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Title: The Mafulu
Mountain People of British New Guinea
Author: Robert W. Williamson
Release Date: March 4, 2006 [EBook #17910]
Last updated: January 27, 2009
Language: English
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The Mafulu
Mountain People of British New Guinea
Robert W. Williamson
With an Introduction
by
A. C. Haddon, Sc.D., F.R.S.
With Illustrations and Map
Macmillan and Co., Limited
St. Martin's Street, London
1912
PREFACE
This book is the outcome of an expedition to British New Guinea
in 1910, in which, after a short stay among the people of some of
the western Solomon Islands, including those of that old centre
of the head hunters, the Rubiana lagoon, and a preparatory and
instructive journey in New Guinea among the large villages of the
Mekeo district, I struck across country by a little known route,
via Lapeka, to Ido-Ido and on to Dilava, and thus passed by way of
further preparation through the Kuni country, and ultimately reached
the district of the Mafulu villages, of whose people very little was
known, and which was therefore the mecca of my pilgrimage.
I endeavoured to carry out the enquiries of which the book is a record
as carefully and accurately as possible; but it must be remembered
that the Mafulu people had seen very few white men, except some
of the Fathers of the Catholic Mission of the Sacred Heart, the
visits of Government officials and once or twice of a scientific
traveller having been but few and far between, and only short; that
the mission station in Mafulu (the remotest station of the mission)
had only been established five years previously; that the people
were utterly unaccustomed to the type of questioning which systematic
ethnological enquiry involves, and that necessarily there was often
the usual hesitation in giving the required information.
I cannot doubt, therefore, that future enquiries and investigations
made in the same district will bring to light errors and
misunderstandings, which even with the greatest care can hardly be
avoided in the case of a first attempt on new ground, where everything
has to be investigated and worked up from the beginning. I hope,
however, that the bulk of my notes will be found to have been correct
in substance so far as they go.
I regret that my ignorance of tropical flora and fauna has made it
impossible for me to give the names of many of the plants and animals
to which I refer.
There are many people, more than I can mention here, to whom I owe my
grateful thanks. Prior to my departure for the South Seas Dr. Haddon
took great trouble in helping and advising me, and, indeed, I doubt
whether I should have ventured upon my solitary expedition if I had
not had his stimulating encouragement.
In New Guinea I had the never-failing hospitality and kindness
of my good friend Monseigneur de Boismenu (the Bishop of the
Mission of the Sacred Heart) and the Fathers and Brothers of the
Mission. Among the latter I would specially mention Father Egedi
and Father Clauser. Father Egedi (whose name is already familiar
to students of New Guinea Ethnology) was my friend and travelling
companion during a portion of my journeyings through the Mekeo and
Kuni districts, and his Mekeo explanations proved invaluable to me
when I reached my Mafulu destination. And dear good Father Clauser
was a pillar of help in Mafulu. He placed at my disposal all his
existing knowledge concerning the people, and was my intermediary
and interpreter throughout all my enquiries. And finally, when having
at some risk prolonged my stay at Mafulu until those enquiries were
completed, I was at last compelled by the serious state of my health
to beat a retreat, and be carried down to the coast, he undertook
to do the whole of my photographing and physical measurements, and
the care and skill with which he did so are evidenced by the results
as disclosed in this book. [1] I must also add that the frontispiece
and plates 17, 67, 68, 69 and 70 are taken from previous photographs
which Father Clauser kindly placed at my disposal. My remembrance of
His Lordship the Bishop, and of the Reverend Fathers and the Brothers
of the Mission will ever be one of affectionate personal regard, and
of admiration of the spirit of heroic self-sacrifice which impels
them to submit cheerfully to the grave and constant hardships and
dangers to which their labour of love necessarily exposes them.
Since my return home Dr. Seligmann has given me immense help, advising
me upon my notes, placing material at my disposal, and afterwards
reading through a considerable portion of my manuscript. Mr. T.A. Joyce
and Mr. J. Edge Partington helped me in arranging and dealing with
the things which I had brought back to the British Museum. Dr. Keith
examined and reported upon some skulls which I had obtained,
and advised me upon my notes on physique. Dr. Stapf helped me in
matters of botanical identification; Mr. S.H. Ray has given me the
full benefit of his wide knowledge of South Pacific linguistics,
and has written the appendices to the book. And, finally, Dr. Haddon
has very kindly read through my proof sheets.
In conclusion, I would add that there is still an immense amount
of detailed work to be done among the Mafulu people, and that
the districts of the Ambo and Boboi and Oru Lopiku people, still
further back among the mountains, offer an almost virgin field for
investigation to anyone who will take the trouble to go there.
CONTENTS
Introduction, by Dr. A.C. Haddon
CHAPTER I
Introductory
CHAPTER II
Physique and Character
CHAPTER III
Dress and Ornament
CHAPTER IV
Daily Life and Matters Connected with It
CHAPTER V
Community, Clan, and Village Systems and Chieftainship
CHAPTER VI
Villages, Emone, Houses and Modes of Inter-Village Communication
CHAPTER VII
Government, Property and Inheritance
CHAPTER VIII
The Big Feast
CHAPTER IX
Some Other Ceremonies and Feasts
CHAPTER X
Matrimonial and Sexual
CHAPTER XI
Killing, Cannibalism and Warfare
CHAPTER XII
Hunting, Fishing and Agriculture
CHAPTER XIII
Bark Cloth Making, Netting and Art
CHAPTER XIV
Music and Singing, Dancing, and Toys and Games
CHAPTER XV
Counting, Currency and Trade
CHAPTER XVI
Language
CHAPTER XVII
Illness, Death and Burial
CHAPTER XVIII
Religion and Superstitious Beliefs and Practices
CHAPTER XIX
Note on the Kuni People
CHAPTER XX
Conclusion
APPENDIX I
A Grammar of the Fuyuge Language
APPENDIX II
Note on the Afoa Language
APPENDIX III
Note on the Kovio Language
APPENDIX IV
A Comparative Vocabulary of the Fuyuge, Afoa, and Kovio Languages
APPENDIX V
Notes on the Papuan Languages Spoken about the Head Waters of the
St. Joseph River, Central Papua
PLATES
Mafulu Women Decorated for a Dance. ... _Frontispiece_
1 Kuni Scenery.
2 Mafulu Scenery.
3 Skull A.
4 Skull C.
5 Husband, Wife and Child.
6 Man and Two Women.
7, 8 Man, Young Man and Boy.
9 Different Types of Men.
10 An Unusual Type.
11, 12 Two Unusual Types.
13 Fig. 1. Section of Man's Perineal Band. Fig. 2. Decoration
near end of Woman's Perineal Band. Fig. 3. Section of Woman's
Perineal Band. Fig. 4. Section of Man's or Woman's Dancing
Ribbon.
14 Fig. 1. Belt No. 1. Fig. 2. Belt No. 3. Fig. 3. Belt No. 4.
15 Fig. 1. Belt No. 5 (one end only). Fig. 2. Belt No. 6
(one end only). Fig. 3. Belt No. 7.
16 A General Group.
17 A Young Chief's Sister decorated for a Dance.
18, 19 Women wearing Illness Recovery Capes.
20 Fig. 1. Ear-rings. Fig. 2. Jew's Harp. Fig. 3. Hair Fringe.
21 Man, Woman and Children.
22, 23 A Little Girl with Head Decorations.
24 Figs. 1, 2, 5, and 6. Women's Hair Plaits decorated
with European Beads, Shells, Shell Discs, Dog's Tooth,
and Betel Nut Fruit. Fig. 3. Man's Hair Plait with Cane
Pendant. Fig. 4. Man's Hair Plait with Betel Nut Pendant.
25 Fig. 1. Leg Band. Figs. 2 and 4. Women's Hair Plaits
decorated with Shells and Dogs' Teeth. Fig. 3. Bone Implement
used (as a Fork) for Eating.
26 Group of Women.
27 A Young Woman.
28 Two Women.
29 Two Women.
30 Fig. 1. Mourning String
Necklace. Fig. 2. Comb. Fig. 3. Pig's Tail Ornament for
Head. Fig. 4. Whip Lash Head Ornament. Fig. 5. Forehead
Ornament.
31 Necklaces.
32 A Necklace.
33 Necklaces.
34 Fig. 1. Armlet No. 5. Fig. 2. Armlet No. 4. Fig. 3. Armlet
No. 2. Fig. 4. Armlet No. 1.
35 Woman wearing Dancing Apron.
36, 37 Decoration of Dancing Aprons.
38, 39 Decoration of Dancing Aprons.
40, 41 Decoration of Dancing Aprons.
42, 43 Decoration of Dancing Aprons.
44 Head Feather Ornaments.
45 Head Feather Ornaments.
46 Fig. 1. Head Feather Ornament. Fig. 2. Back Feather
Ornament.
47 Plaited Head Feather Frames.
48 Mother and Baby.
49 At the Spring.
50 A Social Gathering.
51 Fig. 1. Small Smoking Pipe. Fig. 2. Pig-bone Scraping
Implement. Fig. 3. Stone Bark Cloth Beater. Fig. 4. Drilling
Implement. Fig. 5. Bamboo Knife. Figs. 6 and 7. Lime Gourds.
52 Fig. 1. Wooden Dish. Figs. 2 and 3. Water-Carrying Gourds.
53 Fig. 1. Bag No. 3. Fig. 2. Bag No. 4. Fig. 3. Bag. No. 6.
54 Village of Salube and Surrounding Country.
55 Village of Seluku, with Chiefs _Emone_ at End and Remains
of Broken-down Burial Platform in Middle.
56 Village of Amalala, with Chiefs _Emone_ at End..
57 Village of Amalala (looking in other direction), with
Secondary _Emone_ at End.
58 Village of Malala, with Secondary _Emone_ at End and
Ordinary Grave and Burial Platform of Chief's Child in Right
Foreground.
59 Village of Uvande, with Chief's _Emone_ at End.
60 Village of Biave, with Chief's _Emone_ at End and Burial
Platform of Chief's Child in Middle.
61 Chief's _Emone_ in Village of Amalala.
62 Chief's _Emone_ in Village of Malala.
63 House in Village of Malala.
64 House in Village of Levo, with Child's Excrement Receptacle
to Left.
65 Suspension Bridge over St. Joseph River.
66 Bridge over Aduala River.
67 Scene at Big Feast in Village of Amalala.
68 Row of Killed Pigs at Big Feast at Village of Amalala.
69 Scene at Village of Seluku during Preparations for Big
Feast.
70 Scene at Big Feast at Village of Seluku.
71 Young Girl Ornamented for Perineal Band Ceremony.
72 Feast at Perineal Band Ceremony.
73 Figs, 1, 2, and 3. Points of War Spears. Fig. 4. Point of
War-Arrow. Fig. 5. Point of Bird-Shooting Arrow.
74 Fig. 1. Bow. Fig. 2. Shield (outside). Fig. 3. Shield
(inside).
75 Fig. 1. Club (pineapple type of head). Fig. 2. Club (disc
type of head). Fig. 3. Drum. Fig. 4. Adze.
76 Fishing Weir.
77 Planting Yams in Garden.
78 Collecting Sweet Potatoes in Garden.
79 Hammering Bark Cloth.
80 The Ine Pandanus.
81 Mafulu Network.
82 Funeral Feast (not of Chief). Guests assembled to commence
Dance down Village Enclosure.
83 The same Funeral Feast. Guest Chief Dancing down Village
Enclosure.
84 Platform Grave of Chief's Child at Back. Ordinary Grave
in Front.
85 Group of Platform Graves of Chiefs and their Relations.
86 Platform Grave of a Chief's Child.
87, 88 The _Gabe_ Fig Tree, in which Chiefs' Burial Boxes
are placed and which is Generally Believed to be Haunted
by Spirits.
89 The Remains of a Chiefs Burial Platform which has collapsed,
and beneath which his Skull and some of his Bones are interred
Underground.
90 An _Emone_ to which are hung the Skulls and some of the
Bones from Chiefs' Burial Platforms which have Collapsed.
91 A House with Receptacle for Child's Excrement.
Map.
ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT
1. Leg band making (commencing stage)
2. Ancient Mortar
3. Illustrative Diagram of a Mafulu Community of Villages
4. Diagram of Front of _Emone_ (Front Hood of Roof and Front
Platform and Portions of Front Timbers omitted, so as to
show Interior)
5. Diagram of Transverse Section across Centre of Emone
6. Diagrammatic Sketch of Apse-like Projection of Roof of
_Emone_ and Platform Arrangements
7. Diagram Illustrating Positions of People during Performance
at Big Feast
8. Mafulu Net Making (1st Line of Network)
9. Mafulu Net Making (2nd, 3rd, and 4th Lines of Network)
10. Mafulu Net Making (5th Line of Network, to which Rest of
Net is similar in Stitch)
INTRODUCTION
By Dr. A.C. Haddon
It is a great pleasure to me to introduce Mr. Williamson's book to
the notice of ethnologists and the general public, as I am convinced
that it will be read with interest and profit.
Perhaps I may be permitted in this place to make a few personal
remarks. Mr. Williamson was formerly a solicitor, and always had a
great longing to see something of savage life, but it was not till
about four years ago that he saw his way to attempting the realisation
of this desire by an expedition to Melanesia. He made my acquaintance
in the summer of 1908, and seeing that he was so keenly interested,
I lent him a number of books and all my MS. notes on Melanesia;
by the help of these and by the study of other books he gained a
good knowledge of the ethnology of that area. In November, 1908, he
started for Oceania for the first time and reached Fiji, from which
place he had intended to start on his expedition. Circumstances
over which he had no control, however, prevented the carrying out
of his original programme; so he went to Sydney, and there arranged
modified plans. He was on the point of executing these, when he was
again frustrated by a telegram from England which necessitated his
immediate return. It was a sad blow to him to have his long-cherished
schemes thus thwarted and rendered abortive, but, undaunted, he set
about to plan another expedition. Accordingly, in January, 1910, he
once more set sail for Australia as a starting place for the Solomon
Islands and British New Guinea, and this time achieved success; the
book which he now offers to the public is the result of this plucky
enterprise. In justice to the author it should be known that, owing
to climatic and other conditions, he was unwell during the whole of
his time in New Guinea, and had an injured foot and leg that hurt him
every step he took. The only wonder is that he was able to accomplish
so large and so thorough a piece of work as he has done.
It is interesting to note the different ways by which various
investigators have entered the field of Ethnology. Some have approached
it from the literary or classical side, but very few indeed of
these have ever had any experience in the field. The majority of
field workers have had a previous training in science--zoology not
unnaturally has sent more recruits than any other branch of science. A
few students have been lawyers, but so far as I am aware Mr. Williamson
is the first British lawyer who has gone into the field, and he has
proved that legal training may be a very good preliminary discipline
for ethnological investigation in the field, as it gives invaluable
practice in the best methods of acquiring and sifting of evidence. A
lawyer must also necessarily have a wide knowledge of human nature
and an appreciation of varied ways of thought and action.
It was with such an equipment and fortified by extensive reading in
Ethnology, that Mr. Williamson was prepared for his self-imposed
task. Proof of his powers of observation will be found in the
excellent descriptions of objects of material culture with which he
has presented us.
I now turn to some of the scientific aspects of his
book. Mr. Williamson especially set before himself the work of
investigating some tribes in the mountainous hinterland of the Mekeo
district. This was a most happy selection, though no one could have
foreseen the especial interest of these people.
Thanks mainly to the systematic investigations of Dr. Seligmann and to
the sporadic observations of missionaries, government officials and
travellers, we have a good general knowledge of many of the peoples
of the eastern coast of the south-eastern peninsula of New Guinea,
and of some of the islands from the Trobriands to the Louisiades. The
Ethnology of the fertile and populous Mekeo district has been mainly
made known to us by the investigations of various members of the
Sacred Heart Mission, and by Dr. Seligmann. What little we know of
the Papuan Gulf district is due to missionaries among the coastal
tribes, Mr. James Chalmers and Mr. W. Holmes. Dr. G. Landtman is at
present investigating the natives of the delta of the Fly river and
Daudai. The natives of the Torres Straits islands have also been
studied as fully as is possible. But of the mountain region lying
behind the Mekeo district very little indeed has been published; so
Mr. Williamson's book fills a gap in our knowledge of Papuan ethnology.
We have as yet a very imperfect knowledge of the ethnological history
of New Guinea. Speaking very broadly, it is generally admitted that
the bulk of the population belongs to the Papuan race, a dark-skinned,
woolly-haired people who have also spread over western Oceania; but,
to a greater or less extent, New Guinea has been subject to cultural
and racial influences from all sides, except from Australia, where the
movement has been the other way. Thus the East Indian archipelago has
directly affected parts of Netherlands New Guinea, and its influence
is to be traced to a variable degree in localities in the Bismarck
archipelago, German New Guinea (Kaiser Wilhelm's Land), Western
Oceania, and British New Guinea or Papua, as it is termed officially.
The south-eastern peninsula of New Guinea--or at all events the
coastal regions--has been largely affected by immigrants, who were
themselves a mixed people, and who came later at various times. It is
to these immigrants that Mr. Ray and I applied the term Melanesian
(Ray, S. H., and Haddon, A. C., "A Study of the Languages of Torres
Straits," _Proc. Roy. Irish Acad._, 3rd ser., IV., 1897, p. 509). Early
in 1894, Mr. Ray read a paper before the Anthropological Institute
(_Journ. Anth. Inst._, XXIV., p. 15), in which he adhered to our former
discrimination of two linguistic stocks and added a third type of
language composed of a mixture of the other two, for which he proposed
the name Melano-Papuan. These languages, according to Mr. Ray, occur
in the Trobriands, Woodlarks and the Louisiades, and similar languages
are found in the northern Solomon Islands. For some years I had been
studying the decorative art of British New Guinea, and from physical
and artistic and other cultural reasons had come to the conclusion
that the Melanesians of British New Guinea should be broken up into
two elements: one consisting of the Motu and allied Melanesians,
and the other of the inhabitants of the Massim district--an area
extending slightly beyond that of Mr. Ray's Melano-Papuans ("The
Decorative Art of British New Guinea," _Cunningham Memoirs_, X.,
_Roy. Irish Acad._, 1894, pp. 253-269). I reinforced my position
six years later ("Studies in the Anthropo-geography of British New
Guinea," _Journ. Roy. Geog. Soc._, 1900, pp. 265, 414). Dr. Seligmann,
in his valuable paper "A Classification of the Natives of British
New Guinea" (_Journ. Roy. Anth. Inst._, XXXIX., 1909, pp. 246, 315)
corroborated these views and designated the two groups of "Melanesians"
as the Eastern and Western Papuo-Melanesians. The following year he
published the great book to which Mr. Williamson so frequently refers,
and in which this classification is maintained, and these two groups
together with the Papuans, are termed Papuasians.
The Motu stock of the Western Papuo-Melanesians have extended
their dispersal as far as the Mekeo district, where they came
into contact with other peoples. It has been shown that the true
Papuans are a narrow-headed people, but there are some puzzling
exceptions, the explanation of which is not yet ascertained. The
Papuo-Melanesians contain a somewhat broad-headed element, and
there is a slightly broad-headed population in the central range
of the south-east peninsula, the extent of which has not yet been
determined. The questions naturally arise: (1) Is the true Papuan a
variable stock including both long- broad-headed elements? or (2)
Does the broad-headed element belong to an immigrant people? or,
again (3) Is there an hitherto unidentified indigenous broad-headed
race? I doubt if the time is ripe for a definite answer to any of
these questions. Furthermore, we have yet to assign to their original
sources the differences in culture which characterise various groups
of people in New Guinea. Something has been done in this direction,
but much more has yet to be learnt.
So far I have not referred to a Negrito element in the Ethnology of
New Guinea. From time to time we have heard rumours of pygmy people,
and German travellers have recorded very short individuals in Kaiser
Wilhelm's Land; but it was not till the expedition to Netherlands New
Guinea of the British Ornithological Union of 1910-11 that a definite
pygmy race was demonstrated. I think this can be no longer denied,
and the observations made by German ethnologists show that the race in
a more or less modified state is widely spread. Now Mr. Williamson,
whose work in New Guinea was contemporaneous with that of the
Netherlands New Guinea expedition, adduces evidence that this is
also the case in British territory. It is worth recalling that de
Quatrefages and Hamy (_Crania Ethnica_, 1882, pp. 207-210, 253-256)
distinguish a "Negrito-Papuan" and a "Papuan" element in the Torres
Straits. This problem will be discussed in Vol. I. of the Reports of
the Cambridge Expedition to Torres Straits. I feel little doubt that
Mr. Williamson has shown strong evidence that the Mafulu and probably
other adjacent mountain tribes are essentially a pygmy--that is to say
a Negrito--people who have been modified to some extent by Papuan and
possibly Papuo-Melanesian influence, both physical and cultural. He
has marshalled his data with great skill, and has dissected out, as it
were, the physical and cultural elements of the Negrito substratum. It
only remains for other observers to study Negritos in other parts of
New Guinea to see how far these claims can be substantiated. It is
evident therefore that, apart from the valuable detailed information
which Mr. Williamson has given us concerning a hitherto unknown tribe,
he has opened up a problem of considerable interest and magnitude.
A.C. Haddon.
THE MAFULU MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OF BRITISH NEW GUINEA
CHAPTER I
Introductory
The map appended to this volume is (with the exception of the red
lines and red lettering upon it) a reproduction of a portion of the map
relating to the explorations and surveys of Dr. Strong, Mr. Monckton
and Captain Barton, which was published in the _Geographical Journal_
for September, 1908, and the use of which has been kindly permitted
me by the Royal Geographical Society. I have eliminated the red route
lines which appear in the original map, so as to avoid confusion with
the red lines which I have added. The unbroken red lines and the red
lettering upon my map are copied from a map, also kindly placed at
my disposal, which has been recently prepared by Father Fillodean
of the Mission of the Sacred Heart, and these lines mark roughly
what the Fathers of the Mission believe to be the boundaries of the
several linguistic areas within the district covered by their map. It
will be observed that some of these lines are not continued so as to
surround and complete the definition of the areas which they indicate;
but this defect is unavoidable, as the Fathers' map only covered a
relatively small area, and even in that map the lines were not all
carried to its margin. It will also be noticed that, though the Fathers
introduce the two names Oru Lopiku and Boboi as being linguistically
distinct, they have not indicated the boundary line between the two
areas. Father Egedi, however, informed me that this boundary passes
along the ridge of hills south of the Ufafa river as far as Mt. Eleia,
and thence along the Ukalama river to the Kuni boundary. The Ukalama
river is not shown in the Geographical Society's map; but I may
say that it is shown in the Fathers' map as rising in Mt. Eleia,
and flowing thence in a south-easterly direction, and so joining the
St. Joseph river close to Dilava. The broken red line upon my map does
not appear in the Fathers' map, but has been added by me to indicate
what, I understand, the Fathers believe to be a continued boundary,
so far as ascertained, of the Fuyuge linguistic area, called by them
the Mafulu area, to which I am about to draw attention.
The term Mafulu is the Kuni pronunciation of Mambule, which is the
name, as used by themselves, of the people who live in a group of
villages within and near the north-westerly corner of the area of the
Fuyuge-speaking people, whose Papuan language, so far as ascertained,
appears, subject to local dialectal differences, to be the same, and
may, I was informed, be regarded as one common language throughout
the Fuyuge area.
The Fathers of the Mission have adopted the name Mafulu in a wider
sense, as including all the people with whom they have come in
contact of the Fuyuge-speaking area; and, though my investigations,
which form the subject-matter of this book, have been conducted only
in the neighbourhood of Mafulu itself, I was assured that, so far as
the Fathers have been able to ascertain, all these Fuyuge people not
only have similar languages, but also are substantially similar in
physique and in culture. My observations concerning the Mafulu people
may therefore, if this statement is correct, be regarded as applying,
not only to the inhabitants of the portion of the north-westerly corner
of the Fuyuge area in which the Mafulu group of villages is placed,
but to those of the whole of the north-westerly portion of the area,
and generally in a greater or less degree of accuracy to those of
the northerly and north-easterly parts of the area, and possibly the
southerly ones also.
The boundaries of this Fuyuge-speaking area can hardly be regarded
as definitely ascertained; and the discrepancies, even as regards
the courses of the rivers and the positions of the mountains, which
appear in the few available maps make it difficult to deal with the
question. The area, so far as actually ascertained by the Fathers
of the Mission, roughly speaking, covers, and seems to extend also
some distance to the south or south-west of a triangle, the western
apex of which is the junction of the river Kea with the river Aduala
(a tributary of the St. Joseph), [2] whose north-eastern apex is
Mt. Albert Edward, and whose south-eastern apex is Mt. Scratchley. It
includes the valley of the Aduala river and its streams (except those
flowing into it from the north in the region of the western apex of the
triangle) within its northern boundary, and the valley of the upper
Vanapa river and its rivers and streams in the neighbourhood of its
eastern boundary; but this eastern boundary has been found to extend
also so as to include the upper valley of the river Chirima. How far
the area extends to the south or south-west of the triangle above
mentioned appears to be uncertain.
The linguistic area to the north of the Mafulu or Fuyuge people is
that of the Ambo people, who are somewhat similar in appearance to
the Mafulu, and whose language is also Papuan, and, though differing
from the Mafulu language, is, I was told, somewhat similar to it in
grammatical construction and as regards a few of its words. The area
to the west is that of the Kuni people, whose language is Melanesian,
but whose ordinary modes of life are, I was informed, more like those
of the Mafulu than are those of the Papuan-speaking Ambo. The areas
to the east and south cannot be so definitely stated, but are dealt
with below.
As regards these Ambo people I may, in view of divergences of names
which appear in maps, explain that Ambo is a contraction of Ambore,
and is the name given to the people by their Mafulu neighbours, whilst
Afoa is the name given to them by the Kuni people, and is adopted
in the Geographical Society's map. [3] As regards the Kuni people,
their name is the one adopted by themselves.
Concerning the boundaries of the Fuyuge linguistic area as above
indicated, and the people whose districts adjoin that area, I propose
here to draw attention to four names, and to refer to some observations
bearing on the subject of the probable Fuyuge boundary which are to
be found in existing literature.
The term Kovio, though primarily the name of Mt. Yule, and properly
applicable to the people living in the neighbourhood of that mountain,
is now, I think, often used to express all the mountain tribes
of the hinterland of the Mekeo and Pokau, and perhaps the Kabadi,
districts. But the use of this name has not, I believe, been generally
associated with any question of linguistics.
The area in the map which is called by the Fathers Boboi is occupied
by people whose language, I was told by the Fathers, is Papuan,
but is distinct from the languages of the Ambo and the Fuyuge areas.
Kamaweka is a name which appears in several of Dr. Seligmann's
publications. It seems to have been originally used by Captain
Barton to designate the natives of the district of which Inavaurene,
to the north-east of the Mekeo plains, is the centre, but to have
been afterwards regarded as a somewhat more general term; and I think
Dr. Seligmann uses it in a very general sense, almost, if not quite,
equivalent to the wide application above referred to of the term Kovio,
and which might include the Papuan-speaking Boboi and Ambo people, and
even perhaps the people of the northern Mafulu villages. [4] But here
again the use of the name has, I think, no reference to linguistics.
If the Fathers' linguistic boundary lines are substantially correct,
each of the two terms Kovio and Kamaweka, as now used, would appear
to cover more than one linguistic area; and in any case these terms
seem to have widened and to have become somewhat indefinite. It will
be seen on reference to the map and to Father Egedi's information
as to the Oru Lopiku and Boboi boundaries that both Mt. Yule and
Inavaurene are within the area which the Fathers call Oru Lopiku, but
that Inavaurene is not far from their Boboi area. I suggest that it
would be convenient for the present, pending further investigation
and delimitation on the spot, and until we know something of the
difference between the languages of the Oru Lopiku and Boboi people,
to adopt the term Kovio as a general name for, and confine it to,
the two areas Boboi and Oru Lopiku; though for linguistic purposes
the names Boboi and Oru Lopiku, which at present indicate very little
to us, may eventually be accepted and come into general use.
The Koiari people of the foothills and lateral spurs behind the Motu
area, also referred to from time to time in Dr. Seligmann's writings,
must be eastern next door neighbours of the Fuyuge-speaking people,
the western boundary of these Koiari being stated by him to be the
Vanapa river, [5] and they being in fact regarded by him as being
the eastern neighbours of the natives of "the mountains inland of
Mekeo Nara and Kabadi," [6] and being referred to by him as being
the people from whose district the Kamaweka and Kuni are reached by
"passing westward"--the word used is "eastward," but this is obviously
a printer's error--"in the mountains, keeping roughly parallel with
the coast." [7]
Turning to the question of the Fuyuge boundary, Dr. Strong says that
the Fuyuge people occupy the upper waters of the St. Joseph river,
[8] and he is quoted by Dr. Seligmann as having stated that the Afoa
language "is spoken in the villages on Mt. Pizoko and the northern
slopes of Mt. Davidson," and that "the Afoa villages lie to the north
of the Fuyuge-speaking communities, stretching westward for an unknown
distance behind Mt. Davidson." [9] If the information given to me
verbally by the Fathers of the Mission of the Sacred Heart and the
red linguistic boundary lines roughly drawn by them, and introduced
into my map, be correct, these statements require modification, for
according to the Fathers the Mafulu or Fuyuge-speaking area does not
include any part of the St. Joseph river, as its extreme north-westerly
corner lies to the east of the junction--close to the boundary line
between the Afoa (Ambo) and the Kuni areas--of the rivers Alabula
and Aduala, and Mt. Pizoko is within the Fuyuge area, and not within
that of the Afoa, and Mt. Davidson is within the Boboi area. I think
that, though the Fathers' lines are admittedly not exact, they and
the information supplied by the Fathers to me are likely to be more
trustworthy in these respects, especially as regards boundaries near to
the actual Mafulu villages, than the earlier statements of Dr. Strong,
as they are the outcome of recent and careful investigation; and,
as regards Mt. Pizoko, I may mention that Dr. Strong himself seems to
have subsequently regarded that mountain as being within the Mafulu
district, [10] which brings it into the Fuyuge area.
The inclusion of the upper valley of the river Chirima within the
Fuyuge or Mafulu-speaking area is perhaps surprising, as this valley is
separated from the general Fuyuge area by one of the southern ridges
of Mt. Albert Edward, and more or less so by the ridges of Mt. Stone
Wigg and the Wharton range, and as the Chirima is a tributary flowing
into the Mambare river, which is one of the great watercourses of
Northern New Guinea. The Mafulu Fathers, however, had no doubt as
to the correctness of the inclusion, which seems to open out the
possibility of some, at all events, of the Fuyuge people having
northern associations; and indeed Monseigneur de Boismenu told me
that he believed that the Mafulu people were in touch with Northern
New Guinea, and got some of their shell ornaments, or the shells from
which they were made, from the northern coast.
It is interesting, therefore, to turn for the purpose of comparison
to the report of Mr. Monckton's expedition to Mt. Albert Edward by
way of the Upper Chirima valley in 1906 [11] and the illustrations
accompanying it, with which I incorporate a description of the people
of this valley given to Dr. Seligmann by Mr. Money, who was with
Mr. Monckton. [12]
From these it appears that the Upper Chirima people are short in
stature and sturdily built. Both sexes wear the perineal band,
the front of which is made (I am not sure whether this applies to
women as well as to men) to bulge out by padding. In some cases the
men's hair is tied up in a bunch with string, and in others it is
bound up in various styles with native cloth. Some of the men have
their hair done up in small plaits over the forehead. All the above
descriptions, except that of the padding of the band, are applicable to
the Mafulu. Some of the Chirima houses have a curious apse-like roof
projection over the front platform, which is a specially distinctive
feature of a Mafulu house, and one with this projection figured by
Mr. Monckton is indistinguishable from a typical Mafulu house. The
Chirima people place the bodies of their dead on raised platforms,
and apparently sometimes put the body of an infant on the platform
erection of an adult, but below the latter. This also is a practice
of the Mafulu; and, though the latter people confine platform burial
(if such it may be called) to chiefs and their families and important
persons, it is possible that some such limitation of the custom exists
in the Chirima valley also, but did not come under Mr. Monckton's
notice. A burial platform figured by him might well be a Mafulu burial
platform, except that the curious cone-shaped receptacle for the child
is a form for which I cannot vouch as regards the Mafulu. The Chirima
have a special and peculiar form of netting, which Mr. Monckton's
illustration shows to be identical with the special form of Mafulu
netting. On the other hand, as regards the Chirima weapons, implements
and utensils, a comparison of Mr. Monckton's verbal descriptions and
figures with what I have seen in Mafulu, and describe in this book,
leads me to the conclusion that, though many of these are similar to
those of Mafulu, some of them are different. As examples of this I may
say that the drill implements of the Chirima people are very similar
to, and their stone cloth-beaters appear to be identical with, those
used by the Mafulu; whilst on the other hand their war bows are much
longer, [13] and their method of producing fire seems to be totally
different; also they apparently have bull-roarers, which to the best
of my knowledge are unknown among the Mafulu. Again some of the Chirima
weapons, as figured by Mr. Monckton, disclose ideas of artistic design,
including that of the curved line and a rude representation of a man,
which I have not met with among the Mafulu. As regards this last
point I draw attention to Mr. Monckton's figures of carving on a bow
and on wooden clubs. I think, however, that in such matters as these
local differences might well arise between people who are really
more or less identical, especially if their respective districts
are on opposite sides of the main mountain range of the country, and
still more so if the people of one of the districts (in the present
case I refer to the Chirima people) may perhaps have been subject to
the influence of other people beyond them. As to this latter point,
however, I should say that these Chirima people seem to be, so far as
dress, ornaments, &c., are concerned, much nearer to the Mafulu than
they are to the natives of the Mambare river itself, as described
by Sir William Macgregor. [14] It is curious also that the dogs of
the Chirima people are not yellow dingoes, but are black and white,
as is the case in Mafulu.
I notice that Dr. Seligmann suggests that these Chirima valley people
are related to the natives of the neighbourhood of Mt. Yule, [15] a
statement which, though probably intended broadly, is in accord with
the suggestion that they are connected with the Mafulu-speaking people.
The natives of Mt. Scratchley (apparently the eastern or south-eastern
side), visited by Sir William Macgregor in 1896, appear from his
description of them [16] to show a few points of resemblance to the
Mafulu people. In particular I refer to their "dark bronze" colour,
to the wearing by women of the perineal band (to which, however, is
added a mantle and "in most cases" a grass petticoat, which is not done
in Mafulu), to the absence of tattooing or cicatrical ornamentation,
to their "large earrings made out of tails of lizards covered by
narrow straps of palm leaves dyed yellow" (which, though not correctly
descriptive of the Mafulu earring, is apparently something like it),
to their use of pigs' tails as ear ornaments, to their plaiting of the
hair and the decoration of the plaited hair with teeth and shells, to
their small charm bags and to the shortness of their bows. Also to the
construction of their houses, with the roof carried down to the ground,
with a fireplace about 2 feet wide extending down the centre of the
building from one end to the other, and having an inclined floor on
each side, and especially to the curious apse-like roof projections
in front of these houses (Dr. Haddon calls them "pent roofs" [17]),
Sir William's figure of which is, like that of the Chirima villages,
identical, or nearly so, with that of a Mafulu house. But Sir William's
description of the physique of these Mt. Scratchley people and other
matters make it clear, I think, that they belong to a type different
from that of the Mafulu, though they must be next door neighbours of
the Fuyuge-speaking people. Dr. Seligmann, in commenting upon this
description of these people, expresses the opinion that they are
Papuo-Melanesians. [18]
The natives in the region of Mt. Musgrave and Mt. Knutsford, as
described by Mr. Thomson, [19] appear, at all events so far as dress
is concerned, to be utterly different from the Mafulu.
Dr. Seligmann states that Dr. Strong has informed him that the
southern boundary of the Fuyuge-speaking area is the Kabadi country,
[20] and he had previously referred to Korona, immediately behind
the Kabadi and Doura districts, as being within the area, [21] and,
indeed, the Geographical Society's map shows the Fuyuge area as
at all events extending as far south as Korona. I do not know how
far inland the Kabadi and Doura people extend; but I may say that
the Mafulu Fathers expressed grave doubt as to the extension of the
Fuyuge area so far south as is indicated by the map.
If the Fuyuge area does in fact reach the Kabadi boundary, and if my
notes on the Mafulu people are, as suggested, broadly descriptive of
the natives of the whole Fuyuge area, there must be a very sudden
and sharp differentiation, as the Kabadi people are apparently an
offshoot from Mekeo, [22] with apparently other Papuo-Melanesian blood
(especially Roro) introduced. [23]
The contour and appearance of the country in the actual Mafulu district
of the Fuyuge area is strikingly different from that of the immediately
adjoining Kuni country, the sharp steep ridges and narrow deep-cut
valleys of the latter, with their thick unbroken covering of almost
impenetrable forest, changing to higher mountain ranges with lateral
ridges among them, and with frequent gentle undulating slopes and
wider and more open valleys; while, interspersed with the forests,
are small patches and great stretches of grass land, sometimes thinly
covered or scattered with timber and sometimes quite open and devoid
of trees. [24] And this condition continues, I was told, over the
greater part of the triangular area above referred to.
Plates 1 and 2 give, I think, a fair illustration of what I mean,
the steep contours and thickly wooded character of the foreground and
nearer middle distance shown by Plate 1 being typical Kuni scenery,
and the more open nature of the country displayed by Plate 2 and the
comparative freedom from forest of its foreground being typical of
the higher uplands of Mafulu. [25]
It will be noticed that the physical character of the Mafulu country
is more favourable to continued occupation than is that of the Kuni
country; and it is a fact that the Mafulu people are not so restless
and ready to move as are the Kuni folk; and, even when they do migrate,
it is generally to a spot comparatively near to their old villages.
The geological formation of the lower hills on which the actual Mafulu
villages are placed and the intervening valleys is partly limestone;
and I was told that limestone formation was also found further to
the east.
Throughout this book I shall use the term "Mafulu" as including,
not only the little group of villages near the north-westerly corner
of the Fuyuge linguistic area actually known by that name, but also
the other groups of Fuyuge villages in the north-western portion of
that area; and, as above indicated, it is believed by the Fathers of
the Mission that I should be substantially correct if I included the
whole of the northern and north-eastern, and probably the southern
portions of the known part of that area, and possibly the entire area.
CHAPTER II
Physique and Character
Physique.
The Mafulu people are of short stature, though perhaps a trifle taller
than the Kuni.
They are as a rule fairly strong and muscular in build, the women
in particular having very strongly developed thighs; but, speaking
generally, their limbs are more slender, and their general development
is slighter, than is usually the case among the Roro and Mekeo people.
They appear to be usually mesaticephalic, but to have a very marked
tendency to brachycephaly.
Their noses seemed to me to be generally strong, and of prominent
size, varying considerably in width of bridge, but usually having
rather widely distending nostrils; and sometimes the width of the
nose was equal to its length, or nearly so.
Referring to the above matters, the following are the results of
twenty measurements of Mafulu men. These were obtained from men of
upwards of six different communities or groups of villages, so as to
avoid the possible misleading character of measurements made in only
one village or group of villages, in which some family relationship
between the persons measured might militate against the true average
character of the figures obtained.
No.
| Stature in cm.
| | Length of head in cm.
| | | Breadth of head in cm.
| | | | Cephalic index
| | | | | Cranial index (2 units deducted
| | | | | from cephalic index).
| | | | | | Nose length in cm.
| | | | | | | Nose breadth in cm.
| | | | | | | | Nasal index
1 150 18.5 14.7 79.5 77.5 4.9 4.4 89.8
2 155 18.8 15.1 80.3 78.3 4.8 4.8 100.0
3 155 19.5 14.8 75.9 73.9 5.3 4.3 81.1
4 157 18.5 15.4 83.2 81.2 4.3 4.3 100.0
5 153 18.9 14.6 77.2 75.2 4.8 4.4 91.7
6 151 18.6 14.3 76.9 74.9 4.9 3.8 77.6
7 151 19.3 15.2 78.8 76.8 5.4 4.4 81.5
8 163 19.4 14.5 74.7 72.7 5.6 4.4 78.6
9 162 18.8 15.2 80.9 78.9 5.3 4.0 75.5
10 163 17.4 15.1 86.8 84.8 5.5 4.6 83.6
11 155 18.0 14.0 77.8 75.8 5.3 4.4 83.0
12 157 17.4 14.6 83.9 81.9 4.6 4.0 87.0
13 158 19.7 14.8 75.1 73.1 5.3 4.3 81.1
14 160 17.9 14.4 80.4 78.4 5.1 4.3 84.3
15 153 17.7 14.7 83.1 81.1 5.2 4.1 78.8
16 156 18.5 14.8 80.0 78.0 5.5 4.5 81.8
17 152 17.7 14.9 84.2 82.2 5.6 4.0 71.4
18 154 18.6 14.9 80.1 78.1 5.2 4.5 86.5
19 150 17.8 15.2 85.4 83.4 4.9 3.9 79.6
20 147 18.8 14.5 77.1 75.1 4.6 3.8 82.6
Analysing these figures, we get the following results:--
Highest number. Lowest number. Average.
Stature [26] 163 cm. 147 cm. 155.1 cm.
(64.2 ins.) (57.9 ins.) (61.1 ins.)
Head length 19.7 cm. 17.4 cm. 18.5 cm.
Head breadth 15.4 cm. 14.0 cm. 14.8 cm.
Cephalic index 86.8 74.7 80.0
Cranial index 84.8 72.7 78.0
Nose length 5.6 cm. 4.3 cm. 5.1 cm.
Nose breadth 4.8 cm. 3.8 cm. 4.3 cm.
Nasal index 100.0 71.4 84.3 [27]
Number of cranial indices under 75 = 4 (20 per cent.).
Number of cranial indices between 75 and 80 = 10 (50 per cent.).
Number of cranial indices over 80 = 6 (30 per cent.).
There are a few points in connection with these figures to which I
would draw attention. The very short man (No. 20--height, 147 cm.) has
a cranial index of 75.1, on the border line between dolichocephaly
and mesaticephaly. He has also a short nose (4.6 cm.), and is one
of the two with the narrowest noses (3.8 c.m.). The very tall man
(No. 8--height, 163 cm.) has a long head (19.4 cm.), and the lowest
dolichocephalic cranial index of 72.7, and is one of two with the
longest noses (5.6 cm.). The other very tall man (No. 10--height,
163 cm.) has one of the two shortest heads (17.4 cm.), and the highest
brachycephalic cranial index of 84.8, and has a long nose (5.5 cm.) The
man (No. 2) whose nasal index is 100 has the mesaticephalic cranial
index of 78.3 (almost the average index). The other man (No. 4)
whose nasal index is 100 has a head of exactly the average length
(18.5 cm.) and the greatest breadth (15.4 cm.), and the brachycephalic
cranial index of 81.2. The man (No. 17) with the lowest nasal index
of 71.4 has a very short head (17.7 cm.), and the brachycephalic
cranial index of 82.2.
The following tables, however, illustrate the fact that the
measurements of these twenty men do not appear to indicate, as
regards them, any marked connection between stature, cranial index,
and nasal index.
Order in stature (beginning with the shortest):
20--1--19--6--7--17--5--15--18--2--3--11--16--4--12--13--14--9--8--10.
Order in progress upwards of cranial indices:
8--13--3--6-20--5--ll--7--1--16--18--2--14--9--15--4--12--17--19--10.
Order in progress upwards of nasal indices:
17--9--6--8--15--19--3--13--7--16--20--11--10--14--18--12--1--5--2--4.
I brought home three Mafulu skulls, which Dr. Keith kindly had measured
at the Royal College of Surgeons, with the following results [28]:--
Skull
| Length in cm.
| | Breadth in cm.
| | | Height in cm.
| | | | Cranial Index.
| | | | | Proportion of
| | | | | height to length.
A 17.6 14.0 12.2 79.5 69.3
B 18.2 14.1 13.2 77.5 72.5
C 17.3 12.7 12.5 73.4 72.3
It will be observed that the lowest of these three cranial indices is
a trifle higher than the lowest of those of the head measurements,
that the highest of them is much lower than the highest of those
of the head measurements, and that their average (76.8) is a little
below the average of those of the head measurements.
Dr. Keith had further measurements made of these skulls from the
point of view of prognathism and characters of noses and orbits,
with the following results:
Skull.
| Basi-nasal length.
| | Basi-alveolar length.
| | | Height of nose.
| | | | Width of nose.
| | | | | Height of orbit.
| | | | | | Width of orbit.
mm. mm. mm. mm. mm. mm.
A 98 102 48 26 40 35
B 99 96 49 25 42 35
C 97 102 47 26 38 35
Dr. Keith, referring to these skulls, says that they disclose
relatively small brains, the cranial capacity of A being 1,230 c.c.,
that of B being 1,330 c.c., and that of C being 1,130 c.c. He compares
these figures with the average cranial capacity of the male European,
which he puts at 1,500 c.c.
The eyes of the Mafulu people are dark brown and very bright. I never
saw among them those oblique eyes, almost recalling the Mongolian,
which, according to Dr. Seligmann, are found, though rarely only,
on the coast, [29] and of which I saw many instances among the
Kuni people.
Their lips are usually not so thick as are those of the Mekeo and
Roro people, and are generally finer and more delicate in shape.
In view of their Papuan language I kept a sharp look out for the
curious backward sloping foreheads and projecting brow ridges and
Jewish-looking noses which are so often found among the Western
Papuans; but, although I saw a few examples of these, they were rare,
and I did not observe any noticeable tendency in these directions in
the faces of the people generally. [30]
A curious characteristic with them is the big toe, which is usually
much developed, and projects outwards at a larger angle than is the
case with the Roro and Mekeo people, and is much used for holding on
to roots, &c., whilst travelling along their rough mountain paths.
Their general colour is a dark sooty brown, a trifle darker, perhaps,
than that of the Kuni people, and contrasting forcibly with the
varying shades of chocolate which you find among the Roro and Mekeo
people. They are smooth-skinned.
Their hair is frizzly, and generally dark brown, often quite dark,
almost even approaching to black, and sometimes perhaps quite
black. But it is frequently lighter; and indeed I was often, when
observing men's hair lit up by sunshine, impressed by the fact that
its brown colour was not even what we should in Europe call dark. [31]
I often saw marked variations in the depth of hair colour on the
head of the same individual. I saw no examples of the comparatively
straight or curly type of hair which is found in the Pokau district
and elsewhere. [32]
Plate 3 gives front and side views of the mesaticephalic (almost
brachycephalic) skull A and Plate 4 gives similar views of the
dolichocephalic skull C. All the photographs were made as nearly as
possible exactly half the sizes of the originals; but the photographer
has made the front view of skull A about an eighth of an inch too
narrow (with, of course, a corresponding deficiency in height), so
that the tendency to roundness of this skull is not quite sufficiently
shown, and the proportion of its height to its length is reduced,
in the plate. I am not a craniologist, and so I do not attempt to
discuss the more detailed points of interest which arise in connection
with these skulls.
A good idea of the somewhat varying characters of the general physiques
and features of the people will be obtained from my plates; but there
are a few of these plates which I may mention here.
The people shown in Plates 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 16 may, I think, be
regarded as fairly typical, and I would draw attention to the somewhat
Melanesian tendency of feature which is disclosed by the faces of
the man in Plate 6, the young man in the middle in Plate 7 and the
fourth and sixth men from the left in Plate 9; also to the great
diversity shown in Plate 9. The man shown in Plate 10, with his thick
and strong muscular development, is of a type which is occasionally
seen, but which is, I believe, unusual. The two men figured in Plates
11 and 12 are, I think, specially interesting. The one to the right,
with his somewhat backward sloping forehead, and slightly arched nose,
shows a distinct tendency towards the type of the Western Papuan, to
which I have already referred. The other one is in general shape of
head and appearance of features not unlike some of the dwarf people
found by the recent expedition into Dutch New Guinea (see the man to
the left in Plate 4 of the page of illustrations in _The Illustrated
London News_ for September 2, 1911), and indeed there is almost an
Australian tendency in his face. It is noticeable that he has a beard
and moustache, which is quite unusual among the Mafulu. A somewhat
similar type of face may be noticed in one or two of the other plates.
Character and Temperament.
It is difficult to speak with any degree of definiteness on this
question. It must be borne in mind that the Mafulu people have been
very little in touch with white people, the missionaries, who have only
been there since 1905, and on rare occasions a Government official or
scientific traveller, being almost the only white men whom the bulk
of them have ever seen; and they have been but slightly affected by
the outside influences which for some years past have been constantly
brought to bear upon the natives of the adjoining coast line and the
people of the Mekeo plains; so that comparisons of these people with
their more up-to-date neighbours as regards their relative natural
characters may well be in some respects misleading.
Subject, however, to this caution I would say that they are lazy
and easy-going (though not so much so as the Roro and Mekeo people),
lively, excitable, cheerful, merry, fairly intelligent (this being
judged rather from the young people), very superstitious, brave,
with much power of enduring pain, cruel, not more revengeful perhaps
than is usual among uncivilised natives, friendly one with another,
not quarrelsome, but untrustworthy and not over-faithful even in
their dealings with one another, though honest as regards boundaries
and property rights and in the sense of not stealing from one another
within their own communities (this being regarded as a most shameful
offence), and of very loose sexual morality.
A difference between them and the Mekeo and Roro natives is that
they appear to be not so conservative as the latter, being more
ready to abandon old traditions and adopt new ideas; though this
characteristic is one which shows itself in the young people rather
than in the elders with their formed habits.
CHAPTER III
Dress and Ornament
Dress.
The perineal band, made of bark cloth, is the one article of dress
which is universally worn by both men and women.
These bands are made by both men and women, but are coloured by men
only. They are commonly unstained and undecorated; but some of them,
and especially those worn for visiting and at dances, are more or
less decorated. Some that I have noticed are stained in one colour
covering the whole garment; others in two colours arranged in alternate
transverse bands, sometimes with narrow spaces of unstained cloth
between; and again others have bands of one colour alternating with
bands of unstained cloth. Some are decorated with lines or groups
of lines of one colour, or alternating lines or groups of lines of
two colours, painted transversely across the cloth. Others, while
simply stained in one colour or stained or decorated in one of the
ways above described, have another simple terminal design near the
end of the garment.
The men's bands are usually small and narrow, as compared with those
worn by the Roro and Mekeo people; and the women's bands seemed to me
to be generally even narrower than those of the men, particularly in
front. Men's bands, which I have measured, were about 6 inches wide at
one end, narrowing down to about 3 inches at the other; and the widths
of women's bands were 4 or 5 inches or less at one end, narrowing
down to about 2 inches at the other. But the bands of both men and
women, especially those of the latter, often become so crumpled up and
creased with wear that the portion passing between the legs dwindles
down to about an inch or less in width. One is tempted to think, as
regards both men and women, that, from the point of view of covering,
the bands might be dispensed with altogether. This remark applies
still more strongly to the case of young boys and unmarried girls,
including among the latter big full-grown girls, who are in fact
fully developed women, whose bands can hardly be regarded as being
more than nominal, and who, especially the girls and young women,
and even sometimes married women who are nursing their babies, can
really only be described as being practically naked.
Plate 13 (Figs, 1, 2, and 3) illustrates the staining and decoration
of perineal bands. [33] Fig. 1 is a section of a man's band about
6 inches wide. The transverse lines, which extend along the whole
length of the band, are in alternate groups of black and red. The
background is unevenly stained yellow behind the black lines; but the
background behind the red lines and the spaces intervening between the
groups of lines are unstained. Fig. 2 is the pattern near the end of
a woman's band about 5 inches wide. The lines are coloured red. There
is no pattern on the rest of the band; but the whole of the band,
including the background of the pattern, is stained yellow. Fig. 3 is
a section of a woman's band about 2 1/2 inches wide. The colouring
is in alternate bands of red and yellow with irregular unstained
spaces between.
I was struck with the gradual reduction of the women's dress as I
travelled from the coast, with its Roro inhabitants, through Mekeo,
and thence by Lapeka and Ido-ido to Dilava, and on by Deva-deva to
Mafulu. The petticoats of the Roro women gave way to the shorter
ones of Mekeo, and these seemed to get shorter as I went further
inland. Then at Lapeka they were still shorter. At Ido-ido, which
is Kuni, the petticoats ceased, and there was only the perineal
band. Then, again, at Dilava (still Kuni) this band was narrower,
and at Deva-deva, and finally at Mafulu, it was often, as I have said,
almost nominal.
I was told that the age at which a boy usually begins to wear his
band is about 10 or 12, or in the case of a chief's son 16 or 17;
but that girls assume their bands at a somewhat earlier age, say at
7 or 8. So far as my personal observation went I should have thought
that the usual maximum age of nakedness for both boys and girls was
rather younger, and I never saw a naked boy of an age anything like 16.
The assumption of the perineal band is the subject of a ceremony
which will be dealt with hereafter.
Caps are very often worn by men, but not by women or children. These
are simply pieces of plain unstained bark cloth about 9 inches wide,
which are coiled and twisted on the head. The result is often a
shapeless mass; but there are methods of arranging the cloth in
definite ways which produce describable results. Sometimes the cloth
is merely coiled several times around the head, so as to produce
a tall thin turban-shaped band, the crown of the head being left
uncovered. Often this plan is extended by turning the end of the
cloth over, so as to cover the top of the head, thus producing in
some cases a result which resembles a fez, and in other cases one
which looks more like a tight skullcap. Again the cap often has its
centre terminating in an end or tassel hanging over, thus making it
look like a cap of liberty; and yet again I have seen the cap look
almost like the square paper caps often worn by certain artisans at
home. These caps are seen in several of the plates.
Abdominal belts are commonly worn by both men and women, but not as
a rule by children. There are several distinct forms of these:--
(1) A thick strong dark-coloured belt (Plate 14, Fig. I) made of tree
bark; made and worn by men only. The belt is about 3 or more inches
wide and is often so long that it passes twice round the body, the
outer end being fastened to the coil beneath it by two strings. This
form of belt is sometimes ornamented with simple straight-lined
geometric patterns carved into the belt, but it is never coloured. The
process of manufacture is as follows: they cut off a strip of bark
large enough for one, two, three, or four belts, and coil it up in
concentric circles, like the two circles of the belt when worn. They
then place it so coiled into water, and leave it there to soak for
a few days, after which they strip off the outer part, leaving the
smooth inner bark, which they dry, and finally cut into the required
lengths, to which they add the attachment strings made of native fibre.
(2) A belt made of a material looking like split cane and thin strips
from the fibre of what I was told was a creeping plant [34]; made
and worn by men only. The latter material is obtained by splitting
the fibre into thin strips. These strips and the strips of split
cane-like material are rather coarse in texture. The former are of
a dull red-brown colour (natural, not produced by staining) and the
latter are stone-yellow. The two are plaited together in geometric
patterns. The width of the belt is about 2 inches. It only passes once
round the man's body; and the plaiting is finished with the belt on
the body, so that it can only afterwards be removed by unplaiting or
cutting it off.
(3) A belt (Plate 14, Fig. 2) made of stone-yellow unsplit cane;
made and worn by both men and women. This is the simplest form of
belt, being merely a strip of cane intertwined (not plaited) so as
to form a band about half an inch wide, and left the natural colour
of the cane. Both men and women, when short of food, use this belt
to reduce the pain of hunger, by tightening it over the stomach. It
is, therefore, much worn during a period of restricted diet prior to
a feast. Women also use it, along with their other ordinary means,
to bring about abortion, the belt being for this purpose drawn very
tightly round the body. Often two, or even three, such belts are
worn together.
(4) A belt (Plate 14, Fig. 3) made of coarse, sometimes very coarse,
stone-yellow split cane or cane-like material; made and worn by men
only. This belt is left the natural colour of the material, which is
plaited so as to form a band from half an inch to 2 inches broad, the
two ends of which are bound together with cane. It also, like No. 2,
is finished on the body. A man will often wear two or three of these
belts together.
(5) A belt (Plate 15, Fig. i) made out of the inner fibre of a creeping
plant [35]; made and worn by men only. The fibre threads used for
this belt are very fine, so the plaiting is minute, instead of being
coarse like that of No. 2; but it is generally done rather loosely
and openly. The belt is usually about 2 inches wide or a trifle less
and is often plaited in slightly varying geometric patterns. It is
not stained in manufacture, but the natural stone-grey colour of the
fibre soon becomes tinted as the result of wear and the staining of
the wearer's body, and in particular it often becomes an ornamental
red. This belt also is finished on the man's body.
(6) A belt (Plate 15, Fig. 2) made of the inner fibre of what I was
told was another creeping plant [36] and the stem of a plant which
I believe to be one of the Dendrobiums [37]; made and worn by men
only. The fibres of the former plant are stained black; the reedy stems
of the other plant are put in short bamboo stems filled with water,
and then boiled. They are then easily split up into flattish straws,
and become a colour varying from rather bright yellow to brown. For
making the belt these two materials, looking rather like black and
bright yellow straw, are plaited together in various geometrical
patterns. The width of the belt is 2 inches, or a trifle more. It is
tied at the ends with fibre string.
(7) A rather special form of belt (Plate 15, Fig. 3) used mainly for
visiting and dancing; made and worn by both men and women. The belt is
made out of a hank of loose separate strands between 4 and 5 feet long,
tied together with string or bark cloth at two opposite points, so as
to form a belt of between 2 feet and 2 feet 6 inches in length. For
better description I would liken it to a skein of wool, as it looks
when held on the hands of one person for the purpose of being wound
off into a ball by someone else, but which, instead of being wound
off, is tied up at the two points where it passes round the hands of
the holder, and is then pulled out into a straight line of double the
original number of strands, and so forms a single many-stranded belt
of 2 feet or more in length. It is fastened round the waist with a
piece of bark cloth attached to one of the points where the hank has
been tied up. [38]
The number of strands is considerable. Belts examined by me and counted
gave numbers varying from eighteen to thirty-five, and the number of
strands of the belt round the body would be double that. Each strand
is made of three parts plaited together, and is one-eighth of an inch
or less in width. Various materials, including all the materials
used for armlets (see below), are employed for making these belts,
some for one and some for another. Sometimes a belt has its strands
all plaited out of one material only, in which case the belt will
be all of one colour. Sometimes its strands are plaited out of two
different coloured materials. There is no colouring of the belt,
except that of its strands.
Belt No. 1, as worn, is seen in Plates 9 and 11. Belt No. 3 is worn by
the man at the extreme right in Plate 16. It is worn by many of the
women figured in the plates, and several of them have two belts. One
of the women figured in Plates 18 and 19 has three of them. Belt No. 4
is worn by one of the men figured in Plates 7 and 8 (he has three of
them). Belt No. 7 is worn by one or two of the women figured in the
frontispiece, the one to the extreme right having a many-stranded belt,
and it is excellently illustrated in Plate 17.
Capes made of bark cloth are made and worn by men and women. They are
only put on after recovery from an illness by which the wearer has
been laid up, including childbirth. The cape is simply a plain long
narrow piece of undyed bark cloth. The corners of one end are fastened
together, and the whole of that end is bunched up into a sort of hood,
which is placed over the head, whilst the rest of the cloth hangs
down as a narrow strip behind. The cape in no way covers or conceals
any part of the body when viewed from the front or side. It is only
worn for a few days; but whilst wearing it the wearer discards all,
or nearly all, his or her ornaments. I could learn no reason for the
custom. Plates 18 and 19 show these capes, and the way in which they
are worn.
Mourning strings (Plate 30, Fig. 1) are made and worn by both men and
women. These are plain undecorated necklaces varying much in size and
appearance; sometimes they are made of undyed twisted bark cloth, and
vary in thickness from one-sixteenth of an inch to an inch; sometimes
they are only made of string, and are quite thin. There is always
an end or tassel to the necklace, made out of the extremities of the
neck part, and hanging in front over the chest; and, if the necklace
is of string, and not of bark cloth, some bark cloth is twisted round
this tassel. This sign of grief is after a death worn by the widow or
widower or other nearest relative (male or female) of the deceased;
and at times two people of equal degree of relationship will both wear
it. It is worn until the formal ending of the mourning. The woman to
the extreme right in Plate 26 is wearing one of these.
Widows' vests. These are mourning garments, only worn by the widows of
chiefs. The garment, which is made by women, is a vest made of string
network (like a string bag), the mesh of which is the special Mafulu
mesh, which will be described hereafter, and it is not coloured. It
is plainly and simply made, with openings at the top for the neck,
and at the sides for the arms (no sleeves), and coming down to
about the waist, without any other opening either in front or at the
back. This garment is also worn until the formal end of the period
of mourning. [39] I was unable to secure a picture of one of these.
There is no special dress for chiefs to distinguish them from other
people.
European calico clothing has not been adopted by these people, even
in the district where they are in touch with the missionaries. Indeed
I may say that the people, happily for their own health, show no
inclination to wear more clothing; and no doubt as a result of their
conservatism in this respect they escape many a fatal cold and attack
of pneumonia, and the spread of infectious skin diseases is somewhat
reduced. I may also add that the Bishop and Fathers of the Mission
do not attempt, or seem to desire, to urge the people who come under
their influence to endanger their health and their lives for the sake
of conforming to views as to clothing which have played such havoc
with tropical natives in many parts of the globe. [40]
Physical Body Decoration, &c.
Tattooing and body-scarring are not practised by either men or women
among the Mafulu.
Depilation. When a young man's beard begins to grow, the hairs
of the beard and moustache and eye-brows are extracted. No other
depilation is practised by men, and none whatever by women; and none
of them shave any part of the body. The depilation is effected with
two fibre threads twisted round each other, the hair to be extracted
being inserted between the threads. Anyone can do this, and there is
no ceremony connected with it.
Nose-piercing. The septa of the noses of both men and women are
pierced at or after the age of 15 or 18, and either before or after
marriage. This is done for men by men, and for women by women. There
is no special person whose duty it is to do it, but he or she must
be one who knows the incantations which are required. There is no
restriction as to diet or otherwise placed upon the operator prior
to the operation, but there is a day's food restriction imposed upon
the person whose nose is to be pierced.
Two instruments are used for the operation, one being a piercing
instrument made of pig bone and sharpened, and the other being a small
wooden plug, also sharpened. The operator first visibly, but silently,
engages in two incantations, during the former of which he holds up
the thumb and first finger of his right hand, and during the latter
of which he holds up the two instruments. He then with the thumb
and first finger of his right hand holds the septum of the nose of
the person to be operated upon, whom I will call the "patient," and
with the left hand pierces the septum with the bone instrument. He
next inserts the wooden plug into the hole, so as to make it larger,
and leaves the plug there. Then he takes a blade of grass, which he
also inserts through the hole, by the side of the plug, and, holding
the grass by the two ends, he makes it rotate round and round the
plug. This is a painful process, which frequently causes tears and
cries from the patient. He then probably goes through the same process
with various other patients, as it is the custom to operate on several
persons at the same time.
The patients are then all lodged in houses built for the purpose, one
house being for men and one for women. These are not houses which are
kept permanently standing, but are specially built on each occasion
on which the nose-boring operation is going to be performed. A great
swelling of the patients' noses develops, and this spreads more or
less over their faces. The patients are confined in the special houses
until the holes in their noses are large enough and the wounds are
healed. During this confinement each patient has himself to do what
is requisite to further enlarge the hole by the insertion into it from
time to time of pieces of wood and by putting in rolled up leaves and
pushing pieces of wood inside these leaves. During all this period he
is not allowed to come out of the house, at all events not so as to be
seen, and his diet is confined to sweet potato, cooked in a certain
way. The cooking for all the patients, men and women, is done by the
woman nose-piercing operator, assisted by other women. The potatoes
are wrapped up in leaves (usually banana), each potato being generally
wrapped up separately in one or more leaves; and, when so wrapped up,
they are cooked in red-hot ashes, and then taken to the houses where
the patients are.
When the hole in any patient's nose has reached the requisite size,
and the wound is healed, he inserts a large croton leaf [41] into
the hole; he may then come out and return to his own house, retaining
the croton leaf in his nose. He must next occupy himself in searching
for a black non-poisonous snake about 12 or 18 inches long, which is
commonly found in the grass. I cannot say what snake this is, but
I am advised that it is probably _Tropidonotus mairii_. Its native
name is _fal' ul' obe_, which means "germ of the ground." Until he
finds this snake he must keep the croton leaf in his nose, and is
still under the same restriction as to food, which is cooked in the
same way and by the same persons as before. On finding the snake,
he secures it alive, removes the croton leaf from the hole in his
nose, and inserts into it the tail end of the living snake; then,
holding the head of the snake in one of his hands, and the tail in
the other, he draws the snake slowly through the hole, until its head
is close to the hole. He then lets the head drop from his hand, and
with a quick movement of the other hand draws it through the nose,
and throws the snake, still living, away. [42] This completes the
nose-piercing; but there still rests upon the patient the duty of
going to the river, and there catching an eel, which he gives to the
people who have been feeding him during his illness.
The nose-piercing is generally done at one of the big feasts; and,
as these are rare in any one village, you usually find in the villages
many fully-grown people whose noses have not been pierced; though as
to this I may say that nose-piercing is more generally indulged in by
chiefs and important people and their families than by the village rank
and file. It commonly happens, however, that a good many people have
to be done when the occasion arises. Each person to be operated upon
has to provide a domestic pig for the big feast. I have been unable
to discover the origin and meaning of the nose-piercing ceremony. [43]
Ear-piercing is done to both men and women, generally when quite young,
say at seven or twelve years of age. Both the lower and the upper lobes
are pierced, sometimes only one or the other, and sometimes both;
but the lower lobe is the one more commonly pierced. They can do it
themselves, or can get someone else to do it. There is no ceremony. The
piercing is done with the thorn of a tree, and the hole is afterwards
gradually widened by the insertion of small pieces of wood. They never
make large holes, or enlarge them greatly afterwards, as the holes are
only used for the hanging of pendants, and not for the insertion of
discs. After the piercing the patient must, until the wound is healed,
abstain from all food except sweet potato; but there is no restriction
as to the way in which this food is to be cooked, or the person who
is to cook it. There is as regards ear-piercing no difference between
the case of chiefs' children and those of other people.
Body-staining is usual with both men and women, who do it for
themselves, or get others to help them. There is no ceremony
in connection with it. The colours generally adopted are red,
greyish-yellow and black. The red stain is procured from an earth,
which is obtained from the low countries; but they themselves also
have an earth which is used, and produces a more bronzy red. The
yellow stain is also got from an earth. All these coloured earths
are worked into a paste with water, or with animal fat, if they can
get it. I think they also get a red stain from the fruit of a species
of Pandanus; but I am not quite clear as to this. The black stain is
obtained from crushed vegetable ashes mixed with fat or water. The
staining of the face is usually of a simple character. It may cover
the whole face all in one colour or in different colours, and often
one side of the face is stained one colour, and the other side another
colour. They also make stripes and spots or either of them of any
colour or colours on any part of the face. The red colour (I think
especially that obtained from the Pandanus fruit) is also often applied
in staining the whole body, this being especially done for dances and
visiting; though a young dandy will often do it at other times. The
black is the symbol of mourning, and will be referred to hereafter.
Hairdressing may be conveniently dealt with here. The Mafulu
hairdressing is quite simple and rough, very different from the
big, spreading, elaborately prepared and carefully combed mops of
Mekeo. This is a factor which a traveller in this part of New Guinea
may well bear in mind in connection with his impedimenta, as he has
no difficulty in getting the Kuni and Mafulu people to carry packages
on their heads, which the Mekeo folk are unwilling to do.
The modes in which the men dress their hair, so far as I was able to
notice, may be roughly divided into the following categories:--(_a_)
A simple crop of hair either cut quite close or allowed to grow fairly
long, or anything between these two, but not dressed in any way,
and probably uncombed, unkempt and untidy. This is the commonest
form. (_b_) The same as (_a_), but with a band round the hair,
separating the upper part of it from the lower, and giving the former
a somewhat chignon-like appearance, (_c_) The hair done up all over
the head in three-stranded plaits a few inches long, and about an
eighth of an inch thick, having the appearance of short thick pieces
of string, (_d_) The top of the head undressed, but the sides, and
sometimes the back, of the head done up in plaits like (_c_). (_e_)
A manufactured long shaped fringe of hair, human, but not the hair
of the wearer (Plate 20, Fig. 3), is often worn over the forehead,
just under the wearer's own hair, so as to form, as it were, a part
of it, pieces of string being attached to the ends of the fringe
and passed round the back of the head, where they are tied. These
fringes are made by tying a series of little bunches of hair close
to one another along the double string, which forms the base of the
fringe. Specimens examined by me were about 12 inches long and 1 1/4
inches wide (this width being the length of the bunches of hair),
and contained about twenty bunches. It is usual to have two or three
of these strings of bunches of hair tied together at the ends, thus
making one broad fringe. These fringes are often worn in connection
with styles (_c_) and (_d_) of hairdressing; but I never noticed them
in association with (_a_) and (_b_).
I was told that men who have become bald sometimes wear complete
artificial wigs, though I never saw an example of this.
The hairdressing of the women seemed to be similar to that of the men,
except that I never saw the chignon-producing band, that they do not
wear fringes, and that the entire or partial plaiting of the hair is
more frequently adopted by them than it is by the men. I do not know
whether the women ever indulge in entire wigs.
Method (_a_) is seen in many of the plates. Method (_b_) is
illustrated, though not very well, in Plate 9 (the fourth and
fifth man from the left) and in Plate 21 (the young man to the
left, behind). Method (_c_) is adopted by four of the women in the
frontispiece, by some of the women in Plate 16, by the woman in Plate
17, and by the little girl in Plates 22 and 23. Method (_d_) is well
illustrated by the second woman from the right in the frontispiece.
The cutting of the hair of both men and women is effected with sharp
pieces of stone of the sort used for making adze blades, or with
sharp pieces of bamboo or shell.
Infant deformation is not practised in any form by the Mafulu people;
nor do they circumcise their children.
Ornaments.
The string-like plaits in which men and women arrange their
hair, and especially those of the women, are often decorated with
ornaments. Small cowrie and other shells, or native or European beads,
or both, are strung by women on to these plaits, sometimes in a line
along all or the greater part of the length of the plait, sometimes
as a pendant at the end of it, and sometimes in both ways; and any
other small ornamental object may be added. Dogs' teeth are also
used by both men and women in the same way; but these are, I think,
more commonly strung in line along the plaits, rather than suspended
at the ends of them. Both men and women wear suspended at the ends
of these plaits wild betel-nut fruit, looking like elongated acorns;
and men, but not women, wear in the same way small pieces of cane, an
inch or two long, into which the ends of the plaits are inserted. All
these forms of decoration may be found associated together. They are
in the case of men usually confined to the plaits at the sides, being
also often attached to the side ends of the artificial fringes; but
they are sometimes used for the back of the head also. The women often
wear them also at the top of the head, and in wearing them at the sides
sometimes have them hanging in long strings reaching to the shoulders.
Plate 24 (Figs. 1, 2, 5, and 6) and Plate 25 (Figs. 2 and 4) are
ornamented plaits cut off the heads of women. The ornaments shown
include beads, shells, discs made out of shells, dogs' teeth and
betel-nut fruit. Plate 24 (Figs. 3 and 4) are ornamented plaits cut
off the heads of men, one of them having a cane pendant, and the
other a pendant of betel-nut.
The appearance of these things, as worn, is seen in Plates 16, 26,
27, 28 and 29 (the habit of wearing a single dog-tooth at each side
of the head, as shown by 27, being a common one, and 28 showing
the equally common habit of wearing a couple of betel-nuts at each
side). Their appearance, when worn in abundance for a festal dance,
is excellently shown in the frontispiece and in Plate 17; and the
little girl in Plates 22 and 23, though too young to be a dancer,
is decorated for an occasion.
Pigs' tails are a common head decoration for women, and are also worn,
though not so frequently, by men. These tails are covered with the
natural hair of the tail, and are brown-coloured. They are suspended
by strings passing round the crown of the head or from the plaits at
the sides of the head. They are generally only about 6 inches long;
but sometimes the ornaments into which they are made are much longer,
and I have seen them worn by women hanging down as far as the level
of the breast. These pigtails are sometimes worn hanging in clusters
of several tails. They are also often, in the case of women, decorated
with shells, beads, dogs' teeth, etc., which are attached like tassels
to their upper ends. [44]
Plate 30, Fig. 3 shows a pigtail ornament for hanging over the head,
with the tails suspended on both sides and strings of beads and dogs'
teeth hanging from the upper ends of the tails. The ornament is worn
by the middle man in Plate 9 and by the little girl figured in Plates
22 and 23, and it is seen more extensively worn by women decorated
for dancing in the frontispiece and in Plate 17, and by the girl in
Plate 71.
A peculiar and less usual sort of head ornament (Plate 30, Fig. 4),
worn by both men and women, is a cluster of about a dozen or less of
bark cloth strings, about 1 1/2 feet long, fastened together at the
top, and there suspended by a string tied round the top of the head,
so as to hang down like the lashes of a several-thonged whip over the
back. The individual strings of the cluster are quite thin, but they
are decorated with the yellow and brown straw-like material above
referred to in connection with abdominal belt No. 6 (being prepared
from the same plant, apparently Dendrobium, and in the same way),
the material being twisted in a close spiral round the strings, and
making them look, when seen from a short distance off, like strings
of very small yellow and brown beads, irregularly arranged in varying
lengths of the two colours, shading off gradually from one to the
other. Even when so bound round, these strings are only about 1/16
to 1/8 of an inch thick.
The Mafulu comb (Plate 30, Fig. 2) differs in construction from
the wooden combs, all made in one piece, which are commonly used in
Mekeo. It is made of four, five, or six thin pieces of wood, which are
left blunt at one end, but are sharpened to points at the other. These
are bound together with straw-like work, sometimes beautifully done,
the binding being nearly always near to the blunt ends, though it
is sometimes almost in the middle. [45] The combs so made are flat,
with the blunt ends converging and generally fastened together, and
the long sharp ends, which are the ends to be inserted into the hair,
spreading outwards. The bound-up blunt ends are in fact a point, or,
say, half an inch or less (occasionally more) across. The spread of
the sharp ends varies from 1 to 2 inches or more. The straw-like
binding may be light or dark brown, or partly one and partly the
other. Sometimes only the two outside prongs meet together at the blunt
end, and the inner prongs do not extend much, or at all, beyond the
upper edge of the straw-like work binding. The fastening together of
the blunt converging tips is done sometimes with native thread just
at the tips, and sometimes with a little straw work rather further
down; occasionally it is missing altogether. The comb figured is not
so converging at the blunt ends or so spreading at the sharp ends
as is usual, and its blunt ends are not bound together. These combs
are only worn by men; they are commonly worn in front, projecting
forwards over the forehead, as is done in Mekeo; but they are also
worn at the back of the head, projecting sideways to either right or
left. A feather (generally a white cockatoo feather), or sometimes two
feathers, are often inserted into the straw-like work of the comb,
so as to stand up vertically when the comb is worn, and there wave,
or rather wag, backwards and forwards in the wind. I could not learn
any significance in these feathers, such as applies to many of the
upright head feathers worn by the young men of Mekeo. The comb is
worn by several of the men figured in Plate 9, one of them wearing
it in front and the others having it standing out sideways at the back.
The almost universal type of earring (Plate 20, Fig. 1), varying
from 2 to 3 inches in circumference, is made out of the tail of the
cuscus. The ring is made by removing the hair from the animal's tail,
drying the tail, and fastening the pointed end into or on to the blunt
cut-off stump end, tying them firmly together. The ring is then bound
closely round with the yellow and brown material (Dendrobium) of belt
No. 6; but a space of 1 or 2 inches is generally left uncovered at the
part where the two ends of the tail are fastened together. The simplest
form is a single earring, which passes through the hole in the ear;
but I have seen two rings hanging to the ear; and frequently a second
ring is hung on to the first, and often a third to the second, and
sometimes a fourth to the third; or perhaps, instead of the fourth
ring, there may be two rings hanging to the second one. In fact,
there are varieties of ways in which the fancy of the wearer and the
number of rings he possesses will cause him to wear them. They are
worn by both men and women. [46] They may be seen in several plates,
but unfortunately are not very clear. The most distinct are, I think,
those worn by the second woman from the left in Plate 26 and the
woman on the left in Plate 28. The second woman from the left in the
frontispiece has two of them hanging from her right ear.
Pigs' tails, similar to those worn from the hair, are also worn by
both men and women, especially the latter, suspended from the ears;
and here again they vary much in length, and are often decorated with
tassel-like hanging ornaments of shells, beads, etc.
Forehead ornaments (Plate 30, Fig 5) are made by men and worn by them
at dances. This ornament is a band, very slightly curved, which is
worn across the forehead, just under and surrounding the basis of the
dancing feathers. It is generally about 16 inches long and between
4 and 5 inches broad in the middle, from which it narrows somewhat
towards the ends. Its manufacture consists of a ground basis of the
material of belt No. 5, into which are interplaited in geometric
patterns the two black and yellow and brown materials which are used
for belt No. 6. It is fixed on to the forehead by means of strings
attached to its two ends, and passing round, and tied at the back of,
the head.
Nose ornaments. These are straight pencil-shaped pieces of shell,
generally about 6 inches long, which are passed through the hole in
the septum of the nose. They are only worn at dances and on special
occasions; but the people from time to time insert bits of wood or
cane or bone or some other thing into the hole for the purpose of
keeping it open. There are temporary pegs in the noses of the fifth
man to the left in Plate 9 and the man in Plate 10. The nose ornament
is worn by the woman to the extreme right in the frontispiece.
Necklaces and straight pendants, suspended from the neck and
hanging over the chest, are common, though they are not usually
worn in anything approaching the profusion seen in Mekeo and on
the coast. These are made chiefly of shells of various sorts (cut
or whole), dogs' teeth and beads, as in Mekeo. The shells include
the cowries and the small closely packed overlapping cut shells so
generally used in Mekeo for necklaces, and the flat disc-like shell
sections, which are here, as in Mekeo, specially used for straight
hanging pendants; also those lovely large crescent-shaped discs of
pearl shell, which are well known to New Guinea travellers. The shells
are, of course, all obtained directly or indirectly from the coast;
in fact, these are some of the chief articles for which the mountain
people exchange their stone implements and special mountain feathers,
so the similarity in the ornaments is to be expected; but it is only
within a quite recent time that the pearl crescents have found their
way to Mafulu. I do not propose to describe at length the various
forms of shell ornament, as they are very similar to, and indeed I
think practically the same as, those of Mekeo. Some of the necklaces
are figured in Plates 31, 32 and 33, and they are worn by many of
the people figured in other plates, especially the frontispiece and
Plate 17. Straight pendant ornaments are seen in the frontispiece and
in Plates 6, 17, 26 and others. The crescent-shaped pearl ornaments
are seen in the frontispiece and in Plates 6, 7, 16, 28 and others,
a very large one being worn by the little girl in Plate 71.
There is, however, one shell necklace which is peculiar to the
mountains, and, I think, to Mafulu (I do not know whether the Kuni
people also wear it), where it is worn as an emblem of mourning
by persons who are relatives of the deceased, but who are not
sufficiently closely related to him to stain themselves with black
during the period of mourning. This necklace is made of white cowrie
shells varying in size from half an inch to an inch long, each of
which has its convex side ground away, so as to show on one side the
untouched mouth of the shell and on the other an open cavity. The
shells are strung, sometimes closely and sometimes loosely, on to a
double band of thin cord. Specimens of this type of necklace measured
by me varied in length from 36 inches (with 97 shells) to 20 inches
(with 38 shells). It is worn until the period of mourning is formally
terminated. The middle necklace in Plate 33 is a mourning shell
necklace, and it is seen on the neck of the woman to the right in
Plate 29.
Pigs' tail ornaments similar to those already described are also worn
suspended by neck-bands over the chest.
Armlets and wrist-bands are worn by both men and women, and more or
less by children, including quite young ones, at the higher end of
the upper arm and just above the wrist. They are made by men only,
and vary in width from half an inch to 5 or 6 inches, the wider ones
being generally worn on the upper arm. There are several common forms
of these: (1) The more usual form (Plate 34, Fig. 4) is made of the
thin and finely plaited stone-grey material described in abdominal
belt No. 5, and is made in the same way, subject to the difference
that the plaiting is more closely done. Measured specimens of this
armlet varied in width from 1 to 2 1/4 inches, and displayed different
varieties of diagonal twill stitch. (2) Another common form (Plate 34,
Fig. 3) is made of the coarser-plaited black and yellow and brown
materials described concerning No. 6 belt, and is made in the same
way. Specimens of this armlet varied in width from 1 to 5 inches. (3)
There is another form which in fineness of material and plait is
between Nos. 1 and 2. I was told that this is made out of another
creeping plant, and is left in its own natural unstained colour, which,
however, in this case is a dull brown red. (4) Another form (Plate
34, Fig. 2) is made of the coarse dull red-brown and stone-yellow
materials described with reference to belt No. 2, and is made in
the same way. A specimen of this armlet was 2 1/4 inches wide. (5)
Another form (Plate 34, Fig. 1) is in make something like No. 4, but
the two materials used are the stone-yellow material of belt No. 2
and the black material of belt No. 6, and the plaiting materials are
much finer in thickness than are those of armlet No. 4. Specimens
of this armlet varied in width from 3/4 to 1 1/4 inches. (6) The
beautiful large cut single-shell wrist ornament, commonly worn on
the coast and plains, whence the Mafulu people procure it. Armlets
will be seen worn by many of the people figured in the plates.
There is no practice of putting armlets on young folk, and retaining
them in after life, so as to tighten round and contract the arm.
Leg-bands (Plate 25, Fig. 1) and anklets are worn by both men and
women, and also by children, just below the knee and above the ankle.
There is a form of plaited leg-band somewhat similar in make to armlet
No. 5, and between half-an-inch and an inch in width, though the
colour of this leg-band is a dull brown. But the usual form of leg-band
and anklet is made by women only out of thread fibre by a process of
manufacture quite distinct from the stiff plait work adopted for some
of the belts and for the armlets. They make their thread out of fine
vegetable fibre as they proceed with the manufacture of the band,
rolling the individual fibres with their hands upon their thighs,
and then rolling these fibres into two-strand threads, and from time
to time in this way making more thread, which is worked into the open
ends of the then working thread as it is required--all this being
done in the usual native method.
I had an opportunity of watching a woman making a leg-band, and I think
the process is worth describing. She first made a thread 5 or 6 feet
long by the method above referred to, the thread being a two-strand
one, made out of small lengths about 5 or 6 inches long of the
original fibre, rolled together and added to from time to time until
the full length of 5 or 6 feet of thread had been made. The thread
was of the thickness of very coarse European thread or exceedingly
fine string. She next wound the thread into a triple loop of the size
of the proposed leg-band. This triple loop was to be the base upon
which she was to make the leg-band, of which it would form the first
line and upper edge. It was only about 11 inches in circumference, and
thus left two ends, one of which (I will call it "the working thread")
was a long one, and the other of which (I will call it "the inside
thread") was a short one. Both these threads hung down together from
the same point (which I will call "the starting point"). She then,
commencing at the starting point, worked the working thread round the
triple base by a series of interlacing loops in the form shown (very
greatly magnified) in Fig. 1; but the loops were drawn quite tight,
and not left loose, as, for the purpose of illustration, I have had to
make them in the figure. This process was carried round the base until
she had again reached the starting point, at which stage the base,
with its tightly drawn loop work all around it, was firm and strong,
and there were still the two ends of thread hanging from the starting
point. Here and at subsequent stages of the work she added to the
lengths of these two ends from time to time in the way above described
when they needed it, and the two ends of thread were therefore always
present. Then began the making of the second line. This was commenced
at the starting point, from which the two ends of thread hung,
and was effected by a series of loops made with the working thread
in the way already described, except that these loops, instead of
passing round the whole of the base line, passed through holes which
she bored with a thorn, as she went on, in the extreme bottom edge of
that line, and also that, in making this second line, she passed the
inside thread through each loop before she drew the latter tight; so
that the second line was itself composed of a single internal thread,
around which the loops were drawn. The second line was continued in
this way until she again reached the starting point (but, of course,
one line lower down), from which the two ends of thread hung down as
before. The third and following lines were made by a process identical
with that of the second one, the holes for each line being pricked
through the bottom of that above it. I did not see the completion of
the band, but I may say that the final line is similar to the second
and subsequent ones, and is not a triple-threaded line like the first
one. It was amazing to see this woman doing her work. She was an old
woman, but she did the whole of the work with her fingers, and she must
have had wonderful eyesight and steadiness of hand, as she made the
minute scarcely visible prick holes, and passed the end of her working
thread through them, with the utmost apparent ease and quickness.
The band thus produced is of very small, close, fine work, and is
quite soft, flexible and elastic, like European canvas, instead of
being stiff and hard, like the plaited belts and armlets. The band
is generally about an inch (more or less) in width. It is not dyed
or coloured in any way, but is often decorated with beads, which
are worked into the fabric in one or more horizontal lines, but as
a rule, I think, only at irregular intervals, and not in continuous
lines. These bands and anklets are seen in many of the plates. In
Plates 10, 11 and 12 the bead decorations are seen.
Dancing aprons are made out of bark cloth by both men and women,
but coloured by men only. The apron, which is worn at dances by women
only, is about 6 to 12 inches wide. It is worn, as shown in Plate 35,
in front of the body, being passed over the abdominal belt or a cord
so as to hang over it in two folds, one behind the other; and the
front fold, which is the part which shows (the back fold being more
or less concealed), and is generally 18 inches to 2 feet in length,
has at its base a fringe made by cutting the end of the cloth up into
strips, equal or unequal in width, the number of which may be only six
or less, or may be fifteen or twenty. The front fold is often wholly
or partly stained, the colour of the stain being usually yellow, and
is always more or less covered with a decorative design, the colours
of which are usually black and red. The back fold is generally stained
yellow, but never has any design upon it. The fringe is also usually
stained yellow, and is without design, except occasionally perhaps
a few horizontal lines of colour.
I may say here, as regards these colours, that, so far as my
observation went, the colours of the decorative patterns were always
black and red, and the general staining was always yellow; and indeed
the last-mentioned colour does not show up against the natural colour
of the cloth sufficiently clearly to adapt it for actual design
work. I am not, however, prepared to say that this allocation of
the colours is in fact an invariable one; and, as I know that red
is used for general staining of perineal bands and dancing ribbons,
it is possible that it, as well as yellow, is used for aprons.
Numerous variations of design are to be found in these garments;
and indeed I may say that it is in these and in the feather head
decorations that the Mafulu people mainly indulge such artistic powers
as they possess.
Plates 36 to 43 are examples of decoration of the front folds of
these dancing aprons [47]; and I give the following particulars
concerning them, first stating that, subject to what may appear in
my particulars, the darker lines and spots represent black ones in
the apron, and the lighter ones represent red ones.
Plate.
| Average width of apron in inches.
| | Notes on ground staining and other matters.
36 6 1/2 Background of design unstained, but back fold of
apron and fringe stained yellow.
37 [48] 7 3/4 Ditto ditto ditto
38 5 1/4 Only a little irregular yellow staining behind the
design. Back fold of apron and fringe stained yellow.
39 6 Background of design (except fringe part) unstained,
but back fold of apron and fringe stained yellow.
40 7 Background of upper (zig-zag) part of design unstained,
but that of lower (rectangular) part and whole of
back fold of apron and fringe stained yellow.
41 10 1/2 Faintly tinted broad horizontal and vertical lines
and triangles in figure represent yellow stain. No
other staining in the apron.
42 6 3/4 Background of design unstained, but back fold end of
apron and fringe stained yellow.
43 6 3/4 No background staining in the apron. The smallness
of the amount of decoration and the substitution of
two tails for a fringe are, I think, unusual.
Dancing ribbons are made out of bark cloth by both men and women,
but are coloured by men only. These are worn by both men and women at
dances, the ribbons hanging round the body from the abdominal belt or a
cord, three or four or five of them being worn by one person, and one
of these commonly hanging in front. They are generally 2 or 3 inches
wide and about 4 feet long, but a portion of this length is required
for hitching the ribbon round the belt. I think their ornamentation
is confined to staining in transverse bands of alternating colour or
of one colour and unstained cloth. Plate 13, Fig. 4, illustrates the
colouring of two ribbons (each 2 inches wide), the alternation in one
case being red and yellow, and in the other red and unstained cloth;
and the men figured in Plate 70 are wearing ribbons, though they are
not very clearly shown in the plate.
The feather ornaments for the head, and especially those worn at
dances, and the feather ornaments worn on the back at dances present
such an enormous variety of colours and designs that it would be
impossible to describe them here without very greatly increasing the
length of the book. The ornaments are often very large, sometimes
containing eight or ten or even twelve rows of feathers, one behind
another. They can usually be distinguished from those made by the Mekeo
people by a general inferiority in design and make of the ornament as
a whole, the Mafulu people having less artistic skill in this respect
than the people of the lowlands. The ornaments include feathers of
parrots, cockatoos, hornbills, cassowaries, birds of paradise, bower
birds and some others. One never or rarely sees feathers of sea-birds,
or waterfowl, or Goura pigeons (which, I was told, are not found among
the mountains), as the Mafulu people in their trading with the people
of the plains take in exchange things which they cannot themselves
procure, rather than feathers, which are so plentiful with them.
The black cassowary feather is important in Mafulu as being the
special feather distinction of chiefs; but, though chiefs are as
a rule possessed of more and better ornaments than are the poorer
and unimportant people, they have no other special and distinctive
ornament.
Plates 44 and 45 illustrate some of these head feather ornaments. Plate
44, Fig. 1, shows an ornament made out of the brown fibrous exterior of
the wild betel-nut, black pigeon feathers and white cockatoo feathers,
the betel fibre and black pigeon feathers being, I was told, only
used in the mountains. Plate 44, Fig. 2, shows one made out of brown
feathers of young cassowary, white cockatoo feathers and red-black
parrot feathers. Plate 44, Fig. 3, shows one made out of bright red
and green parrot feathers. Plate 45, Fig. 1, shows one made out
of black cassowary feathers, white cockatoo feathers, red parrot
feathers and long red feathers of the bird of paradise. Plate 45,
Fig. 2, is made of cassowary feathers only. This ornament is worn in
front of the head, over the forehead, and is specially worn by chiefs.
Plate 46, Fig. 1, shows a head feather ornament which is peculiar
to the mountains. The crescent-shaped body of the ornament, which is
made of short feathers taken from the neck of the cassowary, is worn
in front over the forehead, and the cockade of hawk feathers stands
up over the head.
Plate 46, Fig. 2, shows a back ornament of cassowary feathers which
is specially intended to be worn by chiefs at dances. The custom is
to have from five to twelve of these ornaments hanging vertically
side by side, suspended to a horizontal stick, which is fastened on
the chief's back at the height of the shoulders, so that the feathers
hang like a mantle over his back. The mode in which feather ornaments
for the back are hung on sticks is seen in Plate 70, where a stick
with pendant ornaments is being held by two boys in front.
Plaited frames (Plate 47) are worn by men in connection with these head
feather ornaments. These frames are flat curved bands, rigid or nearly
so, generally forming half or nearly half a circle of an external
diameter of about 9 inches, and being about 1 inch in width. They
are worn at dances and on solemn occasions. They are placed round
the top of the forehead, not vertically, but with their upper edges
sloping obliquely forward, and have at their ends strings, which pass
over the ears and are tied at the back of the head. These frames help
to support the feather ornaments, and prevent them from falling down
over the face. They are made by men only. A groundwork of small split
cane or other material runs in parallel curved lines from end to end,
single pieces of the material being generally doubled back at the ends
so as to form several lines; and this is strengthened and ornamented
by interplaiting into it either split cane or some other material
obtained from the splitting of the inside fibre of a plant in the way
previously referred to. There are varieties of material and of pattern
worked up in different designs of interplaiting. Some of the materials
are uncoloured or merely the natural colour of the material, and others
are in two colours, generally brown or reddish-brown and yellow. These
frames display a considerable amount of variety of artistic design.
The feather erections used at special and important dances, and
especially those worn by chiefs, are enormous things, towering 6
or 12 feet above the wearer's head, and are generally larger than
those of Mekeo. They are held in a framework, which has an inverted
basket-shaped part to rest on the head, and downward pointing rods,
which are tied to the shoulders. The frames are to a great extent
similar to those of Mekeo, but, having a larger burden to bear, they
are more strongly made. These feather erections and their frames are
seen in Plate 70.
Here, as in other parts of New Guinea, both men and women, but
especially men, love to decorate themselves with bright flowers and
leaves and grasses, these being worn in the hair and in bunches stuck
into their belts, armlets and leg-bands, and indeed in any places
where they can be conveniently fastened.
It is not the practice with the Mafulu for mothers to wear the
umbilical cords of any of their children, though apparently the Kuni
people do so.
CHAPTER IV
Daily Life and Matters Connected with It
Daily Life.
The early morning finds the wife and young children and unmarried
daughters in the house. The husband has been sleeping either there
or in the _emone_ (clubhouse), but most probably the latter. The
unmarried sons are in the _emone_, except any very young ones, who
have not been formally admitted to it in a way which will be hereafter
described. The women cook the breakfast for the whole family inside the
house at about six or seven o'clock, and then take the food of the men
to the _emone_. After breakfast most of the men and women go off to the
gardens and the bush. The women's work there is chiefly the planting
of sweet potatoes, taro and other things, and cleaning the gardens;
and in the afternoon they get food from the gardens and firewood from
the bush, all of which they bring home to the village; also they have
to clear off the undergrowth from newly cleared bush. The men's work is
mainly the yam and banana and sugar-cane planting, each in its season,
and the cutting down of big trees and making fences, if they happen to
be opening out new garden land. They also sometimes help the women with
their work. Or they may have hunting expeditions in the bush, or go
off in fishing parties to the river. In all matters the men of Mafulu,
though lazy, are not so lazy as those of Mekeo and the coast. In the
middle of the day the women cook the meal for everyone in the gardens,
this being done on the spot, and there they all eat it. At three, four,
or five o'clock all the people of the village have returned to it,
except perhaps when they are very busy taking advantage of good weather
for making new clearings or other special work. In the evening they
have another meal cooked in the village. At every meal in the village
the pigs have to be fed also, these sharing the food of the people
themselves, or feeding on raw potatoes. Unless there is dancing going
on, or they are tempted by a fine moonlight night to sit out talking,
the people all terminate their routine day by going to bed early.
As regards the daily social conduct of the people among themselves,
I was told that the members of a family generally live harmoniously
together (subject as regards husbands and wives to the matters which
will be mentioned later), that children are usually treated kindly
and affectionately by their parents, and that there is very little
quarrelling within a village; and what I saw when I was among the
Mafulu people certainly seemed to confirm all this.
There are various detailed matters of daily life which will appear
under their appropriate headings; but I will here deal with a few
of them.
Food.
The vegetable foods of the Mafulu people are sweet potato and other
plants of the same type, yam and other foods of the same type, taro and
other foods of that type, banana of different sorts, sugar-cane, a kind
of wild native bean, a cultivated reed-like plant with an asparagus
flavour (what it is I do not know), several plants of the pumpkin and
cucumber type, one of them being very small, like a gherkin, fruit from
two different species of Pandanus, almonds, the fruit of the _malage_
(described later on), and others, both cultivated and wild. The
sugar-cane is specially eaten by them when working in the gardens. [49]
Their animal food consists of wild pig and, on occasions, village pig,
a small form of cassowary, kangaroo, a small kind of wallaby, kangaroo
rat, "iguana," an animal called _gaivale_ (I could not find out what
this is), various wild birds, fish, eels, mice, a large species of
snake and other things.
Their staple drink is water, but when travelling they cut down a
species of bamboo, and drink the watery fluid which it contains. After
boiling any food in bamboo stems they drink the water which has been
used for the purpose, and which has become a sort of thin flavoured
soup.
Betel-chewing is apparently not indulged in by these people as
extensively as it is done in Mekeo and on the coast; but they like it
well enough, and for a month or so before a big feast, during which
period they are under a strict taboo restriction as to food, they
indulge in it largely. The betel used by them is not the cultivated
form used in Mekeo and on the coast, but a wild species, only about
half the size of the other; and the lime used is not, as in Mekeo
and on the coast, made by grinding down sea-shells, but is obtained
from the mountain stone, which is ground down to a powder. The gourds
(Plate 51, Figs. 6 and 7) in which the lime is carried are similar to
those used in Mekeo, except that usually they are not ornamented, or,
if they are so, the ornamentation is only done in simple straight-lined
geometric patterns. The spatulae are sometimes very simply and rudely
decorated. The people spit out the betel after chewing, instead of
swallowing it, as is the custom in Mekeo.
Cooking and Eating and Their Utensils.
They have no cooking utensils, other than the simple pieces of bamboo
stem, which they use for boiling.
Their usual methods of cooking are roasting and boiling.
Roasting is usually effected by making a fire, letting it die
down into red-hot ashes, and then putting the food without wrap or
covering into the ashes, turning it from time to time. They also
roast by holding the food on sticks in the flame of the burning fire,
turning it occasionally. Stone cooking is adopted for pig and other
meats. They make a big fire, on the top of which they spread the
stones; when the stones are hot enough, they remove some of them,
place the meat without wrap or covering on the others, then place the
removed stones on the meat, and finally pile on these stones a big
covering of leaves to keep in the heat. Stone cooking in the gardens
is done in a slightly different way; there they dig in the ground a
round hole about 1 foot deep and from 1 1/2 to 2 feet in diameter, and
in this hole they make their fire, on which they pile their stones;
and the rest of the process is the same as before. This hole-making
process is never adopted in the village. The only reason for it which
was suggested was that the method was quicker, and that in the gardens
they are in a hurry. Of course, holes of this sort dug in the open
village enclosure would be a source of danger, especially at night.
Boiling is done in pieces of bamboo about 4 inches in diameter
and about 15 or 18 inches long. They fill these with water, put the
food into them, and then place or hold the bamboo stems in a slanting
position in the flames. This method is specially used for cooking sweet
potatoes, but it is their only method of boiling anything. Water, which
they keep stored and carry in bamboo receptacles and hollow pumpkins,
is boiled in bamboo stems in the same way. The bamboo storage vessels
are generally from 2 to 5 feet long, the intersecting nodes, other
than that at one end, having been removed. The pumpkins (Plate 52,
Figs. 2 and 3) are similar to those used by the Roro coast people and
in Mekeo, except that the usual form, instead of being rather short
and broad with a narrow opening, is longer and narrower, some of them
being, say, 3 feet long, and often very curved and crooked in shape.
Their only eating utensils are wooden dishes and small pieces of wood,
or sometimes of cassowary or kangaroo bone, which are used as forks,
and pieces of split bamboo, which are used for cutting meat; but these
latter are used for other purposes, and rather come within the list
of ordinary implements, and will be there described. They also use
prepared pig-bones as forks; but these again are largely used for
other purposes, and will be described under the same heading.
The dishes (Plate 52, Fig. 1) are made out of the trunk of a tree
called _ongome_. The usual length of a dish, without its handles,
is between 1 and 2 feet; its width varies from 9 inches to 1 foot,
and its depth from 3 to 6 inches. It is rudely carved out of the
tree-trunk, [50] the work being done with stone adzes--unless they
happen to possess European axes--and it generally has a handle at one
or both ends. It is not decorated with carving in any way. The common
form of handle is merely a simple knob about 3 inches long and 1 1/2
inches wide. But it is sometimes less simple, and I have a dish one
of the handles of which is divided into two projecting pieces about
7 1/2 inches long and joined to each other at the end. The handle
is always carved out of the same piece of wood as is the dish;
never made separately and afterwards attached. The wooden forks
are simply bits cut from trees and sharpened at one end, and they
are without prongs. Their use is only temporary, and they are not
permanently stored as household utensils. The cassowary and kangaroo
bone implements (Plate 25, Fig. 3) are also merely roughly pointed
unpronged pieces of bone, and otherwise without special form. When
eating _en famille_ they do not always use these pointed wooden and
bone sticks, but very commonly take the food out of the dish with
their hands only; but if the family had guests with them they would
probably use the sticks more, and their hands less. The men and women
often eat together, sitting round the dish and helping themselves
out of it, though, if there are too many to do this conveniently,
pieces will be handed out to some of them.
Various Implements.
Besides the cooking and eating implements above described and
other things, such as weapons of war and of hunting and fishing,
and implements for manufacture, agriculture and music, which will be
dealt with under their own headings, there are a few miscellaneous
things which may be conveniently described here.
Bamboo knives (Plate 51, Fig. 5). These are simple strips made out of
a special mountain form of bamboo, and are generally 8 to 10 inches
long and about 1 inch wide. One edge is left straight for its whole
length, and the other is cut away near the end, very much as we cut
away one side of a quill pen, so as to produce a sharp point. The
side edge which is used for cutting is the one which is not cut away
at the end; and when it gets blunt it is renewed by simply peeling
off a length of fibre, thus producing a new edge, bevelled inwards
towards the concave side of the implement, and making a hard and
very sharp fresh cutting edge. The point can of course be sharpened
at any time in the obvious way.
Pig-bone implements (Plate 51, Fig. 2). These are the implements
which are often used as forks, but they have straight edges also
with which they are used as scraping knives, and they are utilised
for many other purposes. The implement, which is, I think, similar
to what is commonly found in Mekeo and on the coast, is made out of
the leg-bone of a pig, and is generally from 5 to 8 inches long. One
side of the bone is ground away, so as to make the implement flattish
in section, one side (the outside unground part of the bone) being
somewhat convex, and the other (where the bone has been ground away)
being rather concave. Some of the joint end of the bone is left to
serve as a handle; and from this the bone is made to narrow down to
a blunt, rather flattish and rounded point, somewhat like that of
a pointed paper-cutter. The side edge is used for scraping, and the
point for sticking into things.
Smoking pipes are in the ordinary well-known form of Mekeo and the
coast, being made of sections of bamboo stem in which the natural
intersecting node near the mouthpiece end is bored and the node at the
other end is left closed, and between these two nodes, near to the
closed one, is a flute-like hole, in which is placed the cigarette
of tobacco wrapped up in a leaf. They are, however, generally not
ornamented; or, if they are so, it is merely in a simple geometric
pattern of straight lines. I obtained one pipe (Plate 51, Fig. 1) of
an unusual type, being much smaller than is usual. A special feature
of this pipe is its decoration, which includes groups of concentric
circles. This is the only example of a curved line which I ever met
with among the Mafulu villages, and it is probable that it had not
been made there.
Boring drills (Plate 51, Fig. 4) are also similar to those of Mekeo
and the coast, except that there the fly-wheel is, I think, usually
a horizontal circular disc, through the centre of which the upright
shaft of the implement passes, whereas in the Mafulu boring instrument
the fly-wheel, through which the shaft passes, is a rudely cut flat
horizontal piece of wood about 9 or 10 inches long, 2 inches broad,
and half an inch or less thick, and also that in Mafulu the native
point, made out of a pointed fragment of the stone used for making
club-heads, adze blades and cloth-beaters, is not generally replaced
by a European iron point, as is so commonly the case in Mekeo and
near the coast. These drills are used for boring dogs' teeth and
shells and other similar hard-substanced things, but are useless
for boring articles of wood or other soft substances, in which the
roughly formed point would stick. [51]
Fire-making. This is a question of process, rather than of implement,
but may be dealt with here. To produce fire, the Mafulu native
takes two pieces of very dry and inflammable wood, one larger than
the other, and some dry bark cloth fluff. He then holds the smaller
piece of wood and the fluff together, and rubs them on the larger
piece of wood. After four or five minutes the fluff catches fire,
without bursting into actual flame, upon which the native continues the
rubbing process, blowing gently upon the fluff, until the two pieces
of wood begin to smoulder, and can then be blown into a sufficient
flame for lighting a fire.
Carrying bags. These are all made of network. I shall say something
about the mode of netting and colouring them hereafter, and will here
only deal with the bags and their use. They are of various sizes,
(1) There are the large bags used by women for carrying heavy objects,
such as firewood, vegetables and fruit, which they bring back to
the village on their return in the afternoon from the gardens and
bush. These bags are carried in the usual way, the band over the
opening of the bag being passed across the front of the head above the
forehead, and the bag hanging over the back behind. They are curved
in shape, the ends of the bag being at both its top and bottom edges
higher than are the centres of those edges, so that, when a bag is
laid out flat, its top line is a concave one and its bottom line is a
convex one. The network at the two ends of the top line is continued
into the loop band by means of which the bag is carried. The usual
dimensions of one of these bags, as it lies flat and unstretched
on a table (the measurements being made along the curved lines)
are as follows--top line about 2 feet, bottom line about 3 feet,
and side lines about 18 inches. But when filled with vegetables,
firewood, etc., they expand considerably, especially those made of
"Mafulu network," of which I shall speak hereafter. These bags are
uncoloured. (2) There are similar, but somewhat smaller, bags, in
which the women carry lighter things, and which in particular they
use for carrying their babies. They frequently carry this bag and
the larger one together; and you will often see a woman with a big
bag heavily laden with vegetables or firewood or both, and another
smaller bag (perhaps also slung behind over the top of the big one,
or hanging from her head at her side, or over her breast), which
contains her baby, apparently rolled up into a ball. These bags also
are uncoloured. (3) There are other bags, similar perhaps in size to
No. 2, used for visiting and at feasts, dances and similar occasions,
and also sometimes used for carrying babies. The top line of one of
these is generally about 2 feet long, the bottom line a trifle longer,
and the side lines about 1 foot. These are coloured in decorative
patterns. (4) There are small bags of various sizes carried by men
slung over their shoulders or arms, and used to hold their betel-nut,
pepper and tobacco and various little implements and utensils of
daily life. These are sometimes uncoloured and sometimes coloured. (5)
There are the very small charm bags, only about 2 inches or a trifle
more square, which are used by both men and women (I think only the
married ones) for carrying charms, and are worn hanging like lockets
from the neck. They are sometimes coloured.
Plate 53 gives illustrations of three of these bags--Fig. 1 being a
woman's ornamented bag No. 3, and Fig. 2 being a man's ornamented bag
No. 4; but this last-mentioned bag is rather a large one of its type,
the usual difference in size between Nos. 3 and 4 being greater than
the two examples figured would suggest. The patterns of both these
bags, and especially of the larger one, are more regular than is
usually the case. The bag shown in Fig. 3 will be dealt with hereafter
under the heading of netting.
As regards women, the carrying of bags, either full or empty, hanging
over their backs is so common that one might almost regard the bag
as an additional article of dress. I may say here in advance of
my observations on netting that the distinctive features of Mafulu
bags, as compared with those made in Mekeo and on the coast, are the
special and peculiar form of netting which is commonly adopted for
some of them and the curious lines of colouring with which they are
often ornamented.
Hammocks are commonly used in the houses and _emone_ for sleeping. [52]
These also are made of network and will be referred to later. The
distinctive feature of network mentioned in relation to bags applies
to these also, but not that of colouring.
Pottery is not made or used in Mafulu.
I may perhaps refer here to what I imagine to be an ancient stone
mortar, which I found at Mafulu, and which I have endeavoured to show
in Fig. 2. A portion of the upper part of the original was broken away,
and I regret that I did not try to sketch it just as it was, instead
of adopting the easier course of following what had been the original
lines. I am also sorry that its great weight made it impossible for me
to bring it down with me to the coast, [53] and that by an oversight
I did not secure a photograph of it. The vessel was well and evenly
shaped. It had perfectly smooth surfaces, without any trace of cutting
or chipping, and must have been made by grinding. It was devoid of any
trace of decoration. Its top external diameter was about 12 inches,
its height, when standing upright on its base, was about 8 inches,
and the thickness of the bowl at the lip about 1 inch. I was told
that similar things are from time to time found in the district,
generally on the ridges, far away from water. A Mafulu chief said
that the Mafulu name for these things is _idagafe._ The natives have
no knowledge of their origin or past use, the only explanation of the
latter which was suggested being that they were used as looking-glasses
by looking into the scummy surface of the water inside them. [54]
European things. The Mafulu people are now beginning, mainly through
the missionaries of the Sacred Heart, and also through their contact
with Mekeo and other lowland tribes, to get into touch with European
manufactures. Trade beads, knives, axes, plane irons (used by them
in place of stone blades for their adzes), matches and other things
are beginning to find their way directly and indirectly into such of
the villages as are nearest to the opportunities of procuring them
by exchange or labour.
Domestic Animals.
Dogs may occasionally, though only rarely, be seen in the villages,
but these are small black, brownish-black, or black and white dogs
with very bushy tails, and not the yellow dingo dogs which infest
the villages of Mekeo; and even these Mafulu dogs are, I was told,
not truly a Mafulu institution, having been obtained by the people,
I think, only recently from their Kuni neighbours. A tame cockatoo may
also very occasionally be seen, and even, though still more rarely,
a tame hornbill. There are no cocks and hens.
The universal domestic animal of the Mafulu, however, is the pig,
and he is so important to them that he is worthy of notice. These
pigs are "village" pigs, which, though naturally identical with "wild"
pigs--being, in fact, wild pigs which have been caught alive or their
descendants--have to be distinguished from wild pigs, and especially
so in connection with feasts and ceremonies.
Village pigs are the individual property of the householders who
possess them, there being no system of community or village ownership;
and, when required for feasts and ceremonies, each household has to
provide such pig or pigs as custom requires of it. They are bred in the
villages by their owners, and by them brought up, fed and tended, the
work of feeding and looking after them being the duty of the women. No
distinguishing ownership marks are put upon the pigs, but their owners
know their own pigs, and still more do the pigs know the people who
feed them; so that disputes as to ownership do not arise. The number
of pigs owned by these people is enormous in proportion to the size
of their villages, and I was told that a comparatively small village
will be able at a big feast to provide a number of village pigs much
in excess of what will be produced by one of the big Mekeo villages.
These village pigs often wander away into the bush, and may disappear
from sight for months; but they nevertheless still continue to
be village pigs. If, however, they are not seen or heard of for a
very long time (say six months), they are regarded as having become
wild pigs, and may be caught and appropriated as such. It is usual
with village pigs to clip or shorten their ears and tails, or even
sometimes to remove their eyes, so as to keep them from wandering
into the gardens. [55] But even a village pig thus marked as such
would be regarded as having become a wild pig if it had disappeared
for a very long time.
Village pigs (as distinguished from wild pigs) are, as will be seen
below, never eaten in their own village on ceremonial occasions,
or indeed perhaps at all, being only killed and cut up and given to
the visitors to take away and eat in their own villages.
Etiquette.
These simple people do not appear to have many customs which come
under the heading of etiquette, pure and simple.
A boy must soon, say within a few weeks, after he has received his
perineal band leave the parental home, and go to live in the _emone;_
but this rule only refers to his general life, and does not prohibit
him from ever entering his parents' house. If he receives his band
when he is very young, this rule will not begin to operate until he
is ten or twelve years old. He is in no case under any prohibition
from being in or crossing the village enclosure. A girl is allowed to
enter the _emone_, though she may not sleep there, prior to receiving
her band, but after that she must never enter it.
A young unmarried man, who has arrived at the marriageable age, must
not eat in the presence of women. He can eat in the bush, or inside
the _emone_, but he must not eat on the platform of the _emone_,
where women might see him. There appear to be no other customs
of mutual avoidance, as, for example, that between son-in-law and
mother-in-law, and with reference to other marriage relationships,
such as are found in some of the Solomon Islands, and among various
other primitive races.
Children and unimportant adults must always pass behind a chief,
not in front of him, and when a chief is speaking, everyone else,
old and young, must be silent.
Young men and girls associate and talk freely together in public
among other people, but no young man would go about alone with a girl,
unless he was misconducting himself with her, or wished to do so.
Visiting is purely friendly and social, and there is no personal
system of formal and ceremonial visiting, except as between communities
or villages.
There do not appear to be any forms of physical salutation, but there
are recognised ways in which men address one another on meeting and
parting. If A and B meet in the bush, A may say to B, "Where do you
come from?", and B will answer, "I come from----." A may then say,
"Where are you going to?", and B will reply to this. Then B may
put similar questions to A, and will be similarly answered. These
questions are not necessarily asked because the questioner is really
anxious for information, but are in the nature of a formality,--the
equivalent of our "How do you do?" The system of asking and answering
these questions, though well recognised as a social form, is not
in practice strictly adhered to. Also A, on coming to a village and
finding B there, and wishing to salute him, will call him by name,
and B will then call A by name. Then A will say, "You are here,"
and B will reply, "I am here." This form is more strictly carried
out than is the other one. Then when A leaves he will say to B,
"I am going," and B will answer, "Go." Then B will call A by his
name, and A will call B by name, and the formality is finished. If A,
being very friendly with B, comes to his village to see him, on A's
departure B, and probably B's family, will accompany A out of the
village, and will stand watching his departure until he is about to
disappear round the corner of the path; and then they will call out
his name, and he will respond by calling out B's name.
Gestures may perhaps be included under this heading, though there is
apparently but little to be said about the matter. When a question
is asked, an affirmative reply is indicated by nodding the head,
and a negative one by shaking it; and, though I asked if this was
not probably the result of association with people who had been among
white men, I was told that it was not so. A negative answer is also
often expressed by shrugging the shoulders, and a kind of grimace
with the lips. The nodding of the head to a negative question, such
as "Are you not well?" signifies assent to the negative, that is,
that he is not well, and so vice-versa with the shaking of the head.
CHAPTER V
Community, Clan, and Village Systems and Chieftainship
Communities, Clans, and Villages.
The native populations of the Mafulu area are scattered about in
small groups or clusters of villages or hamlets; and, as each cluster
of villages is for many purposes a composite and connected whole,
I propose to call such a cluster a "community." Friendships, based
on proximity and frequent intercourse and intermarriage, doubtless
arise between neighbouring communities, but otherwise there does
not appear to be any idea in the minds of the people of any general
relationship or common interest between these various communities of
the area. Each community regards the members of every other community
within the area as outsiders, just as much so as are, say, the Ambo
people to the north and the Kuni people to the west. If a community,
or group of communities together, were the subject of an attack from
either Ambo or Kuni natives, each of these being people whose language
is different--as regards the Kuni utterly different--from that of the
Mafulu, there would apparently be no thought of other Mafulu-speaking
communities, as such, coming to assist in repelling the attack. Hence
in dealing with the question of inter-village relationship, I have
to fix my mind mainly upon the community and its constituent parts.
Concerning the situation as between one community and another,
as they regard themselves as quite distinct and unrelated, the only
question which seems to arise is that of the ownership of, and rights
over, the intervening bush and other land. The boundaries between
what is regarded as the preserve of one community, within which its
members may hunt and fish, clear for garden purposes, cut timber, and
collect fruit, and that of an adjoining community are perfectly well
known. The longitudinal boundaries along the valleys are almost always
the rivers and streams, which form good boundary marks; but those
across the hills and ridges from stream to stream are, I was told,
equally defined in the minds of the natives, though no artificial
boundary marks are visible. These boundaries are mutually respected,
and trouble and fighting over boundary and trespass questions are,
I was told, practically unknown, the people in this respect differing
from those of Mekeo.
A community comprises several villages, the number of which may vary
from, say, two to eight. But the relationship between all the villages
is not identical. There is a clan system, and there is generally more
than one clan in a community. Often there are three or more of such
clans. Each clan, however, has its own villages, or sometimes one
village only, within the community, and two clans are never found
represented in any one village, [56] or any one clan spread over two
or more communities.
Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic illustration of a typical Mafulu community,
the circles representing villages of one clan, the squares those of
another clan, and the triangle being the sole village of a third clan.
I have said that the entire community is for many purposes a composite
whole. In many matters they act together as a community. This is
especially so as regards the big feast, which I shall describe
hereafter. It is so also to a large extent in some other ceremonies
and in the organisation of hunting and fishing parties and sometimes
in fighting. And the community as a whole has its boundaries, within
which are the general community rights of hunting, fishing, etc.,
as above stated.
But the relationship between a group of villages of any one clan
within the community is of a much closer and more intimate character
than is that of the community as a whole. These villages of one
clan have a common _amidi_ or chief, a common _emone_ or clubhouse,
and a practice of mutual support and help in fighting for redress
of injury to one or more of the individual members; and there is a
special social relationship between their members, and in particular
clan exogamy prevails with them, marriages between people of the same
clan, even though in different villages, being reprobated almost as
much as are marriages between people of the same village.
The Mafulu word for village is _emi_, but there are no words
signifying the idea of a community of villages and that of a group
of villages belonging to the same clan within that community. As
regards the latter there is the word _imbele_, but this word is used
to express the intimate social relationship existing between the
members of a clan, and not to express the idea of an actual group of
villages. Communities and villages have geographical names. The name
adopted for a community will probably be the name of some adjoining
river or ridge. That adopted for a village will probably be the name
of the exact crest or spot on which it is placed, the minuteness of
the geographical nomenclature here being remarkable. Clan-groups of
villages, forming part of a community, have, as such, no geographical
names, but a member of one such group will distinguish himself from
those of another group by saying that he is a man of----, giving the
name of the chief of the clan occupying the group.
I was assured that, when there are two or more villages of a clan with
a common chief and emone, they have originally been one village which
has split up, an event which undoubtedly does in fact take place;
while on the other hand the several villages of a clan, presumably
the outcome of a previous splitting-up of a single village, will
sometimes amalgamate together into one village, which thus becomes
the only village of the clan. But two villages of different clans
could never amalgamate in this way. The following are examples of
these village changes:--
Near to the Mafulu Mission station is a community called Sivu, which
includes seven villages occupied by three clans, as follows [57]:--
1. Voitele Belonging to a clan whose chief, Jaria, lives
at Amalala, where the clan _emone_ is.
2. Amalala
3. Kodo-Malabe
4. Motaligo
5. Malala Belonging to a clan whose chief, Gito-iola, lived
at Malala, where the clan _emone_ is. (He has
recently retired in favour of his eldest son,
Anum' Iva, who is the present chief, and also lives
there.)
6. Gelva
7. Seluku Being the only village of a clan whose chief, Baiva,
has recently died. His eldest son, who has succeeded
him, is an infant. There is no regency.
Also near the Mission station is a community called Alo, which includes
four villages occupied by two clans, as follows:--
1. Asida Belonging to a clan whose chief, Amo-Kau, lives
at Asida, where the _emone_ is.
2. Kotsi
3. Ingomaunda
4. Uvande Being the only village of a clan whose chief
is Iu-Baibe.
Referring to these villages, in the year 1899 the clan now occupying
the four villages Voitele, Amalala, Kodo-Malabe and Motaligo had only
a single village, Kaidiabe, the clan's chief being the above-mentioned
Jaria. Then there was a Government punitive expedition, following
the attack of the natives upon Monseigneur de Boismenu (the present
Bishop of the Mission of the Sacred Heart in British New Guinea) and
his friends, who were making their first exploration of the district,
in which expedition a number of natives, including the brother of
the chief, were killed. After that the village was abandoned, and
the three villages of Voitele, Amalala and Motaligo arose in its
place. Subsequently after a big feast, which was held at Amalala in
the year 1909, that village put out an offshoot, which is the present
village of Kodo-Malabe. Also in the year 1909 the village of Uvande
was represented by seven villages, all belonging to one clan under
the chieftainship of Iu-Baibe, the names of which were Ipolo, Olona,
Isisibei, Valamenga, Amada, Angasabe and Amambu; but after the feast
above mentioned the people of that clan all abandoned their villages,
and joined together in forming the present village of Uvande.
The chief, that is the true chief, of a clan has his house in one of
the villages of the clan, and if, as sometimes occurs, he has houses
in two or more of these villages, there is one village in which is
what is regarded as his usual residence, and this is the village in
which is the _emone_ of the clan.
As regards the relative predominance of the various clans of a
community and their respective chiefs in matters affecting the whole
community (_e.g.,_ the arranging and holding of a big feast), there
is no rule or system. The predominance will probably, unless there
be a great disparity in the actual size or importance of the clans,
and perhaps even to a certain extent notwithstanding such a disparity,
fall to the clan whose chief by his superior ability or courage or
force of character, or perhaps capacity for palavering, has succeeded
in securing for himself a predominating influence in the community.
The word _imbele_ and certain other words are used to designate the
closeness or otherwise of the connection between individuals. _Imbele_
signifies the close connection which exists between members of one
clan, and a man will say of another member of his clan that he is
his _imbele_. The word _bilage_ signifies a community connection,
which is recognised as being not so close as a clan connection;
and a man will say of another, who is outside his own clan, but is a
member of his own community, that he is his _bilage_. The expression
_a-gata_ signifies absence of any connection, and a man will refer
to a member of another community, Mafulu, Kuni, Ambo, or anything
else (there is no distinction between these in the use of the term)
as being _a-gata_, thereby meaning that he is an outsider.
This brings me to the question of the use by me of the term "clan" to
designate the intimate association above referred to. To begin with,
there is a considerable difference between the situation produced by
the clan system, if it may be regarded as such, of Mafulu and that of,
say, Mekeo, where one finds several clans occupying one village, and
where members of one clan may be scattered over several more or less
distant villages; though this latter difference might perhaps arise in
part from natural geographical causes, the flat lowlands of the Mekeo
people being highly favourable to inter-village communication over
their whole areas, and to the holding of their recognised and numerous
markets, whilst it may almost be assumed that such intercommunication
would be more restricted, at all events in days gone by, among the
Mafulu inhabitants of the mountains.
Then again in Mafulu there are no clan badges, nor are there any
realistic or conventional representations of, or designs which can
to my mind be possibly regarded as representing, or having had their
origin in the representation of, animals, birds, fishes, plants,
or anything else. As regards this, however, it may be mentioned
that the Mafulu people are very primitive and undeveloped, and have
not in their art any designs which could readily partake of this
imitative character, their artistic efforts never producing curves,
and indeed not going beyond geometric designs composed of straight
lines, rectangular and zig-zag patterns and spots.
Also I was unable to discover the faintest trace of any idea
which might be regarded as being totemistic, or having a totemistic
origin. In particular, although enquiry was made from ten independent
and trustworthy native sources, I could not find a trace of any system
of general clan taboo against the killing or the eating of any animal,
bird, fish, or plant. It is true that there are various temporary
food taboos associated with special conditions and events, and that
there are certain things the eating of which is regarded as permanently
taboo to certain individuals; but the former of these restrictions are
general and are not associated with particular clans or communities,
and the latter restrictions relate separately to the individuals only,
and apparently are based in each case on the fact that the food has
been found to disagree with him; though whether the restriction is
the result of mere common sense based upon individual experience,
or has in it an element of superstition as to something which may be
harmful to the individual concerned, is a point upon which I could
not get satisfactory explanation.
Again, still dealing with the question of totemism, I may say that
the community and village names (as already stated, there are no
clan names) do not appear to be referable to any possible totemistic
objects. There is no specific ancestor worship, in connection with
which I could endeavour to trace out an association between that
ancestor and a totemistic object, and there is no special reverence
paid to any animal or vegetable, except certain trees and creepers,
the fear of which is associated with spirits and ghosts generally,
and not with ghosts of individual persons, and except as regards
omen superstitions concerning flying foxes and fireflies, which are
general and universal among all these people, and except as regards
the possible imitative character of the Mafulu dancing, which, if
existent, is probably also universal.
Moreover, I was told that now, at any rate, the people regard their
_imbele_ or clan relationship as a social one, as well as one of
actual blood, a statement which is illustrated by the fact that,
if a member of one clan leaves his village to reside permanently in a
village of another clan, he will regard the members of the latter clan,
and will himself be regarded by them, as being _imbele_, although he
does not part with the continuing _imbele_ connection between himself
and the other members of his original clan.
On the other hand the association between members of a clan
is exceedingly close, so much so that a serious injury done by
an outsider to one member of a clan (_e.g._, his murder, or the
case of his wife eloping with a stranger and her family refusing to
compensate him for the price which he had paid for her on marriage)
is taken up by the entire clan, who will join the injured individual
in full force to inflict retribution; and, as already stated, the
members of a clan share in one common chief and one common _emone_,
intermarriage between them is regarded as wrong, and apparently each
group of villages occupied by a single clan has in origin been a single
village, and may well have a common descent. I think, therefore, that
I am justified in regarding these internal sections of a community
as clans.
Chiefs, Sub-Chiefs and Notables and Their Emone
At the head of each clan is the _amidi_, or chief of the clan. He is,
and is recognised as being, the only true chief.
He is the most important personage of his clan, and is treated
with the respect due to his office; but, though he takes a leading
part in all matters affecting the clan, he is not a person with any
administrative or judicial functions, and he has no power of punishment
or control over the members of the clan. In public ceremonial matters
of importance, however, he has functions which rest primarily upon him
alone, and he does, in fact, always perform these functions in his own
village; and on the occasion of a big feast (as to which see below),
he does so in whatever village of the clan that feast may be held.
The chief lives in one of the villages of the clan, but may have
houses in other villages of that clan also. In the village in which
he mainly resides is his _emone_ or club-house, which is the only
true _emone_ of the clan; and for the upkeep and repair of this he is
responsible. This is the ceremonial _emone_ in his own village, and
is always the one used in connection with the ceremony of a big feast
in any village of the clan; and, if the feast be held in a village
other than that in which is his then existing _emone_, another one is
built in that village in lieu of his former one in the other village.
There is not in connection with these chiefs and their ceremonies any
distinctive difference in importance between the right and the left
as regards the positions occupied by them on the _emone_ platform or
the structure of the _emone_, such as is found among the Roro people.
Next in rank to the chief, and at the head of each village of the clan,
there is a sub-chief, or _em' u babe_, this term meaning "father of the
village." He is not regarded as a true chief, but he is entitled, and
it is his duty, to perform in his own village all the functions of the
chief, except those connected with the big feast. He and the similar
sub-chiefs of the other villages of the clan are the persons who take
the prominent part in supporting the chief in any ceremonial function
concerning the whole clan in which the latter may be engaged, and in
particular at the big feast. The _em' u babe_ is usually a relative
of the chief, and at all events is an important personage. He also
has in his own village his _emone_, which is the principal _emone_
of that village, and is used for all ceremonial functions in that
village except the big feast, but it is not regarded as being a true
_emone_. The chief holds in his own village of residence both his
office of _amidi_ and that of _em' u babe_, there being no other
person holding the latter office in that village.
Next in rank to the sub-chiefs come a number of _ake baibe_, which
means "great men." These are the leading people--the aristocracy--of
the clan. There are no distinctive social grades of rank among
them. Their number is often very large in proportion to the total
number of male inhabitants of a village; indeed sometimes almost
every member of a village will claim to belong to this class. These
people are in no sense office-bearers, and have no special duties
to perform, though on a ceremonial occasion they are entitled to
have their importance borne in mind. Each of them also is entitled
to have an _emone_ (here again not a true _emone_) in his village,
but in fact their numbers often make this practically impossible,
and you rarely see more than two or three _emone_ in one village.
The above are all the chiefs and notables of the clan. There is no
such thing as a war chief.
Aristocracy in its various forms is not a condition to which a man
attains on getting older--it is attained by inheritance.
The office of the chief is hereditary in the male line by strict
rules of descent and primogeniture. On the death of a chief his office
descends to his eldest son, or if that son has died leaving children,
it descends to the eldest son of that son, and so on for subsequent
generations. Failing the eldest son or male issue in the male line
of the eldest son, the office devolves upon the late chiefs second
son or his male issue in the male line. And so on for other sons
and their issue. Failing such male issue the office passes to a
collateral relation of the late chief on his father's side (_e.g._,
the late chief's next eldest brother or that brother's son, or the
late chief's second brother or that brother's son), the ascertainment
of the devolution being based upon a general principle of nearest
male relationship in the male line and primogeniture. [58]
The chief holds his office for life, but he may in his lifetime
resign it in favour of the person entitled to succeed him, and this
in fact often occurs. He cannot, however, on the appointment of
his successor still continue in office himself, so as to create a
joint chieftainship, as is done in Mekeo. He, as chief, is subject
to no special taboo, and there is no qualification for office,
other, of course, than hereditary right; but no chief can perform
the functions of his office, or build for himself an _emone_,
until he has married. There is no ceremony on the chiefs accession
to office on the death of his predecessor; but there is a ceremony
(to be described hereafter) on a chief's abdication in favour of his
successor. Cases have, I was told, occurred in which a man has in
one way or another forced himself into the position of chief, though
not qualified by descent, and has thus become a chief, from whom
subsequent chieftainship descent has been traced, but I could learn
nothing of the circumstances under which this had occurred. Also it
has happened that, when a chief has been weak, and has not asserted his
position, a sub-chief has more or less usurped his power and influence,
without actually upsetting his chieftainship or supplanting him in
his performance of ceremonial duties.
If the chief on acquiring office by inheritance is a child, or not
qualified to act (_e.g._, unmarried), he is nevertheless chief; but
some person will usually act as his guardian, and perform his functions
for him until he has qualified. This person will probably be one of the
young chief's eldest male paternal relations (_e.g._, the eldest living
brother of the last previous chief), and will presumably be a person
of consequence; but he will not necessarily be one of the sub-chiefs.
All the above observations concerning the hereditary nature of a
chief's office and subsequently explained matters apply also to the
case of a sub-chief, except that there is no ceremony on his resigning
office in favour of his successor, and that the usurpation of the
office of a sub-chief, of the occurrence of which I found no record,
would perhaps be more difficult of accomplishment. In the event of
a village throwing off an offshoot village, or itself splitting up
into two villages, the then existing sub-chief of the original village
would continue his office in it or, in case of a division, in one of
the villages resulting from the split, and the other village would have
for its sub-chief some one of the _ake-baibe_ of the original village,
probably the one who was most active in organising the split. On
the other hand, if several villages united into one, one only of
their sub-chiefs could be sub-chief of the village arising from the
amalgamation, and the others would sink to the rank of _ake-baibe_.
The observations concerning the hereditary nature of a chiefs rank
also apply to the _ake-baibe_. I have no information concerning them
on the other points; but these are not so important as regards these
people, who have no official position and have no duties to perform.
There are, as will be seen hereafter, a number of persons who are
employed from time to time to perform various acts and functions of a
ceremonious or superstitious character, notably the man who has the
important duty of killing pigs at feasts; but these men are not by
virtue of their offices or functions either chiefs or sub-chiefs, or
even notables or important personages. It is in each case a matter of
the specific personal power which the man is believed to possess. Any
of them might happen to be an important personage, and the pig-killer,
whose office is a prominent one, would probably be one; though in his
case muscular strength would, I understand, be an important element
of qualification. [59]
CHAPTER VI
Villages, Emone, Houses and Modes of Inter-Village Communication
Villages and Their Emone and Houses.
The Mafulu villages are generally situated on narrow plateaux or
ridges, sloping down on each side; but the plateaux are not usually so
narrow, nor the slopes so steep, as are those of the Kuni district, and
the villages themselves are not generally so narrow, as the contour of
the country does not involve these conditions to the same extent. Also
the Mafulu villages are on the lower ridges only, and not on the high
mountains; but the actual elevations above sea-level of these lower
ridges are, I think, generally higher than those of the top ridges of
the Kuni. Plate 54 shows the position and surroundings of the village
of Salube (community of Auga), and is a good representative example,
except that the plate does not show any open grassland.
The villages are, or were, protected with stockades and with pits
outside the stockades, and sometimes with platforms on trees near the
stockade boundaries, from which platforms the inhabitants can shoot
and hurl stones upon an enemy climbing up the slope. The stockade
is made of timber, is about 15 to 25 feet high, and is generally
constructed in three or more parallel rows or lines, each of the
lines having openings, but the openings never being opposite to one
another. These protections have now, however, been largely, though
not entirely, discontinued. [60] It is, or was, also the practice,
when expecting an attack, to put into the ground in the approaches
to the village calthrop-like arrow-headed objects, with their points
projecting upwards.
The average size of the villages is small compared with that of the
large villages of Mekeo, some of them having only six or eight houses,
though many villages have thirty houses, and some of them have fifty
or sixty or more. The houses and _emone_ are much smaller than those
of Mekeo, and much ruder and simpler in construction and they have
no carving or other decoration. There are no communal houses.
The houses are ranged in two parallel rows along the side of the ridge,
with an open village space between them, the space being considerably
longer than it is broad, and more or less irregular in shape. The
houses are generally built with their door-openings facing inwards
towards the village enclosure.
At one end of the village, and facing down the open space, is the
chief's or sub-chief's _emone_. These are, like the Roro _marea_
and the Mekeo _ufu_, used, not only in connection with ceremonies,
but also as living houses for men, especially unmarried men, and
for the accommodation of visitors to the village. There are probably
also in the village the _emone_ of one or more of the notables before
mentioned, of which one will be at the other end of the village and
any others will be among the houses at the side of, and facing into,
the village enclosure. There are not often more than three _emone_,
true or otherwise, in one village.
You of course do not find the surrounding palm groves of Mekeo and the
coast; nor do you generally see the waste space behind the houses,
or the ring of garden plots outside the waste space, the position
of the village on its ridge being usually hardly adapted to the
latter. You may, however, often find garden plots very near to the
village. Each family has its own house, and, except as regards the
_emone_ and their use, there are no separate houses for men or women,
or for any class of them.
The Mafulu _emone_ is an oblong building, erected on piles of very
varying height, the interior floor being anything from 3 to 15 feet
above the ground. In size also it varies very much, but generally it
is internally about 12 to 15 feet long from front to back, and about
8 to 12 feet in width. The roof, which is thatched with long, rather
broad leaves, is constructed on the ridge and gable principle, with
the gable ends facing the front and the back, and the roof sloping
on both sides in convex curves from the ridge downwards. Remarkable
and specially distinctive features of the building are the thatched
roof appendages projecting from the tops of the two gable ends
(front and back), the forms of which appendages are somewhat like a
hood or the convex fan-shaped semicircular roof of an apse, and in
construction are sometimes made as rounded overhanging continuations
of the upper part of the roof, and sometimes as independent additions,
not continuous with, and not forming parts of, the actual roof. In
front of the building, but not at the back, is a platform at a level
about a foot below that of the inner floor, extending the whole
length of the front of the building, and projecting forwards to a
distance of from 2 to 5 feet. The approach from the ground to this
platform in the case of a high-built emone is a rudely constructed
ladder, but when the building is only low and near the ground it is
generally merely a rough sloping piece of tree trunk, or even only a
stump. The two gable ends are enclosed with walls made of horizontal
tree branches, two or three of which are, at both the front and rear
ends of the building, discontinued for a short distance in the centre,
so as to leave openings. These openings are, say, 2 feet or more
above the level of the front outside platform, and 1 foot or more
above that of the inside floor, and are usually very small; so that,
in entering or leaving the building, you have to step up to, or even
climb, and wriggle yourself through the opening, and then step down
on the other side. Inside the building you find the centre of the
floor space occupied by a longitudinal fireplace, about 2 feet broad,
extending from front to back of the building; and the floors on each
side of this fireplace slope upwards somewhat from the visible level
of the fire-place towards the sides of the building. The fireplace
part of the interior is, in fact, dropped to a level below that of
the adjoining floors, so as to form a long trough, which is filled
up with soil upon which the fire can burn; and it is the visible
top level of this soil covering which is practically flush with
the inside lower level of the adjacent upward-sloping floors. Some
distance below the roof there is usually an open ceiling of reeds,
used for the purpose of storing and drying fruits and other things,
and especially, as will be seen hereafter, for drying fruit required
in the preparation for the big feast.
Fig. 4 is a diagram of the front of an _emone_, disclosing the internal
plan of the floor and fireplace, for which purpose the front hood of
the roof and the front platform are omitted from the plan, and of the
horizontal front timbers the third up from the bottom is shown at the
ends only, the middle part being omitted, and small portions of the
timbers immediately above them are omitted. The words in parentheses
appearing in the explanatory notes to the figure are the Mafulu names
for the various parts of the building.
_Explanatory Notes to Fig._ 4.
(_a_) Main posts, one at the front of the building, one in the middle,
and one at the back (_apopo_).
(_b_) Posts supporting roof, a line of them running along each side
(_tedele_).
(_c_) Posts supporting outer edge of flooring, a line of them on each
side (_emuje_ or _aje_).
(_d_) Post supporting inner edge of flooring and hearth, a line of
them on each side (_foj' ul' emuje_).
(_e_) Lower ridge pole (_tanguve_).
(_f_) Main downward-sloping roof work, strongly made, going all the
way back, only four or five of them on each side (_loko-loko_).
(_g_) Upper ridge pole (_tope_).
(_h_) Main horizontal roof work, resting on _f_ (_gegebe_).
(_i_) Upper downward-sloping roof work, not so thick as _f_ resting
on _h_, going all the way back at intervals of about 1 foot (_engala_).
(_k_) Upper horizontal roof work, not so thick as _h_
resting on _i_ (_gegebe_)
(_l_) Thatch made of leaves (_asase_).
_Note._--The roof (excluding the hood) projects forward and overhangs
a little beyond the post _a_, so as to overhang the greater part, but
not the whole, of the platform; the hood (not shown in this figure)
is really intended to shelter the platform.
(_m_) Pole supporting roof (_karia_).
(_n_) Pole supporting outer edge of floor (_karia_).
(_o_) Pole supporting inner edge of floor and enclosing hearth
(_jakusube_).
(_p_) Floor, composed of transverse woodwork (_koimame_) with thin
light longitudinal lath work on top of it (_ondovo_).
(_q_) Pole above inner edge of floor and edging hearth, not so thick
as _o_ (_bubuje_).
(_r_) Floor of fireplace, upon which soil is put (_foj' ul maovo_).
(_s_) Pieces of wood supported by _c_ and _d_, going right across
building and over floor of fireplace, but under its earth, all the
way back (_kooije_).
(_t_) Wall timbers below top of door-opening, at front and back
(_kautape_).
_Note._--_t_(1)goes right across under door-opening, but the middle
portion of it is omitted from the diagram, and the lower edges
of timbers _t_ (2) are partly broken off, so as to show floor and
fireplace.
(_u_) Wall timbers above top of door-opening (_dibindi_).
_Note._--_t_ and _u_ together-the whole wall-are called _bou_.
(_v_) Uprights bracing together _t_ and _u_ (Mafulu name unknown).
(_w_) Ceiling made with reeds and used for storing and drying fruit,
etc. It may occupy the whole length of the building and the whole
width of it, or part only of either or both of these (_avale_).
(_x_) Space filled up with soil and used as hearth (_foje_).
(_y_) Door-opening, one at back also (_akomimbe_).
Fig. 5 is a diagram of a transverse section across the centre of an
_emone_, showing the internal construction. The explanatory note only
deals with portions not explained in those to Fig. 4.
_Explanatory Note to Fig._ 5.
Post _a_ is the main central support of the building corresponding
with post _a_ in Fig. 4. Posts _b b_ are central side supports to
the roof. Poles _c_ and _d_ are attached to posts _a b b_, and help
to strengthen the fabric. These poles are also used for hanging up
sleeping hammocks, the other extremities of which are hung to the
_loko-loko_ of the roof (Fig. 4, _f_). The name for post _a_ is _dudu_,
but this word is often used to express the whole structure _a b b c d_.
I have endeavoured in the diagrammatic sketch--Fig. 6--to illustrate
the apse-like projection of the roof of an _emone_ and the platform
arrangements. I have in this sketch denuded the apse roof of its
thatch, showing it in skeleton only; and I have shaded all timber
work behind the platform, in order more clearly to define the latter.
_Explanatory Notes to Fig._ 6.
(_a_) Front end of thatch (_asase_) of main roof.
(_b c d_) Front apse-shaped roof (_siafele_), the thatch having been
removed to show its internal construction.
(_b c, b e, b d_) Downward-sloping roof work (_engala_).
(_f f, c d_] Horizontal roof work (_gegebe_), carried round in curves.
_Note._--Sometimes the apse-shaped roof is constructed as a
continuation of the main roof of the building, in which case
the _gegebe_ of the former are a continuation of those of the
latter. Sometimes the apse roof is a separate appendage, not connected
with the main roof, and in that case the _gegebe_ of the former are
separate from those of the latter, and are fixed at their extremities
to the _loko-loko_ of the main roof.
(_g_) Posts supporting the platform (_purum'-ul' emuge_).
(_h_) Horizontal platform supports resting at one end on _g_ and at
the other end fixed to either the _tedele_ or the _emuje_.
(_i_) Platform (_purume_).
_Note._--It will be seen that the front _apopo_ passes through the
platform.
(_k_) Additional supports to the apse roof, which are sometimes added,
but are not usual. Their lower ends rest on the platform and they are
connected with the apse roof at its outer edge (Mafulu name unknown).
(_l_) A stump by which to get on to the platform. This is often a
rough sloping piece of tree-trunk; where the platform of the emone
is high it is a rudely constructed ladder (_gigide_).
_Note._--The entire façade of the front gable end is called _konimbe_
(which means door) or _purume_ (which means platform). That of the
back gable end is called _apei_.
_Note._--The height of the door-opening above the outside platform
is shown in this figure.
The houses are in construction very similar to the _emone_, and in
fact the above description of the latter may be taken as a description
of a house, subject to the following modifications: (i.) The house is
never raised high, its floor always being within a foot or two of the
ground, (ii.) It is smaller than the _emone_, its average internal
dimensions being about 8 to 12 feet long, and 8 to 10 feet wide,
(iii.) The roof generally slopes down on both sides to the level of
the ground (concealing the side structure of the house) or nearly
so. (iv.) The projecting hood of the roof is only added at the front
of the building, and not at the rear; and it is usually separate from,
and not continuous with, the real roof. [61] (v.) The platform is
generally small and narrow, and often only extends for half the length
of the front of the house, and, being always within a foot or two of
the ground, it does not possess or require a ladder or tree-trunk
approach; it is also narrower. Frequently there is no platform at
all. (vi.) There is no entrance opening at the back of the house,
(vii.) The front entrance opening is smaller and narrower and more
difficult of entry. When the family are absent, they generally put
sticks across this opening to bar entry, whereas the entrance opening
of the _emone_ is always open, (viii.) The centre house support very
often consists of one post only, instead of a combination, (ix.) There
is often on one side of the entrance opening a small space of the
inside of the house fenced off for occupation by the pigs, and there is
a little aperture by which they can get into this space from outside,
(x.) The _avale_ ceiling is usually absent; and, even if there be one,
it will only extend under a small portion of the roof. [62]
The following are explanations of my plates of villages and their
buildings.
Plate.
| Explanation.
55 Village of Seluku (community of Sivu), with chief's _emone_
at the end facing up the enclosure.
56 Village of Amalala (community of Sivu), with chief's _emone_
at the end of the enclosure.
57 The same village of Amalala (photographed in the other direction),
with secondary _emone_ at the end of the enclosure.
58 Village of Malala (community of Sivu), with secondary _emone_
at the end of the enclosure.
59 Village of Uvande (community of Alo), with chief's _emone_ at
the end of the enclosure.
60 Village of Biave (community of Mambu), with chief's _emone_
at the end of the enclosure.
61 The chief's _emone_ in village of Amalala.
62 The chief's _emone_ in the village of Malala, at the other end
of the enclosure.
63 A house in the same village.
64 A house in village of Levo (community of Mambu).
Communications.
The native paths of the Mafulu people, or at all events those passing
through forests, are, like those of most other mountain natives,
usually difficult for white men to traverse. The forest tracks in
particular are often quite unrecognisable as such to an inexperienced
white man, and are generally very narrow and beset with a tangle of
stems and hanging roots and creepers of the trees and bush undergrowth,
which catch the unwary traveller across the legs or body or hands
or face at every turn, and are often so concealed by the grass and
vegetation that, unless he be very careful, he is apt to be constantly
tripped up by them; and moreover these entanglements are often armed
with thorns or prickles, or have serrated edges, a sweep of which may
tear the traveller's clothes, or lacerate his hands or face. Then
there are at every turn and corner rough trunks of fallen trees,
visible or concealed, often more or less rotten and treacherous,
to be got over; and such things are frequently the only means of
crossing ditches and ravines of black rotting vegetable mud. Moreover
the paths are often very steep; and, indeed, it is this fact, and the
presence of rough stones and roots, which renders the very prominent
outward turn of the people's big toes, with their prehensile power,
such useful physical attributes.
Their bridges may be divided into four types, namely: (1) A single
tree thrown across the stream, having either been blown down, and so
fallen across it accidentally, or been purposely placed across it by
the natives. (2) Two or more such trunks placed in parallel lines
across the stream, and covered with a rough platform of transverse
pieces of wood. (3) The suspension bridge. I regret that I am unable
to give a detailed description of Mafulu suspension bridges, but I
think I am correct in saying that they are very similar to those of the
Kuni people, one of whose bridges is described in the _Annual Report_
for June, 1909, as being 150 feet long and 20 feet above water at the
lowest part, and as being made of lawyer vine (I do not know whether
this would be right for Mafulu), with flooring of pieces of stick
supported on strips of bark, and as presenting a crazy appearance,
which made the Governor's carriers afraid of crossing it, though
it was in fact perfectly safe, and had very little movement, even
in the middle. I also give in Plate 65 a photograph taken by myself
[63] of a bridge over the St. Joseph river, close to the Kuni village
of Ido-ido, which, though a Kuni bridge, may, I think, be taken as
fairly illustrative of a Mafulu bridge over a wide river. [64] Plate
66 is a photograph, taken in Mafulu, of another form of suspension
bridge used by them, and adapted to narrower rivers, the river in
this case being the Aduala. (4) The bamboo bridge. This is a highly
arched bridge of bamboo stems. The people take two long stems, and
splice them together at their narrow ends, the total length of the
spliced pair being considerably greater than the width of the river
to be bridged. They then place the spliced pair of bamboos across
the river, with one end against a strong backing and support on one
side of the river and the other end at the other side, where it will
extend for some little distance beyond the river bank. This further
end is then forcibly bent backward to the bank by a number of men
working together, and is there fixed and backed. The bamboo stems
then form a high arch over the river. They then fix another pair
of stems in the same way, close to and parallel with the first one;
and the double arch so formed is connected all the way across with
short pieces of wood, tied firmly to the stems, so as to strengthen
the bridge and form a footway, by which it can be crossed. They then
generally add a hand rail on one side.
One can hardly leave the question of physical communications without
also referring to the marvellous system of verbal communication which
exists amongst the Mafulu and Kuni and other mountain people. Messages
are shouted across the valleys from village to village in a way which
to the unaccustomed traveller is amazing. It never seemed to me that
any attempt was made specially to articulate the words and syllables
of the message, or to repeat them slowly, so as to make them more
readily heard at a distance off, though the last syllable of each
sentence is always prolonged into a continuous sort of wail. This
system of wireless telegraphy has, however, been before described by
other writers, so I need say no more about it.
CHAPTER VII
Government, Property, and Inheritance
Government and Justice.
There is, as might be expected, no organised system of government
among the Mafulu, nor is there any official administration of justice.
As regards government, the chiefs in informal consultation with the
sub-chiefs and prominent personages deal with important questions
affecting the community or clan or village as a whole, such as the
holding of big feasts and important ceremonies, the migrations or
splitting-up or amalgamation of villages, and warlike operations; but
events of this character are not frequent. And as to justice, neither
the chiefs nor any other persons have any official duties of settling
personal disputes or trying or punishing wrongdoers. The active
functions of the chiefs, in fact, appear to be largely ceremonial.
Concerning the question of justice, it would seem, indeed, that
a judicial system is hardly requisite. Personal disputes between
members of a village or clan, or even of a community, on such possible
subjects as inheritance, boundary, ownership of property, trespass
and the like, and wrongful acts within the village or the community,
are exceedingly rare, except as regards adultery and wounding and
killing cases arising from acts of adultery, which are more common.
There are certain things which from immemorial custom are regarded
as being wrong, and appropriate punishments for which are generally
recognised, especially stealing, wounding, killing and adultery; but
the punishment for these is administered by the injured parties and
their friends, favoured and supported by public opinion, and often,
where the offender belongs to another clan, actively helped by the
whole clan of the injured parties.
The penalty for stealing is the return or replacement of the article
stolen; but stealing within the community, and perhaps even more so
within the clan or village, is regarded as such a disgraceful offence,
more so, I believe, than either killing or adultery, that its mere
discovery involves a distressing punishment to the offender. As regards
wounding and killing, the recognised rule is blood for blood, and a
life for a life. The recognised code for adultery will be stated in
the chapter on matrimonial matters.
Any retribution for a serious offence committed by someone outside
the clan of the person injured is often directed, not only against
the offender himself, but against his whole clan.
There is a method of discovering the whereabouts of a stolen article,
and the identity of the thief, through the medium of a man who is
believed to have special powers of ascertaining them. This man takes
one of the large broad single-shell arm ornaments, which he places on
its edge on the ground, and one of the pig-bone implements already
described, which he places standing on its point upon the convex
surface of the shell. To make the implement stand in this way he puts
on the point, and makes to adhere to the shell a small piece of wild
bees' wax, this being done, I was told, surreptitiously, though I
cannot say to what extent the people are deceived by the dodge, or
are aware of it. The implement stands on the shell for a few seconds,
after which it falls down. Previously to doing this he has told his
client of certain possible directions in which the implement may fall,
and intimated that, whichever that may be, it will be the direction
in which the lost article must be sought. He has also given certain
alternative names of possible culprits, one of such names being
associated with each of the alternative directions of falling. The
fall of the implement thus indicates the quarter in which the lost
article may be found and the name of the thief. Father Clauser saw
this performance enacted in connection with a pig which had been
stolen from a chief; the falling bone successfully pointed to the
direction in which the pig was afterwards found, and there was no
doubt that the alleged thief was in fact the true culprit. Presumably
the operator makes private enquiries before trying his experiment,
and knows how to control the fall of the implement.
Property and Inheritance.
The property of a Mafulu native may be classified as being (1) his
movable belongings, such as clothing, ornaments, implements and pigs;
(2) his house in the village; (3) his bush land; (4) his gardens.
The movable belongings are, of course, his own absolute property.
The village house is also his own; but this does not include the site
of that house, which continues to be the property of the village. Every
grown-up male inhabitant of the village has the right to build for
himself one house in that village; he is not entitled to have more than
one there, but he may have a house in each of two or more villages,
and a chief or very important man is allowed two or three houses in
the same village. On a house being pulled down and not rebuilt, or
being abandoned and left to decay, the site reverts to the village,
and another person may build a house upon it. [65] Houses are never
sold, but the ordinary life of a house is only a few years.
The man's bush land is his own property, and his ownership includes
all trees and growth which may be upon it, and which no other man may
cut down, but it does not include game, this being the common property
of the community; and any member of the community is entitled to pass
over the land, hunt on it, and fish in streams passing through it,
as he pleases. The whole of the bush land of the community belongs
in separate portions to different owners, one man sometimes owning
two or more of such portions; and it is most remarkable that, though
there are apparently no artificial boundary marks between the various
portions, these boundaries are, somehow or other, known and respected,
and disputes with reference to them are practically unknown. How the
original allocations and allotments of land have been made does not
appear to be known to the people themselves.
The man's garden plot or plots are also his own, having been cleared
by him or some predecessor of his out of his or that predecessor's
own bush land; and he may build in his gardens as many houses as
he pleases. His ownership of his garden plot is more exclusive than
is that of his bush land, as other people are not entitled to pass
over it. But on the other hand, if he abandons the garden, and nature
again overruns it with growth--a process which takes place with great
rapidity--it ceases to be his garden, and reverts to, and becomes
absorbed in, the portion of the bush out of which it had been cleared;
and if, as it may be, he is not the sole owner of that portion of bush,
he loses his exclusive right to the land, which as a garden had been
his own sole property.
No man can sell or exchange either his bush land or his garden plots,
and changes in their ownership therefore only arise through death
and inheritance. This statement, however, is, I think, subject to the
qualification that an owner of bush-land will sometimes allow his son
or other male descendant to clear and make for himself a garden in it;
but I am not sure as to the point.
On a man's death his widow, if any, does not inherit any portion of his
property, either movable or immovable, but three things are allowed
to her. She is generally allowed one pig, which will be required by
her at a later date for the ceremony of the removal of her mourning;
and she shares with her husband's children, or, if there be none,
she has the sole right to, the then current season's crops and fruit
resulting from the planting effected by her late husband and herself,
though this is a right which, after her return home to her own people,
she would not continue to exercise; and she is allowed to continue to
occupy her husband's house, but this latter privilege terminates at
the mourning removal ceremony, when the house will be pulled down, and
its site will revert to the village, and she will probably return to
her own people in her own village, if she has not done so previously.
Subject to these three allowances, I may dismiss the widow entirely
in dealing with the law of inheritance. I may also dismiss the
man's female children by saying that, if there be male children, the
females do not share at all in the inheritance, and even if there be
no male children the female children will only perhaps be allowed,
apparently rather as a matter of grace than of right, to share in
his movable effects; and that, subject to this, everything goes to
the man's male relatives. I may also eliminate the man's pigs, as
apparently any pigs he has, other than that retained for his widow,
are killed at his funeral.
On the death of an owner everything he possesses goes, except as above
mentioned, to his sons. They divide the movable things between them,
but the bush and garden land pass to them jointly, and there is no
process by which either of these can be divided and portioned among
them. The male children of a deceased son, and the male children of
any deceased male child of that deceased son (and so on for subsequent
generations), inherit between them in lieu of that son. There does not
appear, however, to be any idea in the Mafulu mind of each son of the
deceased owner being entitled to a specific equal fractional share,
or of the descendants of a deceased son of that owner being between
them only entitled to one share, _per stirpes_. They apparently do
not get beyond the general idea that these people, whoever they may
be and to whatever generations they may belong, become the owners of
the property.
They take possession of and cultivate the existing gardens as joint
property. Any one of them will be allowed to clear some of their
portion of bush, and fence it, and plant it as a garden, and it will
then become the sole property of that one man, and if he dies it
will pass as his own property to his own heirs; though, as before
stated, if he abandons it, and lets it be swallowed up by the bush,
it will cease to be his own garden, and will again be included in the
family's joint portion of bush land, and on his death his heirs will
only come into the joint bush ownership.
In this way the ownership of a garden must often be in several persons,
with no well-defined rights _inter se_, and the general ownership of
bush land which has never been cleared, or which, having been cleared,
has been abandoned and reverted, must often be in a very large number
of persons without defined rights. In fact, so far as bush land is
concerned, one only has to remember that on the death of an owner it
passes into joint ownership of children--that on the deaths of these
children fresh groups of persons come into the joint ownership--that
this may go on indefinitely, generation after generation--that bush,
having once got into the ownership of many people, is hardly likely
to again fall by descents into a single ownership--that indeed the
tendency must be for the number of owners of any one portion of bush
steadily to increase--and finally that there is no way by which the
extensively divided ownership can be terminated by either partition
or alienation--and one then realises the extraordinary complications
of family ownership of bush land which must commonly exist.
As regards both movable effects and gardens and bush land there must
be endless occasions for dispute. How are the movable things to be
divided among the inheritors, and, in particular, who is to take
perhaps one valuable article, which may be worth all the rest put
together? How are questions of doubtful claims to heirship to bush
and garden land to be determined? How is the joint ownership of the
gardens to be dealt with, and how is the work there to be apportioned,
and the products of the gardens divided? How are the mutual rights
of the bush land to be regulated, and especially what is to happen
if each of two or more joint owners desires to clear and allocate
to himself as a garden, a specially eligible piece of bush? Such
situations in England would bristle with lawsuits, and I tried to
find out how these questions were actually dealt with by the Mafulu;
but there is no judicial system there, and the only answer I could
get was that in these matters, as in the case of inter-community bush
boundaries and personal bush boundaries, disputes were practically
unknown; though it was pointed out to me, as regards bush land,
that the amount of it belonging to any one family was usually so
large that crowding out could hardly arise.
If a man dies without male descendants in the male line, then, subject
perhaps to some sort of claim of his daughters, if any, to share in
his movable effects, his property goes to his nearest male relative
or relatives in the male line. This would primarily be his father,
if living, but the father could hardly be the inheritor of anything
but movable things and perhaps garden land, as the deceased could not
be the owner of bush land during the lifetime of his father. Subject as
regards movable things and perhaps gardens to this right of the father,
the persons to inherit everything would be deceased's brothers and the
male descendants in the male line of any such brothers who had died;
or in default of these it would be the father's (not the mother's)
brothers and their male descendants in the male line, and so on for
more distant male relatives, every descent being traced strictly in
the male line only, on a principle similar to that above explained.
Male infants, by which term I mean young children, there being of
course no infancy in the defined sense in which the term is used
in English law, like adults, may become possessed of property by
inheritance as regards bush and garden land, and by inheritance
or otherwise as regards movable property, but they would hardly be
likely to be the owners of houses; and the descent from these infants
is the same as that in the case of adults.
No woman can possess any property, other than movable property,
and even this is at best confined to the clothes and ornaments which
she wears. On the death of a married woman all her effects go to her
husband, or, if he be dead, they go to her children or descendants,
male and female, equally, If she has no children or descendants, they
go to her husband's father, or, failing him, to such other person or
persons as would have been entitled to inherit if her effects had
been those of her husband. Her own blood relations do not come in,
as she had been bought and paid for by her husband. If the deceased
woman were a spinster, then her effects would pass to her father,
or, failing him, to her brothers, or, failing them, to her nearest
male relatives on her father's side.
The guardianship of and responsibility for infant children whose
father dies falls primarily upon the children's mother, and she,
if and when she returned to her own people, would probably take the
children away with her, though her sons, who shared in the inheritance
from their father, would usually come back again to their own village
when they became grown up, and might do so even when comparatively
young. If there is no mother of the children, the guardianship and
responsibility is taken up by one or more of the relatives of either
the deceased father or deceased mother of the children, and it might
be that some children would be taken over by some of such relatives,
and some by others. There appears, however, to be no regular rule as
to all this, the question being largely one of convenience.
Adopted children have in all matters of inheritance the same rights
as actual children.
From the above particulars it will be seen that there is no system
of descent in the female line or of mother-right among the Mafulu,
and I could not find any trace of such a thing having ever existed
with them. As to this I would draw attention to the facts that the
mother's relatives do not come in specially, as they do among the
Roro and Mekeo people, in connection with the perineal band ceremony;
that a boy owes no service to his maternal uncle, as is the case among
the Koita; that there is no equivalent of the Koita _Heni_ ceremony;
that in no case can a woman be a chief, or chieftainship descend by
the female line; that children belong to the clan of their father,
and not to that of their mother; and that no duty or responsibility
for orphan children devolves specially upon their mother's relations.
CHAPTER VIII
The Big Feast
This is the greatest and most important social function of a Mafulu
community of villages. I was unable to get any information as to its
real intent and origin, but a clue to this may, I think, be found in
the formal cutting down of the grave platform of a chief, the dipping
of chiefs' bones in the blood of the slain pigs, and the touching of
other chiefs' bones with the bones so dipped, which constitute such
important features of the function, and which perhaps point to an
idea of in some way finally propitiating or driving away or "laying"
the ghosts of the chiefs whose bones are the subject of the ceremony.
The feast, though only to be solemnised in one village, is organised
and given by the whole community of villages. There is no (now)
known matter or event with reference to which it is held. It is
decided upon and arranged and prepared for long beforehand, say a
year or two, and feasts will only be held in one village at intervals
of perhaps fifteen or twenty years. The decision to hold a feast is
arrived at by the chiefs of the clans of the community which proposes
to give it. The village at which the feast is to be held will not
necessarily be the largest one of the community, or one in which is
a then existing chiefs _emone_. The guests to be invited to it will
be the people of some other (only one other) community, and at the
outset it will be ascertained more or less informally whether or not
they will be willing to accept the invitation.
When the feast has been resolved upon, the preparations for it
begin immediately, that is a year or two before the date on which it
is to be held. Large quantities will be required of yam, taro and
sugar-cane, and of a special form of banana (not ripening on the
trees, and requiring to be cooked); also of the large fruit of the
_ine_, a giant species of Pandanus (see Plate 80--the figure seated
on the ground near to the base of the tree gives an idea of the size
of the latter and of the fruit head which is hanging from it), which
is cultivated in the bush, and the fruit heads of which are oval or
nearly round, and have a transverse diameter of about 18 inches; and
of another fruit, called by the natives _malage_, which grows wild,
chiefly by streams, and is also cultivated, and the fruit of which
was described to me as being rather like an apple, almost round,
green in colour, and 4 or 5 inches in diameter. [66] And above all
things will be wanted an enormous number of village pigs (not wild
pigs); and sweet potatoes must be plentiful for the feeding of these
pigs. And finally they will need plenty of native tobacco for their
guests. In view of these requirements it is obvious that a year or two
is by no means an excessive period for the preparations for the feast.
The existing yam and taro gardens, intended for community consumption
alone, will be quite insufficient for the purpose, and fresh bush
land is at once cleared, and new gardens are made and planted,
the products of these new gardens being allocated specially for the
feast, and not used for any other purpose. There is also an extensive
planting of sugar-cane, probably in old potato gardens. For bananas
there will probably be no great need of preparation, as they are
grown plentifully, and there is no specific appropriation of these;
but the sufficiency of the supply of the tobacco for the visitors,
and of the sweet potatoes for the pigs, has to be seen to, also
that of the _ine_ Pandanus trees, the fruit of which has often to be
procured from elsewhere, and of the trees. And finally the village
pigs must be bred and fattened, for which latter purpose it is a
common practice to send young pigs to people in other communities;
and these people will be invited to the big feast, and will have pig
given to them, though not members of the invited community; but never
in any case will any of them have a part of a pig which he himself
has fattened. The cultivated vegetable foods and the pigs are not
provided on a communistic basis, but are supplied by the individual
members of the community, each household of which is expected to
do its duty in this respect; and no person who or whose family has
not provided at least one pig (some of them provide more than one)
will be allowed to take part in the preliminary feast and subsequent
dancing, to be mentioned below.
The bringing in and storing of the _ine_ and _malage_ fruits commence
at an early stage. The _ine_ fruits are collected when quite ripe;
they split the large fruit heads up into two or more parts, put these
into baskets roughly made of cane (at least half a fruit head in
each basket), and place these baskets in the _avale_ or ceiling of
the _emone_, where the fruits get dried and smoked by the heat and
smoke of the fire constantly burning beneath. If, as is sometimes
the case, the _emone_ has no _avale_ one is constructed specially
for the purpose. The fruits are left there until required; in fact,
if taken away from the smoke, they would go bad. Sometimes, instead of
putting portions of the fruit heads into baskets, they take out from
them the almond-shaped seeds, which are the portions to be eaten,
string these together, each seed being tied round and not pierced,
and hang them to the roof of the _emone_ above the _avale_. The fruits
of the _malage_ are gathered and put into holes or side streams by a
river, and there left for from seven to ten months, until the pulp,
which is very poisonous, is all rotted away, a terrible smell being
emitted during the process; they then take the pips or seeds, the
insides of which, after the surrounding shells have been cracked,
are the edible parts, and place these in baskets made out of the
almost amplexicaul bases of the leaves of a species of palm tree,
and so store them also on the _avale_ of the _emone_. [67]
Large preparations of a structural and repairing nature are also
required in the village where the feast is to be held. The _emone_,
the true chiefs _emone_, of the village is repaired or pulled down
and entirely rebuilt; or, if that village does not possess such an
_emone_, one is erected in it. In point of fact the usual practice is,
I was informed, to build a new _emone_, the occasion of an intended
feast being the usually recognised time for the doing of this. [68]
The houses of the village are put into repair. The people of the other
villages of the same community build houses for themselves in the feast
village, so that on the occasion of the feast all the members of the
community (the hosts) will be living in that village. View platforms,
from which the dancing can be watched, are built by all the people of
the community. These are built between the houses where possible, or
at all events so as to obstruct the view from the houses as little as
possible. They are built on upright poles, and are generally between
12 and 20 feet high, each platform having a roof, which will probably
be somewhat similar to the roofs of the houses. Sometimes there are
two platforms under one roof, but this is not usual. Sometimes the
platforms, instead of being on posts, are in trees, being, however,
roofed like the others. Two or more houses may join in making one
platform for themselves and their friends. All the above works are
put in hand at an early stage.
The following are done later, perhaps not till after the sending out
of the formal invitation (see below), but they may conveniently be
dealt with here. The people erect near to, but outside, the village in
which the feast is to be held one or more sheds for the accommodation
of the guests, the number of sheds depending upon the requirements of
the case. These are merely gable and ridge-shaped roofs, which descend
on each side down to the ground, or very close to it, being supported
by posts, and there being no flooring. They are called _olor' eme_,
which means dancers' houses. Posts about 20 or 25 feet high and 12
inches or nearly so in diameter are erected in various places in the
village enclosure, and each of these posts is surrounded with three,
four, or five upright bamboo stems, which are bound to the post so as
together to make a composite post of which the big one is the strong
supporting centre. The leaf branches of these bamboos, starting out
from the nodes of the stems, are cut off 3 or 4 inches from their
bases, thus leaving small pegs or hooks to which vegetables, etc.,
can be afterwards hung; and in the case of each post one only of its
surrounding bamboos has the top branches and leaves left on. Each
household is responsible for the erection of one post. I may here say
in advance that upon these post clusters will be hung successively,
yams and taro in the upper parts, human skulls and bones lower down,
and croton leaves by way of decoration at the bottom. The sugar-cane
and banana and _ine_ and _malage_ are dealt with in another way. There
is a further erection of thin poles, which will be mentioned in its
proper place.
About six months before the anticipated date of the big feast
there is a preliminary festivity, which is regarded as a sort of
intimation that the long-intended feast is shortly to take place. To
this festivity people of villages of any neighbouring communities,
say within an hour or two's walk, are invited. There is no dancing,
but there is a distribution among the guests of a portion of each of
the vegetables and fruits which will be consumed at the feast, and a
village pig is killed and cut up, and its parts are also distributed
among the guests, who then return home.
After this preliminary festivity dancing begins in the village
in which the feast is to be held and in the other villages of the
same community, and this dancing goes on, subject to weather, every
day until the evening prior to the day upon which the feast takes
place. The men dance in the villages, beginning at about sundown, and
going on through the evening, and perhaps throughout the night. Only
men who or whose families have provided at least one pig for the feast
are allowed to join in the dancing. Bachelors join in the dancing,
subject to the above condition. The women dance outside their villages,
and, as regards them, there is no pig qualification.
About a month before the date on which the feast is proposed to be
held, a formal invitation is sent out to the community which is to be
invited to it, and who, as above stated, have already been approached
informally in the matter. For this purpose a number, perhaps ten,
twenty, or thirty, of the men of the community giving the feast start
off, taking with them several bunches of croton leaves--one bunch
for each village of the invited community. These men, if the invited
community be some distance off, only carry the croton leaves as far
as some neighbouring community, probably about one day's journey off,
where they stay the night, and then return. During their progress,
and particularly as they arrive at their destination, they are all
singing. Then the men of this neighbouring community carry the croton
leaves a stage further; and so on till they reach their ultimate
destination. This may involve two or three sets of messengers, but
occasionally one or two of the original messengers may go the whole
way. These croton leaves are delivered to the chiefs of the several
clans of the invited community, and they are tied to the front central
posts of the village _emone_, the true _emone_ of the chiefs village,
and, as regards other villages, the _emone_ of the sub-chiefs. [69]
The exact date of the feast depends upon the guests, who may come in
a month after receiving the croton leaves, or may be later; and the
community giving the feast do not know on what date their guests will
arrive until news comes that they are actually on their way, though
in the meantime messengers will be passing backwards and forwards
and native wireless telegraphy (shouting from ridge to ridge) will
be employed.
As soon as the formal invitation has been sent the people of the
community giving the feast begin to bring in the yams from the gardens,
which they do day by day, singing as they do so; and these yams are
stored away in the houses as they are brought in. When the yams have
all been collected, they are brought out and spread in one, two,
or three long lines along the centre of the village open space. The
owner of each post knows which are his own yams, and they will go to
his post. When the yams are laid out on the ground, the chiefs inspect
them, and select the best ones, which are to be given to the chiefs
of the community invited to the dance. To these selected yams they
tie croton leaves as distinguishing marks. Then each man stands by
his own yams, and has a boy standing by his own post; each man picks
up his best yams, and whilst holding these they all (only the men with
the yams) begin to sing. The moment the song is over, each man rushes
with his selected best yam to his post, and hands the yam to the boy,
who climbs up the post, and hangs up the yam. After this they hang
the rest of the yams, each man running with them to the post, and
giving them to the boy, who climbs up and hangs the yam whilst the man
runs back for another, the performance being all in apparent disorder
and there being no singing. Some of the best-shaped yams are hung to
little cross-sticks about 3 or 4 feet long, which the boys then and
there attach to those bamboo stems which have their top branches and
leaves left upon them, the sticks being attached just below these
branches. These selected yams will include those with the croton
leaves, which are intended for chiefs. Of the rest the better yams
are hung up higher on the posts, and the poorer ones lower down. The
lowest of them will probably be 5 or 6 feet from the ground.
After hanging the yams, the next step is to erect in the ground all
round the village enclosure and in front of the houses a number of
tall young slender straight-stemmed tree poles, with the top branches
and leaves only left upon them. These poles are connected with one
another by long stems, fixed horizontally to them at a height of 7
or 8 feet from the ground, the stems thus forming a sort of long line
or girdle encircling the village enclosure.
The men then go to their gardens and bring in the sugar-canes,
singing as they do so, and these they hang to the horizontal stems,
but without ceremony. The sugar-canes are all in thick bundles, perhaps
12 or 18 inches thick, and these bundles are hung horizontally end
to end immediately under the line of stems, so as also to make a
continuous encircling line.
Next they bring in the bananas, again singing, and these they hang up
on the tall, slender tree poles, and on the platforms of the houses,
and under the view platforms, but without ceremony.
Lastly, again singing, they bring in the taro, and hang these up,
mixed with the yams (not below them) on the posts, again without
ceremony. The hanging up of the taro is left to the last, and, in
fact, is not done till it is known that the guests are on their way,
as the taro would be spoilt by bad weather.
In hanging the yam and the taro the people all work
simultaneously--that is, they are all hanging yams at the same time and
all hanging taro at the same time. But as regards the sugar cane and
banana each man works in his own time without waiting for, or being
waited for by, the others. Women may help the men in all these things,
except the ceremonious hanging up of the yams.
They do not, however, hang all the yam, sugar-cane, banana and taro,
some of each being kept back in the houses for a purpose which will
appear hereafter.
The _ine_ and _malage_ fruits are not hung up at all, but are kept
in the _avale_ of the village _emone_ until the day of the actual
feast, when the various vegetables and fruits are, as will be seen,
put in heaps for distribution among the guests.
They then further decorate the posts with human skulls and bones,
which are hung round in circles below the yams and taro, but not
reaching to the ground. These are the skulls and bones of chiefs and
members of their families and sub-chiefs and important personages
only of the community, and the bones used are only the larger bones
of the arms and legs; skulls will, so far as possible, be used for
the purpose in preference to the other bones. These skulls and bones
are taken from wherever they may then happen to be; some of them will
be in burial boxes on trees, [70] some may be in graves underground,
and some may be hung up in the village _emone_; though it may here
be mentioned that those underground and in the _emone_ are not,
as I shall show later, in their original places of sepulture.
Finally croton leaves, tied in sheaves, are arranged round the posts
below the skulls and bones, so as to decorate the posts down to
the ground.
One other specially important matter must here be mentioned. There
will probably be in or by the edge of the village enclosure a high
box-shaped wooden burial platform, [71] supported on poles, and
containing the skull and all the bones of a chief, these platforms
and a special sort of tree being, as will be explained later on, the
only places where they and their families and important personages
are originally buried. If so, the people add to the bones on this
platform such of the other skulls and special arm and leg bones,
collected as above mentioned, as are not required for decorating the
posts. If, as is most improbable, there is no such burial platform,
then they erect one, and upon it place all the available skulls and
special bones not required for the posts.
These various preparations bring us to the evening before the day
of the feast, upon which evening the women, married and unmarried,
of the community, whose families have supplied pigs for the feast,
dance together in full dancing decorations in the village enclosure,
beginning at about sundown, and, if weather permits, dancing all
through the night. There is no ceremony connected with this dancing.
The next day is the feast day. The guests are in the special guest
houses outside the village, where they are dressing for the dance. They
have probably arrived the day before, in which case they may have
come into the village to watch the women dancing in the evening;
but they are not regarded as having formally arrived. These guests
include married and unmarried men, women and children, nobody of the
invited community being left behind, except old men and women who
cannot walk. The women have brought with them their carrying bags,
in which they carry all their men's and their own goods (_e.g._,
knives, feathers, ornaments, etc.), including not only the things
used for the ceremony, but all their other portable property, which
they do not wish to expose to risk of theft by leaving at home.
They have also brought special ornamental bags to be used in the
dance as mentioned below.
The people of the village in the meantime erect one, two, or three
(generally three) trees in a group in the very centre of the village
enclosure.
And now come the successive ceremonies of the feast, in which both
married and unmarried men and women take part; in describing these
ceremonies I will call the people of the community giving the feast
the "hosts," and the visitors attending it the "guests."
First: All or nearly all the men hosts go in a body out of the
village to the guests' houses, singing as they go. They are all
fully ornamented for a feast, but do not wear their special dancing
ornaments, and they do not carry their spears, or as a rule any other
weapons. Each chiefs ornaments include a bunch of black cassowary
feathers tied round his head behind, and falling down over his
shoulders, this being his distinctive ornament; but otherwise his
ornaments do not differ from those of the rest, except probably as
regards quantity and quality. The object of this visit is to ascertain
if the guests are ready, and if they are not ready the men hosts
wait until they are so. Then the men hosts return to the village,
singing as before, and all the guests, men and women, follow them; but
they do not sing, and they do not enter the village. The men hosts,
on returning, retire to their houses and the view platforms, where
also are the women hosts, thus leaving the village enclosure empty.
Second: All the women guests, except two, then enter the village. They
are fully ornamented for the feast, but do not wear their special
dancing ornaments. They all have large carrying bags on their backs,
not the common ones of everyday use, but the ornamental ones; and in
these they carry and show off all their own and their husbands' riches
other than what they respectively are actually wearing. They enter
at one end of the village enclosure (I will hereafter call this the
"entrance end") by the side of the end _emone_ of the village (this
may be the chiefs true _emone_ or it may be the secondary _emone_),
and walk in single file along one side of the village enclosure,
and half of them walk round the other end (which I will call the
"far end") in front of the _emone_ there (which also will be either
the true one or the other one), and back again along the other side,
until there are two rows of them, _vis-à-vis_ at opposite sides of
the enclosure, none of them remaining at the far end in front of the
_emone_ there. If they are very numerous, there may be lines on both
sides of the enclosure, stretching from end to end; whereas if they
are few only, they would be in facing lines at the far end only of
the enclosure. This is all done silently.
Third: All the women hosts, fully ornamented for a feast, but without
special dancing ornaments, then enter the enclosure at the entrance
end, and congregate at the far end of it, in front of the far _emone_
and between the two facing lines of women guests, and facing towards
the centre of the enclosure. The group of them stretches as far
forward towards the centre of the enclosure as their number allows;
but it will never extend beyond the special trees, which have been
last erected in the centre. This also is done in silence.
Fourth: The two women guests excluded from the general entry now
come in. They are presumably the wives of chiefs. They are also
decorated for the feast, but without full dancing ornaments. Each
of them, however, holds in her mouth something intended to give her
a terrible appearance, probably two pairs of pigs' tusks, one pair
curling, crescent-like, upwards, and the other pair similarly curling
downwards, or a piece of cloth; but this is only carried by her for
this particular scene of the performance, and not afterwards. Each of
them also carries two spears, one in each hand. These two women rush
into the village enclosure, one entering at each side of the _emone_
at the entrance end. They run along the two sides of the enclosure,
one at each side, in front of the lines of women guests already there
(between them and the central group of host women), brandishing
their spears as they do so, but in silence. When they reach the far
end of the enclosure they meet each other in front of the _emone_
there; and then, if that happens to be the true (chief's) _emone_,
they brandish their spears in a hostile manner at the building,
the spears sometimes even striking it, though they do not leave the
women's hands, and there is probably a little pause or halt in their
running for the purpose of this attack. They then pass each other,
and return as they had come, still brandishing their spears, but
each on the opposite side, until they are both at the entrance end of
the enclosure. If the _emone_ at this end is the true _emone_, then
the attack is made upon it, instead of upon the other one. They then
generally again pass each other, and go round the enclosure a second
time, and again attack the _emone_ exactly as before. During the first
part of this performance the host women congregated in the far end of
the enclosure are all dancing a sort of non-progressive goose step,
there being, however, no singing. But, when the two guest women on
the return journey of their second circuit reach the front row of
the host women, the latter advance in a body silently dancing (but
not travelling so fast as the two guest women) down the enclosure,
and so following the two guest women, until they are all congregated
at the entrance end of the enclosure. The positions of the _dramatis
personæ_ up to and including the stage of proceedings lastly described
will be better understood by reference to Fig. 7 and its accompanying
notes. At the end of this stage the lines of guest women are still
as shown; but the two special guest women and all the host women are
at the entrance end of the enclosure.
Fifth: Such of the guest men as are not going to join in the real
ultimate dance (see heading 9) enter the village at the entrance end,
they also being fully ornamented, but not wearing their special
dancing ornaments. They carry their spears, and perhaps in their
other hands their clubs or adzes. Any chiefs who may be among them
wear their black cassowary feather ornaments, like those of the host
chiefs. They all advance along the enclosure, jumping and dancing and
brandishing their spears, but not singing; and in front of them go all
the host women, dancing as before, also in silence. This double body of
people, host women in front, and guest men behind, advance _en masse_
along the village enclosure. When, in doing this, the guest men reach
the three last-erected special trees in the middle of the enclosure,
they attack the trees with their spears, never letting the spears leave
their hands, and with kicks, and thus try to knock the trees down. If
they succeed in doing so, then this part of the performance is at an
end, and these guest men disperse and spread about at both sides and
ends of the village; but the host and guest women return from wherever
they are to the entrance end. If the guest men's first attack on the
trees is not successful, they pass them, and continue their advance,
as before, to the far end of the enclosure and return back again in
the other direction, the host women still dancing in front of them;
and on this return journey they repeat their attack on the trees. If
again unsuccessful, they go on to their starting point, and go a second
time through the same performance as before, going up the enclosure,
and, if necessary, down again; and, if still unsuccessful, they will
probably try a third time, the host women always dancing in front of
them as before. The whole of this is one continuous movement, going on
till the trees are down. If after the third double attempt the guest
men have still been unsuccessful, they relinquish their efforts; and in
that case the pig-killer of the hosts' village (as to whom see below)
steps forward, and cuts down the trees with his adze. When the trees
are down, the performance is at an end, the guest men retire, and
the host and guest women return to the entrance end, as above stated.
Sixth: Such of the chiefs of the guests as do not intend to join in the
real ultimate dance (heading 9) then step forward into the enclosure at
the entrance end. Their number may be two or three or more. They wear
their full dancing ornaments, including their black cassowary feather
ornaments and the enormous feather erections on their heads, which
for chiefs are even larger and heavier than for other people. They
carry their drums, but not spears or clubs or adzes. The two special
guest women who have already been mentioned and two other guest women,
all with their full dancing ornaments, also come forward. A line is
formed with the chiefs in the middle and the four women at the two
ends. In front of this line are all the host women, still decorated as
before, but without special dancing ornaments. Then the whole group,
host women in front and the guest chiefs and their four attendant
guest women in a line behind, dance forward along the enclosure. In
doing this, they face the direction in which they are progressing,
and their progress is slow. This is done to the accompaniment of
the beating by the dancing chiefs of their drums, but there is no
singing. When the dancing party reach the far end of the enclosure,
they go back again in the same way; and so on again until the chiefs
(with the great weights they are carrying) are tired; then they
stop. But the men hosts thereupon politely press them to go on again,
giving them in fact a sort of complimentary encore, and this they
will probably do. After about half-an-hour from the commencement of
the dancing they finally stop. Then the chief of the clan in one of
whose villages the dance is held comes forward and removes the heavy
head-pieces from the dancing chiefs.
Seventh: An important ceremony now occurs. The chief of the clan cuts
away the supports of the burial platform already mentioned, whereupon
the platform falls to the ground, and the skulls and bones upon it
roll on the ground. These are picked up, and the skulls and big arm
and leg bones are put on one side. There is no singing or ceremony
in connection with this. The platform is not rebuilt; and what is
afterwards done with the skulls and bones will be seen hereafter.
Eighth: There is now a distribution among the chiefs and more important
male guests of the yam, taro, sugar-cane and bananas, which at the
time of the hanging up on the village posts were kept back and put
into the houses, and of tobacco. The chief of the clan, with help from
others, makes a number of heaps of these things in the centre of the
village enclosure, the number of heaps corresponding to the number of
recipients. Then, standing successively before each of these heaps,
he calls out in turn the names of the men who are to receive them,
chiefs being given the first priority, and specially important people
the next. Each man comes forward, usually bringing with him his
wife or some other woman with a bag, picks up his heap, and takes
it away. And so with all of them in turn, till all is finished. On
each heap there is usually, but not always, a portion of a village
pig, which has that morning been killed under the burial platform,
before it was cut down. The guests, men and women, then return to
the guest houses, where the women cook the food which has been given,
and it is eaten by the men and themselves.
Ninth: The real dance now takes place, beginning perhaps at 9 or
10 in the evening, and lasting the whole night, and perhaps till 10
o'clock the following morning. The dancing is done by some only of
the guest men, and none of their women, and none of the hosts, either
men or women, join in it. The dancers are all arrayed in full dancing
ornaments, including their heavy head feather erections, and chiefs
also wear their cassowary feathers; and they all carry their drums
and spears, and sometimes clubs or adzes. After the dance has begun,
the chief of the clan in whose village the dance occurs distributes,
with assistance, among the more important of these dancers, especially
chiefs, the skulls and bones which had been put on one side after
the cutting down of the burial platform, and probably some or all
of the skulls and bones which had been hung upon the big posts;
and the dancers receiving these skulls and bones wear them as
additional decoration upon their arms throughout the dance. Guest
chiefs dance with the others, but owing to the heavy weight of the
head ornaments they have to carry, they will be tired sooner than
the others. The dancing party enter the village at the entrance end,
walking backwards. Directly after they have entered the village they,
still having their backs to it, begin to beat their drums, after doing
which for a short time they turn round, and the dancing begins. The
dancers beat their drums whilst dancing, but neither they nor the
other people sing during the actual dancing. There are, however,
intervals in the dancing (not the mere rest intervals, such as they
have in Mekeo, and which they also have in Mafulu, but intervals which
are themselves an actual part of the dance), and during these intervals
the drums are not being beaten, and the dancers and the other people,
hosts, guests, men and women, all sing. I shall have something more
to say about dancing generally later on. At a subsequent stage the
skulls and bones with which the dancers have been decorated, including
those which had fallen from the burial platform, are all again hung
up among the other skulls and bones on the big posts.
Tenth: This is the stage at which occur various other ceremonies,
which, though themselves quite distinct from that of the big feast, and
performed, often several of them
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