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Robert W. Williamson - The Mafulu

R >> Robert W. Williamson >> The Mafulu




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 facade 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.

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