The Mafulu Part 17

There are also, besides the sorcerers, a number of specialists, who can hardly perhaps be called true sorcerers, but who have certain specific powers, or are acquainted with certain specific forms of incantation, and whose services are from time to time sought by the people. It is impossible for me to point to any definite line of demarcation between the true sorcerers and these smaller people; and it cannot be doubted that the powers of the latter, like those of the former, are, or have been, based upon the supernatural, even though they themselves do not claim to be and are not regarded as being magic men in the highest sense. I think I may regard them as being more or less the Mafulu equivalents of the Roro individuals whom Dr. Seligmann calls "departmental experts." [112]

Dealing first with the true sorcerers, they undoubtedly include among their number the men who perform the special ceremonial already described for ascertaining whether a sick chief is or is not destined to die. They also seem to include the makers or providers of the various charms, including those which are carried in the little charm bags and the love charms used by young men, as already mentioned. There are also two other matters which are regarded as coming within the province of the true sorcerers, of which one relates to rain and the other relates to illness and death. I will deal with them separately.

The rain sorcerer is apparently merely a diviner. Dr. Seligmann would perhaps include him among the departmental experts, but the Fathers of the Mission regard him as being a true sorcerer. He is the man to whom the people go in antic.i.p.ation of a proposed important event, such as a big feast, or perhaps a fighting or large hunting expedition, to ascertain and inform them whether the period in which it is proposed that the event shall occur will be fine or wet; but he does not profess to be able to do more than this, and they never expect him to prevent or bring about the rain, or in any way hold him responsible for the weather as it may in fact eventually occur.

The sorcery connected with illness and death is not so simple; and there is no doubt that it is not confined to powers of divination, but includes powers of actual causation. This department of sorcery obviously includes the ceremonial in connection with the supposed dying chief. But it is not confined to this ceremony, as it is generally believed by the Mafulu people that sickness, which does not necessarily end in death, and death itself, can be, and commonly is, brought about by the operation of sorcerers in one way or another through the medium of certain things. The only things of this nature concerning which I was able to obtain information are (1) the inedible part of some vegetable food which the victim has recently eaten (_e.g.,_ the outside part of a sweet potato or banana or the cane part of a sugar cane), and (2) the victim's discharged excrement or urine. I found no trace of any use for purposes of sorcery of the edible remnants of the victim's food, nor (except as regards a woman's placenta, to which I shall refer presently) of any part of his body, such as his hair or nails; and, in fact, the free way in which the natives throw away their hair when cut is inconsistent with any belief as to its possible use against them.

First, the inedible remnants of recently consumed vegetable food. The use of this as a medium for causing illness and death is apparently confined to the case of a victim who has pa.s.sed the stage of very young childhood. Why this is so I could not learn; though in point of fact a mere infant would hardly be eating such things as a regular practice. A man or woman, however, never carelessly throws aside his own food remnants of this character; and his reason for this is fear of sorcery. He carefully keeps them under his control until he can take them to a river, into which he throws them, after which they are harmless as a medium against him. The fear concerning these remains is that a sorcerer will use them for a ceremony somewhat similar to that described in connection with the death of a chief, but in a hostile way. No such precautions are taken with reference to similar food eaten by very young children.

Secondly, the discharged excrement and urine. This, for some reason, only applies to the case of an infant or quite young child. Here again I could not learn the reason for the limitation; but it is confirmed by the fact that grown-up persons take no pains whatever to avoid the pa.s.sing of these things into the possession of other people, whereas, as regards little children, the mothers or other persons having charge of them always take careful precautions. The mother picks up her little child's excrement, and wraps it in a leaf, and then either carefully hides it in a hole in the ground, or throws it into the river, or places it in a little raised-up nest-like receptacle, which is sometimes erected near the house for this purpose, and where also it is regarded as being safe. One of these receptacles, shaped like an inverted cone, is shown in Plate 91, and a somewhat similar one is seen in Plate 64. As regards the urine, she pours upon it, as it lies on the ground or on the house floor or platform, a little clean water which she obtains from any handy source, or sometimes from a little store which, when away from other water supply, she often carries about with her for the purpose. I could get no information as to the way in which the sorcerer would use the excrement or urine as a medium for hostile purposes; though there is apparently no process similar to that of the fire used in connection with the inedible food remnants of the adult.

It will have been noticed that the mode of rendering the inedible food remnants of a grown-up person immune from sorcery, and one of the methods of making the infants' excrement immune, is that of throwing them into the river; and even as regards infants' urine, which apparently is not, and as a rule hardly could be, actually thrown into the river, the protection is obtained by pouring water upon it. I think that the belief among the islands of the Pacific in the power of water to protect against the machinations of spirits or ghosts is not confined to the Mafulu natives, or indeed to those of New Guinea. Dr. Codrington mentions its existence as regards human excrement in Melanesia. [113] I would also refer to a custom of the Mafulu women after childbirth of throwing the placenta into the river, a practice which is similar to that of the Koita women, who drop the placenta into the sea. [114] Probably these practices relating to placenta are also based upon some idea of protection from sorcerers and spirits, although I was informed that among the Mafulu there is no superst.i.tious fear connected with the matter now. If the custom is in fact superst.i.tious in origin, the list of media for the use of sorcery already given by me requires enlarging. [115]

Serious illness or death of either an adult or an infant, if not caused by visible accident, is by the Mafulu, as by other natives, generally attributed, subject to limitations, to the sorcerers. The belief of the Mafulu as to this arises if the victim, being an ordinary person, is comparatively young, or in the strength of life, say under forty or forty-five, or if the victim, being a chief or a member of a chief's family or a person of very high position, is even over that age, unless he is very old, and old age is recognised as the natural cause of his illness or death.

If the belief arises that the calamity, especially that of death, has been brought about by spiritualistic influence, the family will probably go to some person who is believed to be in touch with spirits and able to designate the culprit. I cannot say whether or not the person so employed is regarded as being a sorcerer in the full sense of the word, or as merely one of the inferior types of magic men above referred to. Probably he is only the latter, as I do not think there are any juvenile sorcerers among the Mafulu, and this particular person may be quite a young boy; indeed, there is in a village near to the Mafulu Mission Station a young boy who is supposed to have this power. As a matter of fact this boy is not quite right in his head; but this state of mind is not among the Mafulu in any way a necessary, or indeed a usual, qualification for a sorcerer or magic man of any sort. The person appealed to will perhaps tell them who has done the deed, or will make some oracular statement which will lead to his identification. The culprit identified by him will in any case be a member of another clan, and most probably of another community. When he has been discovered, there will probably be a fight, in which the members of the victim's clan, or even, especially if the victim be a chief or big person, the whole of his community, will join the injured relatives, this question of suspected causing of death being, like that of non-repayment of the price paid for a runaway wife, one of the frequent causes of intercommunity fighting.

Reverting here to the matter of ghosts and spirits, one cannot help noting a similarity between, on the one hand, the ghostly element of living food plants and the ghostly element of human excrement, which const.i.tute the food of the ghosts, and, on the other hand, the physical inedible remnants of food recently eaten by an adult victim and the physical excrement and urine of an infant victim, which are the media used for hostile sorcery through the power of spirits; though, as regards the latter, I have no evidence of a belief that the spirits eat them. I tried to get further into this matter, but was unable to do so. Again one is struck by the fact that the special _gabi_ tree, which is the tree used for the interment of chiefs and notables, is one of the trees whose presence is regarded as indicating a place inhabited by spirits. These elements of similarity tend, I think, to suggest the possibility of some confusion in the native mind as to the difference between ghosts and spirits, or of some originally ghostly origin in what are now regarded as spirits.

The cla.s.s of magic men who are something less than sorcerers, and whose powers are perhaps confined to the knowledge of certain specific forms of incantation, would probably include the person who does the nose-boring, and perhaps the person who detects the causes of death above referred to. It would also, I think, include the men who ascertain the whereabouts of a stolen article and discover the thief, and who perform the ceremony in connection with hunting, and the persons who effect, or profess to effect, cures of a more or less superst.i.tious nature, all of whom are probably not regarded as full sorcerers.

The professional pig-killer is not, as such, either a sorcerer or a magic man in the minor sense; and, if there has originally been anything of a superst.i.tious or magic character a.s.sociated with him or his functions, I was unable to find any trace of it, except perhaps as regards the ceremony and incantation in connection with hunting, which apparently is commonly performed by him.

Charms.

The Mafulu people believe in charms. I have already referred to those used by young men desirous of marrying. But there are many other more important charms for various purposes, such as averting illness and death, success in hunting and fishing, and perhaps preservation in time of war. These charms may be stones, small pieces of different sorts of bark, flowers, or various kinds of poisons, though the poisons appear to be only used for averting illness and death. They are all procured from sorcerers, who may be of the same or of some other village, or of another community, and there are sorcerers who have specialities in certain sorts of charms. These charms are often carried inside the small charm bags already mentioned.

Omens.

They believe in omens; but of these I was only able to hear of two examples--namely, flying foxes, [116] and fireflies, the latter, though common in the plains, being rare on the mountains, and both of these are bad omens. Any person or party starting off on a journey, or on a hunting or fishing expedition, and meeting either of these creatures would probably at once turn back; and I was told that even a full war party starting off on a punitive expedition would turn back, or at least halt for a time, if it met one or other of them. I cannot help thinking there must be some other omens, which I have failed to discover.

General.

Referring generally to supplications, incantations, and acts of propitiation, the only examples of them which I was able to discover were the above-mentioned supplication to the river prior to fishing, which is apparently spoken by the fishers themselves, and not merely by a sorcerer or magic man, and the incantations in connection with nose-piercing, with hunting, with a dying chief, with the stone operation for stomach complaints, and with the plant remedies for wounds, and the acts of propitiation, if such they are, in connection with ceremonious pig-killing, and especially with the ceremonies performed at a big feast and at or following a funeral; and as regards the incantations I could learn nothing as to their nature, nor as to the specific spiritual powers for the influencing of which they are intended, nor the way in which those powers are moved by them.

In fact, concerning the whole question of ghosts, spirits, sorcery, charms, omens and superst.i.tions, I cannot imagine that I have accomplished more than the mere touching of the fringe of it; and I am sure that, when the Mafulu people have got rather more into touch with civilisation, and become more accessible and communicative about these things, there will be much more to be learnt. It may perhaps be that some of the apparently superst.i.tious acts are, like many such acts performed in England, based upon beliefs which have long since been forgotten, and have themselves become mere formalities, to which the natives do not attach serious superst.i.tious importance; though their fear of ghosts and spirits is undoubtedly a very real and general one.

There are no secret societies or mysteries, such as are met with in some of the Solomon Islands, and they have no superst.i.tion as to sneezing.

Taboo.

The subject of taboo may perhaps be referred to under the present heading, for, though there appear to be no totemic taboos, and though I have no material showing that the Mafulu taboos are based on superst.i.tious ideas, it may, I imagine, be a.s.sumed that, while some of these taboos are possibly partly based on medical common sense, the element of superst.i.tion enters more or less into many of them. I have already referred to a few general restrictions connected with etiquette, and what I now propose to mention are food taboos.

Young men are not supposed to eat wild pig until they have married, but this is the only food restriction which is put upon them. [117]

A woman who is about to give birth to a child must eat no food whatever for a day or rather longer (never more than two days), before the child is born. I have already referred to the food taboo on persons undergoing the nose-piercing operation, and the optional food taboo to which the nearest relative of a deceased person may submit, in lieu of wearing the mourning string. There is also a general taboo against any food other than sweet potato and chewing of betel-nuts, with its condiments of lime and pepper, upon any male person who intends to take part, either as a dancer or singer, in any ceremonial dance. This latter term includes the dance at a big feast and the women's dance on the eve of it, but not the dancing during the six months' interval before it. It also includes the dance at any of the various minor ceremonies above described, and at a funeral ceremony. The period of restriction in the case of the big feast begins when the formal croton-leaf invitation has gone out to the guests, about a month before the date of the feast. In the case of a funeral it is necessarily only quite short, and in cases of other ceremonies it varies, being largely dependent on the length of period during which the approach of the ceremony is known. During the period of restriction the people avail themselves largely of the privilege of betel-chewing, and prior to a big feast their mouths get very red. In connection with personal ceremonies upon a.s.sumption of the perineal band, admission to the _emone_ (excepting, as regards this, the case of a child of very tender years), qualifying for drumming and dancing, devolution of chieftainship and nose-piercing, the person concerned, male or female, is under the same food restriction for a day prior to that of the ceremony, and as regards nose-piercing this taboo is prior to the actual piercing, and is quite distinct from the subsequent taboo already referred to. There does not appear to be any taboo connected with fishing, hunting or war.

The observance of all these taboos is secured only by superst.i.tious belief or public opinion, or both, there being no method of enforcing them by punishment or by any exercise of authority by the chiefs.

CHAPTER XIX

Note on the Kuni People

Father Egedi, who has studied the Kuni people, and has written a series of articles about them in numbers of _Anthropos_, told me that he regarded them as being a cross between the Papuan-speaking Mafulu and the Melanesian-speaking Papuo-Melanesians of Mekeo and the adjoining coast. Whether or not this is absolutely and strictly correct is a question upon which I will not venture to express an opinion.

In general physique and appearance the Kuni are distinctly and strongly of the type of the Mafulu, whilst their language is Melanesian; and, as regards other matters, they in some respects resemble and in other respects differ from the Mafulu.

As regards physique, Father Egedi distinguishes the Kuni from the natives of the adjoining coast by their slighter development, slender limbs and darker colour of skin, in which respects they resemble the Mafulu; but he regards them as being lower-statured than the tribes of the interior, which term includes the Mafulu, [118]with greater regularity of features, and of lighter colour, all of which tallies, I think, with my own observation of them. But the fact that they are shorter in stature than the Mafulu, who are themselves shorter than the coast natives, is perhaps a matter for surprise, if they are a cross between the two. I have not measured any Kuni heads; but I should be disposed from general observation to say that they are very similar to those of the Mafulu, being predominantly mesaticephalic, with tendencies to brachycephalism. [119]

Many of the Lapeka people, who are Kuni, but are on the borders of the Upper Mekeo district, seemed to me to have distinctly flattish faces, with remarkably delicately cut features--some of the women in particular being exceedingly pretty in profile--and very bright sparkling eyes. Where these local characteristics came from I cannot say, as it could hardly be the result of an intermixture of Mekeo blood. [120]

The oblique eye, which is occasionally found on the coast, [121] but which I never saw in Mafulu, is, according to Father Egedi, present, though only rare, among the Kuni. His large amount of opportunity for observation, and his known care and ability in this respect, compel me to a.s.sume his accuracy; but I can say that I saw a good many of these eyes among them, and indeed once, having about twenty of these Kuni people squatting in front of me, I observed that about half of them had distinctly oblique eyes.

Father Egedi speaks of their hair as being "generally black, rarely bright, and more rarely chestnut"; and as to this, I would refer to the fact that the predominating colour of hair among the Mafulu is dark or darkish brown, so that in this respect the Kuni apparently tend more to the black-haired coast type of native than do the Mafulu.

Concerning matters other than physique and language, as I only pa.s.sed through the Kuni district, and did not attempt serious ethnological investigation there, I can say but little beyond what I learn from Father Egedi's articles and a few other sources; and the material thus available only deals with a few questions.

It would appear from Father Egedi's observations that the relationship between villages arising from the splitting up into two or more of an original family village is not so permanent as I believe it to be among the Mafulu. Dr. Seligmann says [122] that among the Kuni Father Egedi "could find no trace of intermarrying groups, or groups of clans claiming common descent," which statement applies to my investigations among the Mafulu. He further says [123] that "The Dilava folk"

(Dilava is a Kuni village) "marry into all the surrounding villages; and when a death occurs it is the head of the family of the deceased who says when mourning shall cease"--statements of which the former, and I believe the latter, could hardly be correctly made concerning the Mafulu. He also refers [124] to Kuni war chiefs, an office which does not exist among the Mafulu, and apparently understands that the office of these war chiefs is non-hereditary, a statement which could not be made of any Mafulu chief; and he refers [125] to a funeral ceremony which is quite unknown in Mafulu. But his statement [126]

that the _kufu_ (club-house) system seems less developed than in Mekeo would apply very strongly to the Mafulu.

The Kuni superst.i.tious remedies for illnesses, as described by Father Egedi, are quite different from those of Mafulu, and their food restrictions, as enumerated by him, are in some respects substantially distinct from those of the Mafulu, though some of them are more or less similar.

According to him Kuni women, though they may not enter the village _kufu_ or club-house, are allowed upon its platform, which is not the case with the Mafulu _emone_; and eldest sons of Kuni influential people may not enter into the _kufu_ until their parents have given a specific feast, which custom is apparently not identical with that of the Mafulu above described by me, and which applies to all sons of all members of the village, and not merely to those of influential people.

The Kuni houses differ from those of the Mafulu, being more or less round or oval in apparent shape, even though the floor is rectangular. Also according to Father Egedi, Kuni _kufu_ are of several various sorts, and some of them are constructed in specific ways, and have specific carved and painted decorations, some of which are imitative of animals and objects held in veneration; and these different types of club-house, which include one used only by elderly bachelors and widowers, have specific names--all of which is quite different from what is found in Mafulu. Among these club-houses Father Egedi includes one built at feast times higher up the ridge, outside the village, for guests' accommodation, which, though apparently somewhat similar in purpose to the guests' houses at a Mafulu feast, differs from them in form. Indeed, as regards building construction, the only point of strong similarity between the Kuni and the Mafulu which I can trace is the long fireplace extending from front to back of the building, which with the Kuni is apparently very like that of the Mafulu.

Father Egedi's statement as to Kuni cannibalism, that speaking generally it appears to be confined to the bodies of people killed in war or in private vendetta, and that, though other cases are recorded, they are regarded as a violation of a custom and are detested, might be equally well said of the Mafulu; though I did not actually hear of any known record there of the other cases mentioned. Again his statement that the actual killer must not share in the feast holds good with the Mafulu; but I believe that this idea exists elsewhere also.

Concerning the Kuni implements I can only refer to Dr. Seligmann's statement, [127] that they do not appear to use bows and shields--which, if correct, is a point of difference between them and the Mafulu--and to a few other things referred to by Father Egedi in his articles. From his descriptions I should imagine that the Kuni pig-bone implements and their bamboo cutting knives are similar, and that their wooden vegetable dishes are somewhat similar to those of the Mafulu. But the Kuni have cooking pots (which they get from the coast), and use forks and spoons and various other implements and utensils which are not found in Mafulu, and their mode of producing fire is quite different from the Mafulu mode.

I recognise that the above comparative notes on Kuni culture are only of a very fragmentary character; but Father Egedi expresses the general opinion that, though the language of the Kuni people is Melanesian, their habits and customs "may be considered as making one with those of the Mafulu people."

On the whole question of Kuni relationship it can, I think, hardly be doubted that the Kuni have some characteristics which are clearly those of the Mafulu and other central mountain tribes, and others which are obviously those of the Papuo-Melanesians of the adjacent plains and the coast beyond; and the only question seems to be the nature and origin of the Kuni relationship to these two types of people. It may be, as suggested by Father Egedi, that they are actually a cross between these two mixed types; or, if the suggestion in my concluding chapter as to the possible presence in these Mafulu and other mountain people of Negrito blood be correct, it may be that the Kuni people are merely another result of the general Negrito-Papuo-Melanesian intercrossing, in which the Papuan and Melanesian elements have been more predominant than they have been with the Mafulu.

CHAPTER XX