The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead, Volume 1 (of 3)

LECTURE XV

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THE BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY AMONG THE NATIVES OF SOUTHERN MELANESIA (NEW CALEDONIA)

Melanesia and the Melanesians.

The New Caledonians.

Beliefs of the New Calendonians as to the land of the dead.

Burial customs of the New Calendonians.

Sham fight as a mourning ceremony.

Preservation of the skulls of the dead.

Examples of ancestor-worship among the New Caledonians.

Prayers for fish.

Prayers for sugar-cane.

Prayers for yams.

Caverns used by the natives as charnel-houses in the Isle of Pines.

Sea-caves.

Prayers and sacrifices offered to the dead by the New Caledonians.

Prayer-posts.

Religion combined with magic in the ritual of the New Caledonians. Sacred stones endowed with special magical virtues. The "stone of famine."

Stones to drive people mad.

Stones to blight coco-nut palms. Stones to make bread-fruit trees bear fruit.

The "stone of the sun."

Stones to make rain.

Stones to make or mar sea-voyages.

Stones to help fishermen.

Stones to make yams grow.

The religion of the New Caledonians is mainly a worship of the dead tinctured with magic.

On the whole we may conclude that among the natives of New Caledonia there exists a real worship of the dead, and that this worship is indeed the principal element in their religion. The spirits of the dead, though they are supposed to spend part of their time in a happy land far away under the sea, are nevertheless believed to be near at hand, hovering about in the burial-grounds or charnel-houses and embodied apparently in their skulls. To these spirits the native turns for help in all the important seasons and emergencies of life; he appeals to them in prayer and seeks to propitiate them by sacrifice. Thus in his attitude towards his dead ancestors we perceive the elements of a real religion. But, as I have just pointed out, many rites of this worship of ancestors are accompanied by magical ceremonies. The religion of these islanders is in fact deeply tinged with magic; it marks a transition from an age of pure magic in the past to an age of more or less pure religion in the future.

Evidence as to the religion of the New Caledonians furnished by Dr. G. Turner.

Material culture of the New Caledonians.

Burial customs; preservation of the skulls and teeth.

Prayers to ancestors.

"Grand concert of spirits."

Making rain by means of the bones of the dead.

Execution of maleficent sorcerers. Reincarnation of the dead in white people.

Notes in this chapter

Note 1 · Footnote 517: (return) F. H. H. Guillemard, Australasia, II. Malaysia and the Pacific Archipelagoes (London, 1894), p. 458.Note 2 · Footnote 518: (return) J. Deniker, The Races of Man (London, 1900), pp. 498 sq. As to the mediums of exchange, particularly the shell-money,Note 3 · Footnote 519: (return) Le Père Lambert, Mœurs et Superstitions des Néo-Calédoniens (Nouméa, 1900). This work originally appeared as a series Note 4 · Footnote 520: (return) Lambert, Mœurs et Superstitions des Néo-Calédoniens, pp. ii., iv. sq.; 255.Note 5 · Footnote 521: (return) George Turner, LL.D., Samoa a Hundred Years Ago and long before (London, 1884), pp. 340 sqq.Note 6 · Footnote 522: (return) Lambert, op. cit. pp. 13-16.Note 7 · Footnote 523: (return) Lambert, op. cit. pp. 235-239.Note 8 · Footnote 524: (return) Lambert, op. cit. pp. 238, 239 sq.Note 9 · Footnote 525: (return) Above, pp. 136 sq., 235 sq.Note 10 · Footnote 526: (return) Lambert, op. cit. pp. 24, 240.Note 11 · Footnote 527: (return) Lambert, op. cit. p. 274.Note 12 · Footnote 528: (return) Lambert, op. cit. pp. 24, 26.Note 13 · Footnote 529: (return) Lambert, op. cit. p. 211.Note 14 · Footnote 530: (return) Lambert, op. cit. p. 218.Note 15 · Footnote 531: (return) Lambert, op. cit. pp. 224 sq.Note 16 · Footnote 532: (return) Lambert, op. cit. pp. 275 sqq.Note 17 · Footnote 533: (return) Lambert, op. cit. p. 276.Note 18 · Footnote 534: (return) Lambert, op. cit. pp. 288 sq.Note 19 · Footnote 535: (return) Lambert, op. cit. pp. 290, 292.Note 20 · Footnote 536: (return) Lambert, op. cit. pp. 292 sq.Note 21 · Footnote 537: (return) Lambert, op. cit. pp. 293 sq.Note 22 · Footnote 538: (return) Lambert, op. cit. p. 294.Note 23 · Footnote 539: (return) Lambert, op. cit. pp. 296 sq.Note 24 · Footnote 540: (return) Lambert, op. cit. pp. 297 sq.Note 25 · Footnote 541: (return) Lambert, op. cit. p. 298.Note 26 · Footnote 542: (return) Lambert, op. cit. p. 300.Note 27 · Footnote 543: (return) Lambert, op. cit. pp. 301 sq.Note 28 · Footnote 544: (return) Lambert, op. cit. pp. 217 sq., 300.Note 29 · Footnote 545: (return) George Turner, LL.D., Samoa a Hundred Years Ago and long before (London, 1884), pp. 340 sqq.Note 30 · Footnote 546: (return) G. Turner, op. cit. pp. 340, 341, 343, 344.Note 31 · Footnote 547: (return) G. Turner, op. cit. pp. 342 sq.Note 32 · Footnote 548: (return) G. Turner, op. cit. p. 345.Note 33 · Footnote 549: (return) G. Turner, op. cit. pp. 346 sq.Note 34 · Footnote 550: (return) G. Turner, op. cit. pp. 345 sq.Note 35 · Footnote 551: (return) G. Turner, op. cit. p. 342.Note 36 · In the last lecture I concluded our survey of the beliefs and practices concerning death and the dead which are reported to prevail among th Note 37 · We shall begin our survey of these islands with New Caledonia in the south, and from it shall pass northwards through the New Hebrides and S Note 38 · The souls of the New Caledonians, like those of most savages, are supposed to be immortal, at least to survive death for an indefinite perio Note 39 · The bodies of the dead are buried in shallow graves, which are dug in a sacred grove. The corpse is placed in a crouching attitude with the Note 40 · A curious ceremony which the New Caledonians observe at a certain period of mourning for the dead is a sham fight. Father Lambert describes Note 41 · About a year after the death, when the flesh of the corpse is entirely decayed, the skull is removed and placed solemnly in another burying-Note 42 · A few examples may serve to illustrate the ancestor-worship of the New Caledonians. When a person is sick, a member of the family, never a s Note 43 · Again, when a shoal of fish has made its appearance on the reef, a number of superstitious ceremonies have to be performed before the people Note 44 · Again, in order that a sugar plantation may flourish, the medicine-man will lay a sugar-cane beside the ancestral skulls, saying, "This is f Note 45 · Again, when the store of yams is running short and famine is beginning to be felt, the New Caledonians celebrate a festival called moulim in Note 46 · While the beliefs and customs of the New Caledonians in regard to the dead bear a general resemblance to each other, whether they belong to Note 47 · While this is the general character of the caves which are to be found hidden away in the forests, many of those near the shore consist simp Note 48 · With regard to the use which the natives make of these caves as charnel-houses and mortuary chapels, Father Lambert tells us that any one of Note 49 · As it is clearly impossible even for the most devout to pray day and night without cessation, the weakness of the flesh requiring certain in Note 50 · We may assume with some probability that in the mind of the natives such resemblances are not purely figurative or symbolic, but that they a Note 51 · Again, certain rough unhewn stones, which are kept in the sacred places, are thought to possess the power of driving people mad. To effect t Note 52 · Again, there is a stone which they use in cursing a plantation of coco-nut palms. The stone resembles a blighted coco-nut, and no doubt it i Note 53 · Again, the natives have two disc-shaped stones, each with a hole in the centre, which together make up what they call "the stone of the sun.Note 54 · On the contrary, when a wizard desires to make rain, he proceeds as follows. The place of sacrifice is decorated and enclosed with a fence, Note 55 · Again, the natives have a stone in the shape of a canoe, which they employ in ceremonies for the purpose of favouring or hindering navigatio Note 56 · The natives of the Isle of Pines subsist mainly by fishing; hence they naturally have a large number of sacred stones which they use for the Note 57 · Lastly, the natives of the Isle of Pines cultivate many different kinds of yams, and they have a correspondingly large number of sacred ston Note 58 · Thus far I have based my account of the beliefs and customs of the New Caledonians concerning the dead on the valuable information which we Note 59 · The natives of this part of New Caledonia were divided into separate districts, each with its own name, and war, perpetual war, was the rule Note 60 · At death they dressed the corpse with a belt and shell armlets, cut off the nails of the fingers and toes, and kept them as relics. They spr Note 61 · "Their gods," we are told, "were their ancestors, whose relics they kept up and idolised. At one place they had wooden idols before the chie Note 62 · The spirits of the dead were believed to go away into the forest. Every fifth month they had a "spirit night" or "grand concert of spirits."Note 63 · The souls of the departed also kindly bore a hand in the making of rain. In order to secure their co-operation for this beneficent purpose t Note 64 · Another class of magicians were the maleficent sorcerers who caused people to fall ill and die by burning their personal rubbish. When one o

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