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Robert W. Williamson - The Mafulu

R >> Robert W. Williamson >> The Mafulu





Ceremony on Building of a New Emone.

The usual occasion for the building of a new _emone_ is an impending
big feast, the then existing _emone_ in the village being out of
repair, or there being then no true _emone_ in the village. But _emone_
are built at other times also.

The actual building of the _emone_ is carried out by the whole clan
without ceremony; but when it is finished they erect tall slender
straight-stemmed tree poles, passing through the roof of the _emone_,
and to these they tie bunches of croton leaves. When the _emone_ is
being built in anticipation of a big feast, these poles are like,
and in fact are part of the series of, the poles erected for the
purpose of the feast, as above described. Croton leaves are also
attached to poles after the repairing of a then existing _emone_.

In the case of a new _emone_, after its completion they light a fire
in it, and in that fire cook a wild pig; vegetable food is provided,
and the clan, including members of the village and of other villages,
have a little clan feast of the vegetables, followed by a cutting up
and distribution of the pig. But there is no dancing.






CHAPTER X

Matrimonial and Sexual

A boy is regarded as having reached a marriageable age at about 16,
17, or 18, and the age for a girl is a few years younger. They do
not as a rule marry before they have received their perineal bands;
but there does not appear to be any definite custom against their
doing so; nor are there any acts which must be performed to qualify
for marriage, nor any indications by dress or ornament or otherwise
that a boy or girl has attained a marriageable age.

Marriages are usually contracted with women of another community,
though sometimes the wife will belong to a village of another clan
in the same community. Very rarely only is she of another village of
the same clan, and still more rarely is she of the same village, clan
exogamy being the rule, and marriages within the clan, and still more
within the village, being regarded as irregular and undesirable, and
people who have contracted them being considered as having clone wrong.

There does not appear to be any system of special matrimonial
relationship between any communities; and the mode described below, by
which a youth will by lighting a fire decide in which direction he must
travel to seek a wife, would be hardly consistent with any such system.

They have their prohibitive rules of consanguinity; but these are
based merely upon the number of generations between either party and
the common ancestor. The number of degrees within which prohibition
applies in this way is two, thus taking it to the grandparent; and
the result is that no man or woman may properly marry any descendant
of his or her paternal or maternal grandfather or grandmother, however
distant the actual relationship of the persons concerned may be. [79]
Marriages within the prohibited degree do in fact occur; but they
are discountenanced, and are rare.

Polygyny is usual, and is largely practised. A man will often have
two or three, or sometimes even four, wives; and a chief or rich man
may have as many as six. In the case of an ordinary person the wives
all live with their husband in the same house; but a chief or rich
person may have two or more houses. A man who is already married, and
then marries again, goes through a formality, if it may be so called,
similar to that of a first marriage. Opposition from the first wife
sometimes occurs, but this is unusual.

Infant betrothals are common; but they are quite informal, and not the
subject of any ceremony. The parents in such cases, whether of the same
or different communities, are usually intimate friends, and are thus
led to offer their children to each other for intermarriage. There
is a known case of a girl of 16 or 17 years of age, who was what
I can only call betrothed to the unborn son of a chief. A curious
element in this case was that at the date, prior to the birth of
the proposed husband, of what I call the betrothal, the price for
the girl was actually paid--a thing which is never done till the
marriage--and that, as I was most solemnly assured, the living girl
and the unborn boy were in fact regarded, not merely as betrothed,
but as actually married, and that, when the boy died, which he did in
infancy, long before marital relationship between them was possible,
the girl was regarded as being a widow. I could not ascertain what
happened as regards the price which had been paid for the girl. A
couple betrothed in childhood are not subject to any restrictions
as to meeting and mutual companionship, nor is there any mutual
avoidance, nor any increased probability, based on their betrothal,
of immorality between them; though in the more usual case of betrothal
between children of different communities they in ordinary course
are not likely to be constantly seeing each other.

A young man will speak of his sweetheart, present or prospective,
as his _ojande_, which means his "flower"; and this is so even if he
does not yet know her; and, when asked where he is going, he will
reply that he is going to seek an _ojande_. If he is not already
betrothed, and is matrimonially inclined, he has various expedients
for accomplishing his desires. A boy who wants to marry, and does not
know where to seek a wife, will sometimes light a fire in the bush,
or better still in an open space (not in the village), when the air is
still, and wait until a slight breeze blows the flame or smoke a little
in some one direction; and he will then select a community or village
which lies in that direction as the spot in which to seek a wife.

A boy will often carry in a small bag (this does not refer to the
special small charm bag already described) some pieces of wood and
stone, and will rub a piece of tobacco between two of these, and send
this tobacco to the girl of his choice through a female relative of
hers or some other friend; and he believes that in some mysterious way
this will draw her heart towards him, and make her accept him. The
pieces of wood and stone need not be of any particular kind; but he
will have carried them for a considerable time, until they have,
as he thinks, acquired the specific odour of his body; and it is
then that they have obtained their special power. It is impossible
to induce a boy to part with a piece of wood or stone which has been
so seasoned by time, and would take long to replace. Sometimes a boy
will acquire these things by purchase from a magic man, who professes
to be able to impart to them a more effective power.

A proposal of marriage is usually made by the boy through some female
relative of the girl, or other suitable person, and not directly by
him to the girl herself.

Another custom may be mentioned here, though it only relates to a man
who is already married, but wants another wife or wives. In clearing
the bush for yam gardens it is usual, as regards the smaller trees,
to cut away the side branches only, leaving the main trunks for posts
up which the yams will climb; but the man in question will in the
case of one (only one) of these smaller trees leave uncut one, two,
or three of the upper branches, the number so left being the number
of the wives he desires; and everyone understands its meaning.

As regards the relationship of unmarried boys and girls generally,
they are allowed to associate together, without any special precautions
to prevent misconduct, and a good deal of general immorality exists.

The marriage ceremony, following a parental betrothal, or with
parental acquiescence, is a very informal matter, and in fact both
the bargaining for the wife and the ceremony of the marriage are
in striking contrast to the elaborate system of bargaining and mock
raiding by the girl's family, and the wedding ceremonies, which are
adopted in Mekeo. A day is fixed for the marriage, and on that day the
boy goes to the house of the girl's parents, after which he and she
and her parents go to the house of the boy's parents, and the girl
is paid for then and there. After this the young people immediately
live together as a married couple in the house of either his or her
parents, until he has been able to build a house for himself. Neither
are there any special ceremonies in connection with the fixing of
the price. This is generally very small. Dogs' teeth, pearl shell,
necklaces, adzes, etc., are the usual things in which it is paid; but
there is always a pig, which has been killed under, or on the site of,
the grave platform above referred to. The price, in fact, depends upon
the position and wealth of the girl's parents, except that there is
always only one pig. The price is paid to the father of the girl, or,
if dead, to her eldest brother or other nearest male paternal relative.

A runaway marriage is still simpler. The boy has proposed to the girl
through her friend, and she has consented; and they simply run off
into the bush together, and remain in the bush, or the gardens, or a
distant village, until the boy's friends have succeeded in propitiating
the girl's father, and the price has been paid; and then the couple
return to the village.

After marriage, the husband and wife are not as a rule faithful to
each other, the marriage tie being only slight. Adultery on the part
of the wife, but not of the husband, is regarded as a serious offence,
if discovered. The injured husband will beat the guilty wife, and
is entitled to kill the man with whom she has misconducted herself,
and will usually do so; though nowadays he often dares not do so in
districts where he fears Government punishment. Sometimes he will be
content if the adulterer pays him a big price, say a pig; and this
compensation is now commonly accepted in districts where the husband
dares not kill. In either case, the husband generally keeps the wife.

Formal divorce or separation does not exist. A husband who wants to get
rid of his wife will make her life so miserable that she runs away from
him. But more usually the separation originates with the wife, who, not
liking or being tired of her husband, or being in love elsewhere, will
run away and elope altogether with another man. In such a case, the
husband may retaliate on that other man in the way already mentioned;
but that is rather the method adopted in cases of incidental adultery,
and as a rule, when the wife actually elopes, she and her paramour go
off to some other community, and the husband submits to the loss. He
will, however, claim from the wife's people the price which he paid
for her on his marriage. This is sometimes paid, but not always; and,
as the wife almost always belongs to another clan, and generally
to another community, the refusal to pay this claim is one of the
frequent causes of fighting, the members of the husband's clan,
and often the whole community, joining him in a punitive expedition.

When a man dies, or at all events after the removal by the widow
of her mourning, she goes back to her own people, generally taking
with her any of their young children who are then living in the
house. There is no devolution of the wife to the husband's brother,
or anything of that nature. Nor, in case of the death of the wife,
does the husband marry her sister.

Speaking of the people generally, it may certainly be said that sexual
morality among men, women, boys and girls is very low; and there is
no punishment for immorality, except as above stated.






CHAPTER XI

Killing, Cannibalism, and Warfare


Killing.

Individual killing in personal quarrel, as distinguished from
slaying in warfare, is exceedingly rare, except in cases of revenge
upon adulterers. In these cases, however, it is regarded as the
appropriate punishment; and even the family of the adulterer would
hardly retaliate, if satisfied as to his guilt. There is no system of
head-hunting, or of killing victims in connection with any ceremonies,
or of burying alive, [80] or of killing old and sick people, though
the ceremonial blow on the head of a reputed dying man must sometimes
be premature.

Abortion and infanticide, however, are exceedingly common, the
more usual practice being that of procuring abortion. Although
sexual immorality so largely exists, and young unmarried women and
girls are known to indulge in it so freely, and it is not seriously
reprobated, it is regarded as a disgrace for one to give birth to
a child; and if she gets into trouble she will procure abortion or
kill the child. The same thing is also common among married women,
on the ground that they do not wish to have more children. There is
another cause for this among married women, which is peculiar. A woman
must not give birth to a child until she has given a pig to a village
feast; and if she does so it will be a matter of reproach to her. If,
therefore, she finds herself about to have a child, and there is no
festal opportunity for her to give a pig, or if, though there be a
feast, she cannot afford to give a pig, she will probably procure
abortion or kill the child when born. I was told by Father Chabot,
the Father Superior of the Mission, that among the neighbouring Kuni
people a woman would kill her child for extraordinary reasons; and he
furnished an example of this in a woman who killed her child so that
she might use her milk for suckling a young pig, which was regarded
as being more important. Whether such a thing would occur in Mafulu
appears to be doubtful; but it is quite possible, more especially as
the Mafulu women do, in fact, suckle pigs.

Abortion is induced by taking the heavy stone mallet used for bark
cloth beating, and striking the woman on the front of the body over
the womb. It is also assisted by the wearing of the tight cane belt
already mentioned. I could not hear of any system of using drugs
or herbs to procure abortion; but herbs are used to produce general
sterility, which they are believed to be effective in doing.

Married women also often kill their children as the result of a
sort of superstitious ceremony. The child being born, the mother,
in accordance with the custom of the country, goes down to the
river, and throws the placenta into it. She then, however, often
takes a little water from the river, and gives it to the babe. If
the latter seems by the movements of its lips and tongue to accept
and take the water into its mouth, it is a sign that it is to live,
and it is allowed to do so. If not, it is a sign that it is to
die, and she throws it into the river. This custom, which is quite
common, has presumably had a superstitious origin, and it seems to
be practised with superstitious intent now. There appears, however,
to be no doubt that it is also followed for the purpose of keeping
or killing the child, according to the wish of the mother. There is
further, confirming the last statement, a well-known practice, when
the mother goes down to the river with her baby, for some other woman,
who is childless and desires a child, to accompany the mother, and
take from her and adopt the baby; and as to this, there is no doubt
that, before doing so, the woman ascertains from the mother whether
or not she intends to keep her child, and only goes with her to the
river if she does not intend to keep it. This is done quite openly,
with the full knowledge of the second woman's husband and friends;
and everyone knows that the child is not really hers, and how she
acquired it. [81]






Cannibalism.

There is no doubt that the Mafulu people have always been cannibals,
and are so still, subject now to the fear in which they hold the
controlling authority of the white man, and which impels such of them
as are in close touch with the latter to indulge in their practice
only in secrecy. Their cannibalism has been, and is, however, of a
restricted character. They do not kill for the purpose of eating;
and they only eat bodies of people who have been intentionally
killed, not the bodies of those who have been killed by accident,
or died a natural death. Also the victim eaten is always a member
of another community. The killing which is followed by eating is
always a hostile killing in fight; but this fight may be either a
personal and individual one, or it may be a community battle. The
idea of eating the body appears to be a continued act of hostility,
rather than one of gastronomic enjoyment; and I could learn nothing
of any belief as to acquiring the valour and power of the deceased
by eating him. I was informed that the man who has killed the victim
will never himself share in the eating of him, this being the case
both as regards people killed in private personal fighting and those
killed in war. [82] I tried to find out if there were any ceremonies
connected with the eating of human flesh; but could learn nothing upon
the subject, the natives being naturally not readily communicative
with white men on the matter.





Warfare.

Warfare generally occurs between one community or section of a
community (probably a clan) and another community or section of one; it
very rarely occurs within a community. Sometimes two communities join
together in opposition to a third one; but alliances of this sort are
usually only of a temporary character. War among these people is now,
of course, forbidden by the British authorities, and indulgence in it
is a serious punishable offence; but it cannot be said to be abolished.

The usual ground for an attack is either that some member of the
attacked community or section of a community has by personal violence
or by spirit-supported sorcery killed a member of the attacking
community or section, or it is of the matrimonial character above
explained. The underlying idea of the war is a life for a life; and in
the matrimonial matter one life is the sum of vengeance required. Hence
the primary object of an attack has usually been accomplished when
the attacking party has killed one of their opponents. If there are
two or more persons whose deaths have to be avenged, a corresponding
number of lives is required in the battle. Then the attacking party
may suffer loss during the fight, in which case this has to be added
to the account; and loss by the attacked is introduced into the other
side of it to their credit. The number killed in a battle is not,
however, often great.

When the required vengeance has been accomplished, the attacking party
usually cease fighting and return home, if the enemy allow them to
do so. They may retire before their vengeance has been accomplished;
but in that case they are probably doing so as a defeated party, with
the intention of renewing the attack on a subsequent occasion. If
the attacking party cease fighting and try to return, the enemy may
continue their counter attack, especially if they have themselves
suffered loss in the fighting; but I was told that the enemy would
not as a rule follow the attacking party far into the bush. It may be
that what is regarded by the attackers as a correct balance of lives
struck, on which they may retire, is not so regarded by the enemy,
in which case the latter may try to prolong the fight; and, if the
attackers get away, there will probably be a retaliatory expedition,
in which the position of attackers and attacked is reversed. The
primary idea of a life for a life is, however, generally understood
and acknowledged; and if the enemy recognise the truth of the alleged
reason for the attack, and have not lost more life than was required
to balance the account, they usually rest satisfied with the result.

No ceremony or taboo appears to be adopted in anticipation of proposed
hostilities for the purpose of securing success; but individual
fighters often wear charms, upon whose efficacy they rely. Nor do
there appear to be any omens in connection with them other than
certain general ones to be referred to hereafter. The preparations
for a fight and its conduct can hardly be regarded as subjects of
much organisation, as the chiefs are not war chiefs, and there are
no recognised permanent leaders or commanders of the forces, and no
recognised war councils or systematic organisation, either of the
fighting party or of the conduct of the fight. All adult males of
the community engaged are expected to take part, and the leadership
will generally fall upon someone who at the moment is regarded as a
strong and wise fighter.

The men start off on their expedition as an armed, but unorganised,
body, their arms being spears, bows and arrows, [83] clubs, adzes
and shields, and none of their weapons being poisoned. During their
progress to the enemy's community they are generally singing, and their
song relates to the grievance the avenging of which is the object of
the expedition. The warriors do not, I was told, as a rule carry a full
supply of provisions, as they rely largely upon what they can find in
the bush, and what they hope to raid from their enemy's plantations. On
reaching the scene of battle they adopt methods of spying and scouting
and sentry duty, though only on simple and unscientific lines. They
have apparently no generally recognised systems of signs of truce or
truce envoys or hostages. There are certain recognised cries, which
respectively signify the killing of a man and the taking of a prisoner,
by which, when such an event occurs, the fighters on both sides are
aware of it. An enemy wounded on the battlefield may be killed at
once or may be taken prisoner. All prisoners, wounded or otherwise,
are taken home by the party that secures them, and are then killed,
apparently without any prior torture, and generally eaten. A prisoner
thus carried off would be regarded as a man killed, which in fact he
shortly will be. The women of a community follow their fighting men
in the expedition, their duty being to encourage the fighters on the
way out, and during the fight, by their singing; but they remain in
the rear during the battle, and do not actually fight. These women,
of course, also run the risk of being killed or wounded or taken
prisoners.

Fighting between two communities may go on intermittently for
years. Then perhaps the communities may get mutually weary of it,
and decide to make peace. This act is ratified by an exchange between
the two communities of ceremonial visits, with feasts and pig-killing,
but no dancing, the pigs and vegetables and fruit distributed by the
hosts among the visitors on the return visit being exactly similar
in character and quantity to what the latter have given the former
on the prior visit.

The Mafulu war spears are made out of a very hard-wooded palm tree and
another hard red-wooded tree, the name of which I do not know. They
are round in section, tapering at both ends, and are generally from
10 to 12 feet long, and about three-quarters of an inch in diameter at
the widest part. There are three forms of point. The first (Plate 73,
Fig. 1) is simply a tapering off in round section. The second (Plate
73, Fig. 2) is made square in section for a distance of 2 to 2 1/2 feet
from the tip. The third (Plate 73, Fig. 3) is in section a triangle,
of which two sides are equal and the other side is a little larger,
this triangular form being carried for a foot or less from the tip,
and the larger surface being barbed bilaterally. This last-mentioned
form is also generally decorated with a little tuft of bright-coloured
feathers, just above the point where the barbing begins.

The bows (Plate 74, Fig. 1) are made of split bamboo, the convex
side of the bow being the inner section of the split bamboo. These
bows are quite short, generally about 4 feet long when straightened
out, and have triangular-shaped knobs at the ends for holding the
bowstrings. The bowstrings are made of what appears to be strong split
canes (not sugar-canes). The arrows (Plate 73, Fig. 4) are from 6 to
8 feet long, which is extraordinary in comparison with the length
of the bows, and are made in two parts, the shaft being made of a
strong reed, and the point, which is inserted into the reed shaft and
is generally a foot or more long, being single and round-sectioned,
and made of the same materials as are used for spears. There are no
feathers or equivalents of feathers, and the shaft end of the arrow
is cut square and not notched.

The clubs (Plate 75, Figs, 1 and 2) are stone-headed, the heads being
of the pineapple and disc types; but these heads are the same as those
used on the plains and coast, whose people, in fact, get them from
the mountains, and as these are so well-known, it is not necessary
for me to describe them.

The adzes (Plate 75, Fig. 4) are of the usual type, the stone blade
being lashed directly on to the handle. There are two common forms. In
one, which is also used for ordinary adze work, the haft is cut from
a natural branch, with the angle of the head part set obliquely. In
the other, which is also used for cutting timber, the haft is cut
from a branch with the angle of the head part set at right angles,
or nearly so. I do not know to what extent this second form is common
in New Guinea. It is not found in Mekeo.

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