Some other Ceremonies and Feasts

Ceremony on Birth.

Ceremony on Assumption of Perineal Band.

This ceremony is performed for both boys and girls, and usually for several at one time.

The children are heavily adorned with ornaments, consisting, as a rule, chiefly of dogs’ teeth, which are hung round their necks, or over their foreheads; and they usually have belts of dogs’ teeth round their waists. Any persons may decorate the children.

Prior to the ceremony a number of box-like receptacles are erected in the village by the children’s relatives, there being one receptacle for each child for whom the ceremony is to be performed. These receptacles are made with upright corner poles 8 or 10 feet high, boxed in with cross-pieces of wood up to a height of 5 or 6 feet. In these receptacles are put yams and taro, upon their upright poles are hung bananas and upon their cross-pieces of wood are hung lengths of sugar-cane; all this being done by the families of the children.

Guests are invited from some other community or communities. There is a dance, in which only people from outside communities take part. A village pig must be provided by the family of each child. Each of these pigs is killed by the pig-killer under a chiefs platform grave, or, if no such platform then exists, upon the site of one, and is cut up. Before the cutting-up, however, the child in each case stands upon the body of the pig, and whilst he so stands he is dressed with a feather ornament put over his head, but which, instead of being tied up in the usual way at the back of the head, is left with the ends hanging down over his shoulders. The putting on of this ornament is not a chiefs duty, but is done for each child by a certain person who has bought the pig from that child’s family.

Plate 71 shows a little girl upon whom the perineal band ceremony has just been performed. She has a string of dogs’ teeth over her forehead, and a belt of dogs’ teeth round her waist, an enormous crescent-shell ornament, some long pigtails, and on her head is the feather ornament, which hangs down at the sides over her shoulders. Plate 72 is a scene taken at the feast held in connection with the performance of the ceremony upon her and some other children.

It will be seen that this purchasing of the pig by a person who takes a prominent part in the ceremony affecting an individual appears in other ceremonies of that nature among the Mafulu.

Following this performance there is a general distribution among the people, including both visitors and members of the village, of the various vegetables and fruits, and among the visitors only of the portions of village pig. The vegetables are eaten then and there, but the visitors take away the pig for eating in their own villages. The actual putting on by the child of his perineal band is done afterwards without further ceremony.

The same ceremony is observed in the case of the son or daughter of a chief, except that in this case the child is more fully decorated, the family give two or more pigs, there are more visitors, and the whole ceremony is on a larger scale; also that, after the performance of standing on the dead pig and receiving the feather ornament, the child is placed standing on a platform, which may be only 5 or 6 feet high, but may be as much as 15 feet, though no further ceremony appears to be performed whilst it is on that platform. If children of ordinary people undergo the ceremony at the same time as a chief’s child, they apparently stand on the platform also.

When the ceremony is performed at a big feast, it is substantially the same as that above described, subject to certain variations, which almost naturally arise from the change of conditions. There is no special dancing, as distinguished from the dancing programme of the big feast. The vegetable food provided will be included in the general stock, so that the people of the village will not share in it; and the ceremony of standing on the pig is postponed till a later day, and on that day, the child, having worn his special ornaments, other than the feather ornament, at the big feast, will not again wear them when he stands on the pig, though his feather ornament is put upon him on that later day.

It may be mentioned that this perineal band ceremony and all the other ceremonies relating personally to both children and adults, if not performed at a big feast, may be performed together, the people concerned in each ceremony being taken more or less in batches; and indeed this generally is so. But in that case each class of ceremony would be performed separately. One person may have more than one ceremony performed for him on the same occasion, but if so a separate pig must be provided in respect of each of these ceremonies, and there must be a separate receptacle and a separate supply of food in respect of each of them, though it does not follow that the total amount of food to be provided, other than pig, is proportionately increased.

At a subsequent date there will be a purification ceremony, at which a wild pig or pigs will be killed and eaten by the villagers; though, if the perineal band ceremony has taken place during a big feast, the purification ceremony in connection with the latter will be the only one to take place.

Ceremony on Admission to Emone.

Both boys and girls must undergo a ceremony before being allowed to enter the emone. It generally takes place when they are two, three, or four years old. The preliminary decoration of the child is similar to that adopted for the perineal band ceremony, except that, if the child has lost either of its parents, this decoration is omitted. The erection of receptacles and provision of food and pigs, and the invitation of guests and dancing, and the killing of the pigs are the same as in the case of the other ceremony; also each child has to stand on the pig which his people provide for him.

There is, however, no putting on of a feather ornament, but instead of it the following performance takes place:—Each child has been carried by its mother or father or other relative, but is taken from that person by the man who has bought the pig. This man places the child on the dead pig; then he immediately picks the child up again, and runs with it to one of the emone, upon the platform of which two rows of men are sitting, and hands it to the man at the end of one of the rows. The child is then rapidly passed from hand to hand along that row, and then along the other row, after which it is returned to its carrier, who runs with it to the other emone, on which also two rows of men are sitting, and where a similar performance takes place. During all this performance there is much shouting and calling out to the child-carrier to hurry. Finally, when the child is again handed back to this man, he returns it to its parents, and the ceremony is finished.

The ceremony in the case of a chief’s child seems to be the same as that for other children, the platform business of the perineal band ceremony being apparently omitted in this case.

If the ceremony is performed at a big feast, the variations are substantially similar to those of the perineal band ceremony; and in particular the placing of the child on the pig, and the running with it to the emone, are postponed to a later date.

The observations as to the subsequent purification in connection with the perineal band ceremony apply to this ceremony also.

It will be noticed that girls are included in this admission to the emone. When a girl has undergone the admission ceremony she has free entry into the emone—except that she must not sleep there—until she formally receives her perineal band, upon which her permission to enter the emone ceases.

Ceremony Conferring Right to Use Drum and Dance.

This ceremony also applies to both boys and girls; but I omitted to ascertain the age at which it usually occurs. It is similar to the perineal band ceremony, except that the child is dressed in dance ornaments (though not the fullest formal dance ornaments), until we reach the stage of standing on the pig, and putting on of the feather ornament, which is omitted; and, instead of it, the person who has bought the pig places the child upon it, and then for a short time beats a drum, after which he gives the drum to the child, who also beats it, and then returns it to him.

I cannot say whether in this case there is any variation of the ceremony as regards a chief’s child; but I do not think there is.

Here again I believe that, when the ceremony takes place at a big feast, the variations are similar to those above described, and in particular the standing on the pig and drum-beating are postponed.

The observations as to the subsequent purification in connection with the perineal band ceremony apply to this one also.

Ceremony on Devolution of Chieftainship

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.