive occasions that have their own recognizable colorful garments.

The sherdukpens of either sex wears bead necklaces, silver lockers and silver or brass finger ting, women also wears silver bangles and bracelets decorated with engraved designs and studded beads.