DUTIES OF A CHIEF--_UVIANA_ AND _LULUAI_ DESCRIBED--_KAMARA_
USED BY EUROPEANS--STATUS OF WOMEN--NUPTIAL, SYMBOLIC AND
OTHER CEREMONIES--_VUVUE_ FEAST--TREPANNING
From a study of Mr Parkinson’s lately published work, to which I have
so frequently referred, it is clear that there are great varieties
amongst the customs and manners of allied peoples, yet to one who
looks beneath the surface, there is a basic principle underlying all
these diversities. The same feature applies equally to the numerous
dialectical differences. A reason for this may be ascribed to the
sparse and secluded settlements which rarely include two or more
_gunans_. Generally, when the family becomes enlarged, one or more
members separate and form a clan of their own.
The chief (a _gala_), is the headman of the family group,
responsible for the good or bad management of its possessions,
and cases have been known when failing to perform his duties
satisfactorily, he has been superseded by his brother, or by his
sister’s son, who would respectively (in case of death), be his
heirs. He it is who buys wives for the youths of the _gunan_. By
their labour in his cultivations they subsequently repay his outlay.
He is treasurer of the highly-prized tamboo, and must be an expert
as to the value of the different kinds of shell-money, as well as in
the methods of increasing it by obtaining good interest for it. His
hut represents the banking house of the clan. His duty is to provide
sufficient food for the community, to insist on the cultivations
being properly attended to. He may only alienate lands belonging to
the _gunan_ after due consultation with the other members. Being
generally a financial genius, he manages to get good pickings for
himself from the treasure he guards for the rest, and often attains
the distinction of becoming known as _uviana_, _i.e._, a very
wealthy man. Apparently the chief does not always lead his people to
battle, although he may unite in his person the offices of financier
and commander-in-chief. Sometimes a younger man may have earned a
reputation for prowess, and by his own merits becomes the “first war
lord!” Such a one is called _luluia_ and possesses many privileges.
He may manage his own concerns, keep his own tamboo, and is not
directly under the authority of the chief. When the trumpet signal
is raised and the _gunans_ are summoned to assemble in an appointed
place, it is surprising how quickly they respond to the call, to
learn the cause for which they are wanted. It may be that one of
their number has been killed, or somebody has been robbed of his
wife, or that an enemy is known to be on the war-path. Sometimes a
_gunan_ finds itself menaced by a stronger foe, then men, women and
children, laden with the treasures of the community, start quickly
into the bush to hide the tribal regalia till the trouble is over.
Nowadays, however, most disputes are amicably settled by payments of
shell-money. After deciding the amount, the mediators from the two
opposing parties exchange clay and betel-nut, and thereby set the
seal to, sometimes, lasting peace.
There is a custom, called _kamara_, which should be mentioned in
this connection, as it is used effectively at times by Europeans.
A resident near Herbertshöhe found that he was constantly robbed
of agricultural produce, and was quite unable to detect the thief
till an old chief advised him to use _kamara_. In accordance with
his suggestion the German took away a canoe belonging to a kanaka,
telling the latter of the frequent losses he had sustained, and
requiring him to discover the perpetrator. Needless to say, the
stolen articles, or others in compensation, found their way back to
the European, and the canoe was quickly restored to its owner. It
was afterwards discovered that spies had been placed all over the
plantations and at the markets held at the white man’s house to
facilitate the capture of the thief. Thus _kamara_ has often been
used with success.
Woman in the Gazelle Peninsula has a right to live only because she
has a right to work; for this purpose, if for no other, she came into
the kanaka’s world, and--
“If she be small, slight-natured, miserable,
How shall men grow?...
... let her make herself her own
To give or keep, to live and learn and be.”
She is his property, and must labour in the fields for him. If any
person injures her, so as to render her incapable of performing
the same, he must pay a sum in compensation. Failure to keep the
matrimonial compact is regarded as not so serious as _pulu_, which is
marrying or having unlawful relations with one of the same totemic
division. This is punishable with death (unless the missionary or
Government intervene), which is meted out to the offender by a
brother or maternal uncle. In case of disagreement or of death, the
woman returns to her relatives, from whom she may be bought by a
second husband. Marriages are generally arranged by the uncle of the
bride and the father of the bridegroom. The exchange of presents,
of tamboo and feasting, are the chief features of the matrimonial
ceremonies, but the young people seem to have opportunities given
them to discover for themselves whether the proposed union will be
agreeable. For several days before the nuptial event the bridegroom,
accompanied by a friend, visits his _fiancé_, who prepares food for
him. If he does not admire her, he refuses the food she offers, and
if the girl objects to her future spouse, it is only under compulsion
that she offers him bananas or taro, etc. As a final test condition,
a fire is made outside the hut on a certain day. If the lady,
after due consideration, approves of her bridegroom, she turns her
face towards him; if she refuses to look at him, it means that she
insuperably objects to him as a husband. After this, if the relatives
fail to persuade her to change her mind, they resort to magic and
love-spells, and if that does not bring about the desired result,
the affair is at an end and the money restored.
Etiquette demands that sons-in-law should not eat or chew betel with
their parents-in-law, nor should they call them by name. When an
infant is entering the world the magician is always much in request.
He appears with a basket of charred coral, and taking pinches of it
between his thumb and forefinger, muttering spells the while, wafts
it in the air in every direction to frighten away bad spirits. If
the newcomer is a boy, the women cry, “Hüh, hüh, hüh,” if a girl,
“Huh, huh!” The christening ceremony takes place generally the day
following; presents of shell-money being always exchanged between
the wife’s relations and the husband. A heap of leaves chosen from
plants of mystic virtues is set alight. If it be a boy, a spear and
sling and stone are laid beside the fire, a stick for planting, a
bamboo knife, and other articles which he will use in the course of
his life. A woman then takes the baby and waves it through the smoke,
saying, “Grow big. Earn much tamboo. Throw the spear! Hurl the
stone!”
In the case of a girl the words are: “Grow up! Grow strong to work,
so that you may compel the field to bring forth.”
The magician, who is always present, holds his hands in the smoke,
and taking some ashes in his fingers touches the eyes, ears, nose
and mouth of the child, that it may be guarded against evil spirits.
Then the infant is named after a relative or friend, for which
privilege the father pays a small sum. The choice of names is limited
to those within the cognisance of the kanaka intelligence. Bamboo,
bread-fruit, and such like are the vogue.
Symbolic ceremonies are by no means restricted to the occasion
described. At funeral observances they play a great part. During
the obsequies of a coastal native, whose occupation in life has
been fishing on the reef, someone present will bring sea-water in a
hollow bamboo cane and sprinkle it upon the ground before the corpse,
signifying the farewell the deceased must now take of that which
in his life was so familiar to him. In the same way a basket of
earth will be shaken out before the dead body of a landsman, taro,
bananas, and other products being placed close by, denote that all
these articles must now be left behind. Sometimes the canoe may serve
as a coffin, and be interred with the corpse. The mourners on these
occasions present ghastly spectacles; they cover their bodies with
soot and oil mixed well together, and renew the coating daily until
the period of deepest mourning has passed. There is one distinctive
circumstance in the life of the _gunan_, of which mention should be
made, especially as it affords striking proof of that cupidity, which
is one of the greatest forces in operation in the Gazelle Peninsula.
This is the feast of the _vuvue_, and its mode of procedure is as
follows: A rich man (_uviana_) distributes amongst the men in his
neighbourhood all sorts of wares. Nowadays these include European
goods, and range from knives and belts to tobacco and pipes. Formerly
the articles were weapons and agricultural products. The receiver
knows that, sooner or later, he must pay for the goods. On the
day appointed for due payment a hut is carefully and artistically
constructed, a tempting spread is prepared, consisting of cooked
fish, roasted fowls, roasted taro with cocoanut sauce, and other
inviting delicacies. Men, women and children gaily bedecked with
flowers and feathers and all those articles which constitute native
full dress, assemble. Family groups from surrounding villages form
up for the dances and Sing-Songs which accompany every friendly
gathering. Then each _gunan_, so far as noise is concerned, does
its utmost to outdo those who have gone before. Meanwhile the
correct behaviour on the part of the giver of the feast is to assume
absolute indifference to the proceedings. After the dancing the
natives of each community pass in front of him, and lay at his feet
their payment in tamboo. But nobody could be more alive to his own
interest, or note with a keener eye those whose deposit is not full
payment for goods received, in an assemblage possibly numbering
several hundreds. Natives who attend the _vuvue_ without the needful
shell-money are marked men, and no great time elapses before pressure
is put upon them to pay up and look pleasant.
Generally the _vuvue_-giver makes a very good thing out of it. I
was told that as much as 750 marks (£37, 10s.) has been realised on
the outlay. This custom, however, like many others, is changing its
character under the new conditions engendered by the advent of the
white man.
Although these natives have no knowledge of pottery and of weaving,
their large weirs for fishing and their nets show considerable skill.
Formerly women were allowed to take no part in this industry, but
even here an improvement has taken place, and women may be seen
on the shore adjusting fishing-tackle. These weirs, or crate-like
baskets, are sometimes visible on the surface of the water, sometimes
they lie on the floor of the reef. Fish, besides being netted, are
occasionally speared. Off the island of Matupi a curious custom
prevails: tiny fish are caught, opened and stuffed with a preparation
of leaves, producing a stupefying effect. These are then used as bait
for bigger fish, which generally feed on them, the narcotic causing
them to come to the surface of the water, when the kanaka in his
canoe easily catches them.
On the north coast of the peninsula, in the vicinity of the islands
of Urar and Massava, the catching of tortoises is an occupation of
several days’ duration. This is only undertaken when the south-east
winds are blowing. The eggs are greatly sought after, and a tortoise
will often lay over one hundred.
Another island on the north coast, called Vlatom, possesses the
monopoly of a certain make of canoe, easily recognisable by the shape
of its beak-like prow. Dug-outs with outriggers on the left side
are used in these seas, the ornamentations varying with different
localities.
Perhaps the greatest skill displayed by the ethnographical division
to which the Gazelle kanakas belong, is that displayed in native
surgery. Their knowledge of the different organs of the body is
evidenced by the way in which gunshot wounds have been treated, but
in the art of trepanning they seem to have been unusually successful.
Mr Parkinson showed me skulls bearing traces of this treatment,
and he can point to natives still alive who in years gone by have
undergone this operation. If during a fight a native falls, struck
by a stone from an enemy’s sling, he is taken straightway to a man
skilled in the art of trepanning, who at once diagnoses the case.
If the stone has penetrated the temples, he immediately declares
that it is hopeless to operate, but if the wound is in the frontal
region, he washes first his hands and afterwards the patient’s wound
in the liquid of a young cocoanut, then with a sharpened shell or
an obsidian splinter, he makes a transverse incision. Meanwhile two
assistants gently and slowly draw back the scalp. The next thing is
to remove the injured bone. This is generally effected by the use
of sharp pieces of the cocoanut, until the brain is visible, which
the operator then inspects with the utmost care. If he observes a
slight pulsating sensation, he is satisfied that a speedy recovery
will ensue; if such is not present, he considers that something
has pierced the brain, and commences to search for it. If he is
successful and finds it, the next process is to scrape the edges of
the opening he has made until they are quite smooth and until the
hole is round, or elliptical. He then covers the aperture with a
piece of the bark of a certain tree or with the leaf of a special
kind of banana previously warmed. The two sides of the severed
scalp may then be replaced, the hair in the vicinity is cut off
and the wound again washed with cocoanut fluid. To keep the scalp
in the right position a network of ratang grass is drawn over the
upper part of the head. To conclude the treatment without recourse
to those unseen influences which appeal so strongly to the savage
is impossible. A species of bandage, made from leaves belonging to
plants possessing magical properties of highly curative repute,
is bound round the temples. The psychic value of this doubtless
materially assists the recovery of the superstitious native.
A visitor to Herbertshöhe may notice any day lads having
perpendicular furrows on their foreheads, and may very naturally
look upon such as aids to personal adornment, but the fact has been
elicited that this feature is intended to preserve the boy in his
future life from epileptic attacks or brain disorders. One woman,
wiser than the rest, operates upon the children of from three to six
years of age. An incision laying bare the frontal bone is made, which
is scraped until a furrow is formed in it, when the skin is carefully
drawn back again and a bandage of leaves, believed to possess healing
virtue, bound round the temples, and in ten days the wound is cured.
Broken limbs with the aid of splints are often mended. Blood-letting
in cases of various aches and pains is considered a splendid remedy!
For internal maladies and against epidemics magic is their unique
recourse. To drive away those unfriendly spirits who bring the
latter, the kanakas arm themselves with torches of dried sticks and
leaves with which, when lighted, they rush screaming their loudest
through the countryside.