Once upon a time, man and spirits lived together in harmony. A-ma Mata had two breasts in front where her human children could nurse. She had nine breasts on her back to nourish her spirit children. Humans always worked during the day, and spirits always worked at night. The water buffalo and the tiger, the chicken and the eagle, also lived together
-- The Ruma (A Dog on the Roof paragraph 6)

Importance: This quote is important because it lays down the foundation for how the Akha tribe understands their world. While this is merely the tip of their spiritual and traditional beliefs, it offers a simple explanation as to what they believe. The Akha believe in spirits, and they believe that “once upon a time” they lived in harmony with humans. This implies that this peace no longer exists. We also know that they believe in one grand deity: A-ma Mata. This is very interesting since the women are judged...