Dr. Malinowski's Field Notes.

Page 6.

Every iduhu has got a common ground. The whole piece was fenced round with a wooden fence made of mangrove sticks or other sticks. In this land there was planted bananas, yams, taros, sweet potatoes, no cocoa-nuts. Every man had a plot of land in the ground. Iduhu rohis had the largest piece, sometimes in the centre, sometimes in the corner. All the other pieces of land divided all round. After fence, (round whole plot) made, yams and bananas and sugar cane planted. Every man plants his own ground. Men and women both working. Man plants yams first, lets woman do work afterwards. Planting consists in putting pieces cut with the skin off the bulb into the ground. Women weed garden, starting from December, weeding yam garden till March. The planting took place in month Veadiado - July(?) August till September; start planting bananas in September. Yams ready in May next. When in March yams begin to show their heads, the iduhu kuarana, (Motu) iduhu rohi (Keita) forbids to go into garden. Reason was that a man or woman who had connection would spoil the garden. If one sees in March that a patch of the iduhu land was spoilt, leaves gone bad and yams getting small, one saw that the owner had connection.

Page 7

From March till July people start making new gardens, no man has connection. A man who would like to have connection would have to tell it to father who would not allow him to go to the garden. Before garden was made, father asks son and daughter whether they had connection, and then forbade them to go.

In May yams dug out. Bananas may grow longer. Yams always planted on new ground. After eating, a man may not go to garden, yams get spoilt. After killing bandicoot, no going into garden, because animals, (rats, bandicoots, wallabys) would dig out yams. After connection banana garden not allowed to be entered, unless fruit formed. Bananas also spoilt. Not allowed to eat bananas in garden because flying fox comes in.

Page 14

## Marriage Mao heni form

A man having a son goes to another man, having a daughter and he asks his daughter to marry his son. Man sends fish, wallaby and other kai-kai to his future brother-in-law. When boy old enough to marry and father talks to relations and friends and they bring arm shells and boar-tusks. Members of same idu-hu bring something, If an iduhu man has nothing to give, he comes and apologises. Some bring one, some bring two armshells, some three. The father puts fifteen or twenty. All this is sent to girl's father or mother. There might be thirty or forty

Page 15

armshells. These taken to father's house. Father calls all brothers and sisters and other relatives.

A. gave 50 armshells and couple of pearl shells and boards tusks (1 boar's tusk - 1 armshell) some axes, some knives and 1 canoe (1 canoe - 2 large armshells and two adzes plus one mosquito net plus one pound tobacco, that is what A has paid for the canoe.) Father-in-law kept the canoe.

When boy goes to sleep with girl he takes one armshell and one boar's tusk or pearl shell, he gives twelve to the girl's father and takes girl away in the morning.

**Gabuato or gadoroho.** Gabuato means to put money on the bed, (Gabu - bed, ato - put.) Gadoroho means tattoo on the breasts. Girl cannot marry before this tattoo made. A girl may not sleep with a boy before being tattooed on breast. If she did she would be called Mattabodaga, kekenina, (Matta - eye, oho, bodaga - stink.) After she has tatting made on her breasts she can sleep with boy.

Marriage headava form, (headava - marriage.) "I like my wife, she likes me, we meet in street and talk. Father and mother know afterwards." After three, four or six months, relatives are told that the wife will be brought next morning to the house. One armshell, one boar's tusk and one pearl shell taken to Maku's (future father-in-law's name). Left in the bed, (gabuator). In the morning when wife brought to the house, all women, wife's relatives, took water-pots from each house of Khuna's relatives

Page 16

and carry water for each house, and they go to the gardens,
each woman goes to her own garden. They bring some food, yams,
bananas, sago, cocoanuts and fish or wallaby. They cook, &d
in A's relative's houses; the food is eaten by all those pre
sent. That is the end of the marriage.

Page 22

When a man got up in the morning, they usually got up
before or at daybreak, he never used to eat. If a man would eat,
people would laugh at him and say he was not a man, not a strong
man. The man went out into the garden working, or if he went
fishing or hunting he came back at about 3 or 4, at dina gelona,
(afternoon; sun-dina, gelo - coming down.) Then they had their
aniani, aniani aria - food-eating. The meal consisted usually of
yams or bananas or sagos or taitukava. Taitu - a bulb, taitu-
kava - wild taitu. Meat was not eaten so often, not every day.
In the evening, the rest from the meal, the bahu were eaten. The
meals were eaten in the house or on the verandah. All members of
the household were partaking of the food at the same time. The
food was eaten with a bone or with a native spoon. Yams were
boiled, cut into big pieces, one such piece taken on a bone and
eaten with it. If yams boiled very soft, taken on a spoon and
eaten off the spoon. Only small portions were taken on the spoon.
Spoon used for yam, sago, fish, soup; wallaby soup. Soup prepared
by boiling meat or fish with yams.

Page 23

Every day meals held without any ritual, without any customary order. Food apparently not held sacred.

Ani-bon, Ani's eat; bon - meet together. When a sorcerer was asked to make some gardens good, he goes out once to purri-purri garden and came back to house and stay in his own house and don't go out more for a week, and then go out to purri-purri again. The sorcerer cannot drink fresh water and cannot eat food boiled in pots for other people. They cook his food in a spearate pot. He cannot eat meat with hand, must use bone and spoon.

Bone for eating, fork - diriga M.

Spoon - bedi M

Sorcerer could not have connection.

(begagai M. enobon M.) enobon - have connection with his own wife.

Anibon, contd.

Sorcerer knows how long he has to stay at home. At the end he says "I would like to have a drink of fresh""Lau na wramu ranu baine inua."(Like water, future drink.) The people kill pig and catch fish and they cut up pig and heap up bunches of fresh bananas in the sorcer's house, and the sorcerer put the pigs on top of the bananas, all in sorcerer's house, and the sorcerer will get up and take piece of banana leaf and he says a prayer and they will take off the banana heaps and pigs and they boil bananas with the pigs and after food has been boiled they put it in a large bowl of earternware called naubada (nau - dish, bada - large,)and then they call in people from different iduhas and all come to the sorcerer's house and sit silent and sorcerer makes another prayer.

Page 25

After, one or two men get up, men of same iduhu as sorcerer. They
divide food between all iduhus. Then they eat, each iduhu sitting
in separate groups, in the same house and eating out of one dish.
After finished eating they have a smoke.

Smoking in old days, instead of inserting a cigarette into
the bamboo pipe, they put a piece of dried tobacco in a leaf.

Page 32

Property in land.

1. Iduhu garden. Example, garden of Dubara Iduhu.

The iduhu rohi has the largest part.
Before Ahuia the largest part belonged
to Taubada. When Ahuia married he got
the largest garden. Taubada is sometimes
angry at getting so little. Of these, those
united by a garden, others live in one house-
hold.

Ahuia ova

Tau ova Ova tau
(Taubada)

Eunage tau Garia Vagi
Ova Koneva Tau ova
Boge maraga Hanan maraga
Hua Loa Verona maraga
Bohobo maraga Kabua Jaru
Kabua Gairo.

1) Tau Ova, married. Two wives who died and a third wife afterwards.

2) Eunage Tau, his son, married to one wife.

3) Atua Tau, 1 son, married, 1 wife, 3 children, one alive.

4) Garia Vagi, 2 wives, one went away, one stays, no children.

5) Ova Koneva, thrive married, 2 children.

6) Tau Ova, his son, married once, wife dead, no children.

7) Boze Maraga, 1 wife, 4 children

8) Henan " 1 wife

9) Bokobo "

10) Varona "

11) Hua Loa " 20e married, 1st sacked, 2nd ran away.

Page 33

Hua Loa is the son of Maraga Baiau's wife and half brother
to the other men.

12. Kabua Jaru, 2ce married, 2 children.

13 Kabua Gairu, his brother's son. 1 wife, 2 children.

Every iduhu has got its own groundsm where it can put up
its gardens. The boundary of these grounds were well-known.
Note. The Jupa iduhu have come from Lavai.

Note

V pronounced as V in English, though with a very slight
tendency to the bilabial W.

Division of lands. Page 34

A has drawn a plan of the division of lands. It appears
from it that the Koita had their land in a big plot from the
Lulohi River down to the sea. The lands of the Yarahaga village
which seems to have been the richest are in one plot, next to
them some plots belonging to the Hahodai people. The various
plots have got their own names. The meaning of these names is
in some cases obscure to Ahina. Some names mean :- urita-vaga
home of star-fish, Aigode, -mour carving. The various plots
seem to have been in one iduhu each. Only in one case of 22
one plot was subdivided in three parts. The Iduhu seems to be
the real proprietor of each plot. The land was not held collec-
tively, though, because each plot was subdivided between indi-
viduals. Each plot seems to have enjoyed some individuality
besides its name. A. says that in each case was burned separately.

Page 35

Each of such individual plots was very large and it
was cultivated only in small bits and parcels. But no-one
else, nobody from a foreign iduhu was allowed, without obtaining
permission, on the ground. If permission was asked, A. says,
it would be just as likely that they would get it, with the
stipulation that they left the land after having made garden.
There was some fighting in the olden days about land. Thus, A.
remembers that Kila-kila people, (people of various iduhu of
the Kila-kila village) burned down fine grass on the Manuti
plot, belonging to the Dubara iduhu in Hohadi. "Grass on Manuti
belong Hohadai." No person can burn down grass." Manuti
belonged as land to the Dubara iduhu. All clansmen might have
gardens on it. But the right of burning grass belonged to one
man. This man had the right to decide to burn the grass. The
Dubara iduhu went then and burned the grass. Anybody could come
then and catch wallaby and bandicoots and pigs. (The economic
result seems to have been exactly the same, only the platonic
privilege of deciding about the burning of the grass seems to
have made the whole difference.).

Page 36

After Kila-Kila people burned the grass, Dubara iduhu asked they Tauwama, Grabone iduhus of Hohadai, they went over inland to meet the Kila Kila from the burning grass. They took only clubs with them, no spears, which meant they didn't mean to kill people, only have a light fight. The grass was burned as a matter of fact by the Kila-kila and Wabuhori. The Hohadai took away all the wallabies etc., which had been killed. Next morning the Hohadai went to Jarragaha village and had a feed, their KilaKila people got the Bamni people and Kuoin people to help them. The fight began at the foot of the Kila-Kila hill and right on top of Kila-Kila hill. The Hohadai and Jarragaha people were very strong. They went to Kila-Kila and broke some pots and tried to burn down village, but Tambada, the Dubara Iduhu Rohi and Ruhi Ketsuke of Hohadai and Ova Geyta, Alma's father stopped the fight.

Another fight. In olden day Sinaba bani of Lavaia, he used to make Tabu feast in Bogi, near Vabukori.

## Dishes

Dihu; wooden dishes, any kind of food may be eaten out of them. They may be round, dihu teuboruna, or oblong, dihu lata; at ordinary meals people were using small dishes. At feasts larger dishes, dihu bada.

Nau, - clay dishes. They are of the same form, round or oblong as the dihu. There were also large clay dishes for feasts.

Wycicura dowytra.

Page 38

Burning of grass. Grass burning belonged by right to one man who was the"master of the grass." Homaka Goro of Geakone Iduhu is the master of the grass which I saw burned.

Making of string, sihi, from sihi (underbark of a tree.)

A piece of fibrous tissue from the underbark is torn away and then rolled with the thumb part of the palm on the outer side of foot, (na zawnghiney chanir dolney Tydhi,) then it is doubled and rolled again, by which the string is done. The string may be of any length as they can join to any end of the rolled string a new piece of fibre. Out of this sihi string net bags are made. First of all one loop is made, then another loop is passed through this from underneath, etc.

## Garden

Besides useful (economically) plants, plants also grown for decoration. Thus red and yellow leaves, Kabolu. Leaves of this worn as decoration in ears and under armlets of dry leaves of cane and banana, and tying up of cane.

Wamowamo, another plant used for ornament.

Kado, also ornament like the former, used to adorn ears and armlets betelnut palm called buatao.

Poles put as support against bananas, ladders used to climb banana tree.

Fences were made by sticking a row of poles into the ground and

Page 41

putting cross poles, tied with sei, a kind of creeper(?) in olden
days planted cocoanuts very close to each other, - so that when
these growup - - - . .

The Koita always used to take off a branch of a plant, e.g.
kabolu, and plant it in a newgarden, seeds never used. Seedlings
of bananas usually planted.

Kapa, a plant used for making petticoats, rami. Leaves out
off, dried and cut into pieces. Rami also made of palm-leaves.

Ebala, another plant used for ornament.

Nuru, the netty "shoots" os a cocoanut used for bags to put
sago in, used for bags to cover bananas and to squeeze out cocoa-
nut oil.

Imora, fish poison. The root dug out, beaten on stone, and used
to poison fish.

Hodava, native nut tree.

Tattoo on face.

Native comb. Sticks of palm garagota (M) woven together with
a fibre. They scratch themselves every morning and evening to "keep
hair open".

In olden days grass cut down, then turned then roots dug up
with a stick. Each man had two sticksm one in each hand, they stand
in a row, plunge them in the ground, then lift soil and roots, then
recede, and so clear the ground, retreating.

Iduhu signs. Uhadi iduhu used to hang a bundle of wild nuts
tarekor, on their door, (iduara (M) udua (K)) That is a dagi, K.
or dagina (M)

Page 44

Native spoon for putting sago out of pot into dish. Shells used for scraping yams, potatoes, bananas, taro. Laro (M) shells similar to small mother o' pearl shells sharpened.

Net for catching pigs, a piece of toia bent into a circular shape, in the joint wound round with pieces of loia cane bark.

A semicircular piece of cane comes from the point where ? space finished. String made of ogeta, a fibre obtained from the bark of a tree. Net (Koda)..

Govea Gaigo of Uhadu Iduhu, Jarshaga to be. He is looking after A garden.

Diagram of the valley in which Homaka Goro, a man of Grabone idu-hu is master. This right is inheritable in the male line, if there were no son, the daughter would inherit the right. Homaka Goro is iduhu rohi. But if he died without son, the chieftainship would descend to his brother, and the right of burning grass would descend to his daughter and then to somebody of Grabone iduhu. This right (maoro M.) could not pass out of an iduhu. The man who has got the right is called badina maoro tanna. The badina maoro tanna after he had decided to burn the grass had to go to Ahmia as Dubara iduhu rohi. as the iit i.d. of Taurama, and then those send word to all ix the

Page 46

people of a village. These people would first of all clear a
belt round their garden so that those might be spared by the
fire. The grass was usually burned at about 10 o'clock or
11 a.m. It was started at two points by two or three boys,
holding each two pieces of gum burning. If one went out it was
thrown away. There were always some men in reserve having fire.
A. says no married women would come to burn grass, but girls
and widows would come and carry water and food.

The space left free from fire on the surrounding belt
was occupied by those hunting for the animals. They used
spears and bows and arrows, but the most important mode of
securing game was the net, (huo M. ivi K.) Dogs were also very
successfully used for catching wallabies and pigs. The height
of the pig/was about 175 cm. that of a wallaby net about
150 cm, vide diagram. The wallaby bounding into the net
drew the upper and lower ropes together and thus became caught
in the net.

Hunting

If a man went alone to hunt he usually took dogs with
him. He took a spear with him, a koda, (see p.43.) Koitapu
did not use bow and arrows, Motu sometimes, but not very often.
If he goes without dogs he will wait till noon, and then he
starts looking for wallabies on the rocks and under the trees,

Page 48

looking for them in shadow. He steps very slowly and carefully avoiding making any noise. He tries to get at rather close quarters. A. seems positive that about 5 - 7 metres would be the limit at which a man could spear the animal comfortably. 12 ms. seemed to him to be the limit of an attempt. If he hunts wild boar alone he must have dogs. Dogs find the pig, there may be 2 - 6 days. Then they trace the boar, they surround it and bark. The man sees the pig standing and throws spear against the boar, either aiming at the ribs or at the loins; the man takes his koda then (after he has thrown the spear) and tries to catch the pig in it. Sometimes the man will kill the pig straightaway, if not the koda was both to protect him and finish the hunt. If he catches the pig with the koda he will have very hard work because the pig will pull at the koda.

The man tries to bring the pig under a slanting tree. He bends down the tree and binds the pig to it with a piece of rope, fastened before the hunt began to his legs. Then the tree bends back and lifts the pig. The man looks for a stone or piece of wood and kills the pig with it.

If several men went to hunt for a pig, when the pig is caught with the koda the other men finished the pig.

Medicine. Mehey give some bark of trees growing down in the gulf to dogs in order to make them catch the pigs well.

When several men went for a wallaby hunt they went with fire sticks and burned away small patches of grass left from

Page 49

a foregoing fire. People go on shouting "Oh, Oh Oh!" then each man sets fire to each patch of grass left from the previous grass-fire.

New version of the foregoing. A's account does not seem clear. A piece of land has been burned down. Some grass remains in patches.

men

A and B start in both directions, singing "Oh! Oh! Oh!" and burning the grass which they find in their way, thus enclosing the above area until they meet at top of diagram. The wallabies enclosed are too frightened to escape and they are stalked by the other members of the party.

## Seasons of Hunting

Wallabies hunted from July till December i.e. during the dry season when the burning of grass is possible. The great hunts with burning of grass in which the permission of the grass master must be given, take place before the other, sporadic hunts of several individuals can take place on the areas already burned down. A single man could go out hunting in the scrub on the Lalohi, but not in the grass land, because he could not find

Page 51

the wallaby in the grass.

Pigs were hunted all the year round, during the dry season in the scrub, up near the Lalohi, during the wet season, also in the scrub. The wet season was better for pigs.

Hunting.

Single Hunt for wallaby and pig - loa edea (M) yoa igagb (X)
hunt in which several people join - tano g'da (M)
hunt in which men return the same day - labana loa (M)
hunt for several days - enoeno. There are no special names for
wallaby and pig hunt.

## Description of enoeno

The chief of a village gives the sign for a hunt.
Note. There was a chief in each of the sectional villages of Poreporena, Hamabada Darua Oala was the chief (Kohiabada M. rohiobada or rohi ketarke K.) in Hohodai, Almia Ova; in Tamobada Lohia Kamea (the head village constable) in Elevala, (Mami Raga) in Kuriu?

The chief sends the message to several villages. Only Koita chiefs could send a message for enoeno hunt. Thus, e.g. the chief of Kurin (a Koita village) would send to Hohodai Baruni. He would not send to any other villages. A few of the Hamabada people (who are Motu) would join, but not many. Only relatives of the leading Koita men. They meet together in a point where tracks from the different villages join together.

Hohodai people would send for Lavai, Jorogaha, Gorobe, Kila-Kila and Kuriu, not for Baruni. Lavai would send for Gorobe, Jarogaha

Page 53

Kila-Kila and no more.

Baruni would send for Kuziu, Roku and Dobi.

There were not sex nor food taboos observed before the hunt, no magic of any kind was performed. There were only serveral observances. (he'laga) When the party went out no-one who met them on the road would speak to them seeing by their spears and nets that they were going to hunt. No-one from their home would stop them, calling them back, because if they turned round and spoke or returned, they would have bad luck again.

After the people of different villages met they went to a camp looking for a creek or sheltered place, as enoeno usually took place in the dry season. In that case they camped around a fire. If the party were numerous and there were several iduhus, each iduhu had its own fireplace. The camps of iduhus of one village, e.g. the Hohodai would be adjacent. In the case of rain they built a shelter. A shelter could be made within an hour. It consisted of a thatched roof covered with grass or titree [bark], resting in a slanting position on two rows of poles. At night people did not sing songs. They kept quiet, they were busy singeing off the hair of the wallaby; they cut the animal up without skinning it. They cut it in 4 or 5 pieces and they put it on a platform and smoked it. Two or three iduhus had one platform on which they put their meat. The skin of each iduhu's piece was marked. E.G. 0 a circle is called bongoro, a deep incision cutting one of the wallaby's toes off was called asiasi. Lines marked on the skin of the

Page 56

animal were called korokoro; there was another method of marking
by tying one front leg of the wallaby to its head and leaving the
other one hanging. There was another method again by putting the
wallaby's tail through its skin. If there were many iduhus they
used a double circle, (bongora) or several lines. These marks
were not iduhu dagi, they were allotted at each hunt to any of the
iduhuā. They were also called dagi. ♀ ♂

At daybreak people had something to eat, contrary to the rule
because usually they did not eat in the morning, bananas or yams.
A says no meat was eaten. And every day at the camp they had some
thing to eat, meat and vegetables, women and children always went to
an encano hunt, and they carried the vegetables. The hunters also
had something to eat in the evening. After they returned home the
game was divided. After the game had been smoked during the night,
each iduhu picked out its marked game, each iduhu hung its game on
a special horizontal pole, usually attached to the smoking platform.
This game was carried by the members of each iduhu, women carrying
in the net bagu (kiapa) men carrying on a pole, on its both ends.
One man could carry as much as four wallabies. The quarry was untied and put up in a row, then divided. Usually the iduhu rohi
got the lion's share.

Smoking and preserving of food.

Smoking of wallabies, pigs, birds (any kind) fish, turkeys

Page 57

Turtle and dugong never smoked. Those were caught systematically and with a net only by Motu people. No preserving by salt or by drying was known to the Koita or Motu. Both Koita and Motu used the smoking. The preserving with smoke lasted only for a few days, 3 days at the utmost. (The Gulf people from Taorifi to Purari can according to A preserve the meat by smoking.) They cut the meat (pigs and wallabies and fish) into small pieces and put in on a platform for a long time, keep it there according to A. for one night, and it will last them for one year. As for vegetable food, the yams last for about 10 months. They are dug out in May and they keep till February. They were kept on shelves in the house. The best place to keep the yams was at both ends of the house. Before the yams were planted (planted in August, September, October,) they were kept on the floor. Afterwards they were put away. People seem to have known in the older days that it was better not to keep them on the floor of the house. Bananas kept only for a short time but they were available the whole year round. Cocoanuts also.

Sago. There was a hiri every year leaving Pt. Moresby in August and returning in December January. Hiri used to sail in olden days from Pari, Poreporena, Vibuhori, Lealea, Porebada, Boera, Manumanu. Sago, (rabia M.) (rabi K.) was wrapped in sago leaves or in nuru, (the cocoanut tissue). It was bought in December and January and was kept in the large pots called toke. It would last till May or June. Sugar cane all year round, eaten now. Bogho, a kind of cane

Page 60

and the fruit eaten. Sometimes eaten raw, sometimes roasted.

Matoa (M) a kind of fruit.

Taitu (M) a kind of yam.

Taitu-kava, wild taitu.

Maho-yam.

Talo (M) taro.

Karima -

Taitu will keep for a month, taro will keep for six months,
taitu-hava will keep for a week.

Owing to drought there was several times in A's memory
(i.e. after the white man's advent) starvation. Yams, sago and
Bananas were the most important food.

## Labour, forms of labour.

1. Garden. The initiative for making a new garden was given by the iduhu rohi. He mentioned the name of the piece of land on which the garden was proposed to be made. On one of the subsequent days the whole iduhu and such members of other iduhus as were allowed to make gardens on that plot. That happened sometimes but not very often, as A. says.

Then the iduhu rohi went round and determined the place of the garden. Marks were made all round on the trees, or the grass was? Then the different plots were allotted to various people, the iduhu getting the best part, marking the boundaries on the trees. No individual marks of property were made. That happened on the first day. A is sure that there were no magical or religious

Page 62

or religious ceremonies connected with the laying-out of gardens.

On one of the next days the iduhu rohi has got his plot cleared (grass torn away and laid on the ground) and fenced. He asked several people of his own iduhu and others to come and do his work for him. He would not join in the work himself. After they had finished the work, or left some unfinished, what the men would finish off afterwards, they got food from the man who had engaged them. The food was laid out on a long tray formed of fresh banana leaves. It was not divided into heaps but laid out in one mass. Vegetables lay at the bottom, whereas the meat or fish was put on top. After they had eaten their share they divided the rest and took it home. This was the payment for the work. When making the fence they sang songs. All the people who partook in the making of a new garden had to practise abstinence for the last three months.

Almia stated to-day (2xx 24.9.) that people cohabited only from December till March. Then they stopped living so that three months afterwards in June when beginning to make gardens they would be "clean." Equally, a man when working in a garden would not eat his breakfast before, nor would he kill game the day before. Besides the iduhu rohi, other men could also have communal labour if they had food enough to pay for it. Otherwise they had to work by themselves. Sometimes the whole of the garden was cleaned and fenced in one day and then the other owner joined the iduhu rohi in the feast, brining their shares.

Page 64

The next work to be done was the planting of yams. This took place August - October. It was done by putting a stick made of mangrove, no value attached, yam portions, (eyes) planted, the skin down, the flesh up¹ Bittarheit used also. Men and women took part in it. A. is fairly positive that both sexes participated in garden work, except the cutting, burning and upheaving work of high grass sod, in which men only participated. In planting yams as a rule not/many people used as in pulling grass and fencing up the garden. Food distributed among them in dishes. After that bananas planted, a deep hole bored right into the ground and the tree put in. Then sugar cane.

Note. On marshy ground when a very tall grass (reed) grows the latter cannot be pulled out because too strong. It is cut down by means of a piece of sago called "ilapa". Then it is burned down and then uprooted. Usually several men take part in the uprooting, they stand in a row and proceed backwards.

A volunteers that labour in gardening, building, etc., always paid in food.

## Names of Stags.

Venus - Perau hisire - star of Perau. It was the guiding star when people went left the Jule Island for the Vailala. Perau is the Motuan name for Vailala. Almia did not know about Venus.

Jupiter - Abo hisiuna - the high star, the star that comes up in the morning (Venus also.)

The milky way is called baribara which means cross. The name

Page 67

name is given because the milky way stretches in the evening from north to south and at daybreak takes a position perpendicular to this.

This constellation is called Umadeboa, (Koitapu) Group of stars, (Pleiades) Noho Bon (M) which means to dwell together in a group.

## Firemaking.

Fire sticks always carried. Fireplace was made in safe against possibilities of fire. In the boards which formed the floor and which in olden days ran always from one end of the house to the other, a spear hole is left. In this hole sticks were put in quite close to each other. On top of the sticks, bark of banana trees was put and on top of that fresh banana leaves were put. On top of that clay was put in a layer some 15 - 20 cm. thick.

Fire sometimes broke out in spite of these precautions. Several times, A remembers, houses were burned down. He remembers a fire in which Hamanbada and Elevala were burned down. Usually when a fire went out in any house people went next door and got some fire from their neighbours. But from March to May people had to take care of their fires as in that season nobody would give fire to his neighbour. Because the donor of fire might and would have a poor crop of yams. This is an instance of the helaga, religious prohibition. Again, if people go fishing and another canoe asks them to give them fire they would not. "Lau lahi oi basina madibe helaga. henimu/" "I fire thou not (future) give you because forbidden."

Page 69

Helaga refers to the action, giving was helaga, not fires. When Motu people make dugong nets, no people would ask fire sticks from that house, or no dugong or turtle would be caught, - again helaga. When women have a child born no fire-stick can be given from such a house. If they took a firestick the child would be sick.

A states that the season of digging yams was the most sacred and important time, it was the most helaga period. It has a special name, taboro. (Yam harvest, Lawes vocabulary.) The taboro takes place in the middle of May. All people having their yams in one garden used to get out in the same day at the same hour they went out at daybreak. They did not like anyone to see them, the same form of superstition as at hunting or fishing, people did not like to be seen. E veybody went into his part by his own gate. It was not allowed to trespass in anyone else's garden or to enter by any other gate than the man's own one.

There are different tabbos, helaga, observed during the taboro. People might not sing nor talk loudly nor whistle. Motu do not understand much about taboro. It is rather a Koita arrangement.

Other taboos are: not to throw stones into the garden. People must have a clean sihi, a woman a clean ranni.

There was no sex taboo for taboro.

The digging of yams had to be done by the owner of the garden. Women performed the bulk of the work. The digging was done with a stick and with fingers. It was very hard work.

Page 72

When European fence made round yam gardens the yams are
no good. The old, customary fence must be made.

Note. The adze (matapala M and K.) made of stone in the olden
days, was used for scraping put a canoe or for sharpening sticks,
but never for field work.

When a man does not dig out large yams the first day he comes
back home at once and goes back to the garden next morning and
then digs yams and he might find big yams then. Usually if the
garden was not quite close to the village they slept camping round
fires, man wife and children camping round their own fire. All the
fireplaces formed a contiguous camp.

The man who had good luck, (helaga namanama) gets a good crop
if other men do not.

Personal riches. Every man got as much land as he wanted,
the only limit being his and his wive's capacity for working it
out.

Mr. R. Hunter. Informant.

The Motu have settled at least some three generations ago.
But it might be much earlier. Motu seem to be immigrants.
They first settled near ? in ? coming there from the
westward from the gulf. Coming from the west they were driven
past Pt. Moresby and they settled in Motu Hama. They were driven
by the coast tribes to Pt. Moresby where they now have settled.

Another and still better sign of the alien character of the

Page 74

Motu is that they do not possess own extensive grounds like the Koita possess. They cultivate their gardens on lands acquired from the other natives. Near Pt. Moresby from the Koita, near Kapakayo from the Sinogoro, near the Kabadi.

It is based on the one hand on the protection afforded by the Motu to the Koita and on the other by the superstitious dread of the Koita magic by the Motu. Thus, e.g, if the K. sorcerers did not advise the Motu to go, (the K. sorcerers were not consulted, but could stop the M. on their own account) the Motu would stop.

The Koitapu supply the bulk of the food for the hiri and they got it back in the form of sago. The K. joined also in the hiri.

Porevorena is according to Mr. R.H. a Kabadi word, and he never heard it applied to the Pt. Moresby villages.

Among the Motu there is no natural death. All blame is laid upon the Koitapu or the Koiari. The Koita are good sorcerers. They practise white magic but never black magic.

A Koita native gave a pig to a Motu in an economic transaction. If the Motu happens to die the blame would be laid on the Koita. Mr. Hunter's mother's death was put down to a pig which was not properly returned by the Motu. In olden days there was a constant blood/between the M and K. (But as the death was brought down to the Koiari as well, probably they preferred to

Page 77

stick to the latter hypothesis.

Almia is the most dreaded man as vata tauna, or sorcerer.
R.H. is certain that he has got his purri purri bag. There are
many instances in which A. acted as sorcerer. Mrs. Hunter would
have died had not Almia intervened in her favour. R.H. says that
the moral effect very often kills and cures a native.

R.H. emphatically asserts that no land belonged to the Motu,
they had to make payments to the owners in food or armshells. Or in
dogs or pigs. Dogs were eaten and were specially kept for
killing and hunting. The method of roasting:-

A hole, fairly flat, was dug in the earth and half filled
with red hot stones, unusually flint stones. The stones were placed
in the hole by tongues of bent green bamboo. Only top of
the stones, banana leaves, then meat cut up in several pieces,
laid in on top of the banana leaves. Roast food, yams, taro,
were put with the meat. Then a layer of banana leaves on top
again, and then a heap of hot stonesm then a layer of banana
leaves, then earthm and left there for two or three hours.

The Motu were fishermen and they sold them fish, dugong and
turtle. The Motu also fished and prepared the shell. In the early
days the Koita and Koriri had no canoes.

The Motu were better fighters. The Koita used to murdér and
practise black magic. The M. could kill any of the K. but were
afraid of their magic.

Law taravatu.

aboo, Helaga. There are hereditary taboro in all families.

Page 79

Almia has the use of Noke (square wooden canopy overhanging the fireplace.) A. also has got three kinds of bananas which are helaga to him. Tuara (M) and Uregadi (M) Oroa(M). If A. ate any of these foods, any kind of disease, blindness, sores, etc. would fall on him. He is not allowed to bake or roast it in his house nor eat it anywhere. They are helaga to his wife and children, to the former as long as she stays with her husband, A can grow them in his garden and carry them, but he must give them away. The Oroa are common bananas and everybody could get them and eat them but Tuara and Uregadi can only be given to a chief to distribute by him to these members of his iduhu. A. is also not allowed to put these kinds of bananas on his iduhu. A. cannot eat several kinds of shell-fish, a kind of oyster, another kind, rohu naburema, kekerema, dudumano. A is still afraid of eating them because of the impending sickness.

A wastold by his father and uncle Taubada that in olden days their family used to eat these forbidden foods, and invariably still results followed.

A says that the helada interdictions would not arouse anger or impatience because people knew well that this was not allowed and they did not eat it withoutmurmur. (I could not get out of A. how far his forbidden food was important.)

Other Taboro. When child born, father or mother will not chew betel nut. If they do the child will get a sore tongue. Mother will not go out for fire or water till about a month,

Page 82

else the child will get sick. Only the father can go out
for fishing and hunting! People do not take away firesticks
from the place where the child is born. The ashes from the
fire are not cleared till the woman brings the child outside
after one month.

Rev. Lawrence informant.

Food is exposed on the dubu, (when this is in existence.)
Where no dubu they have to hang it up in front of their
homes. It is left overnight and there is the idea that the
ancestral spirits absorb the spiritual part of the food.
The ancestral spirits are active only during the night. That
is why food exposed only during the night.

A story about the man who went to the place of ancestral spirit.
Pursuing wallaby he went into a cave and saw spirits of people.
He was warned by some of his friends not to touch food, but he
took some and at daylight he found it disappeared.

Dreams.

There seem dreams and interpretations of dreams. They applied
to the sorcerer for their explanation. The sorcerer will often
tell people about his dreams and tell them what their ancestral
spirits wished. The informant thinks that the main layer of
their religion consisted in ancestor worship. This found its

Page 84

expression in the above mentioned food offerings as well
as in the consecration of certain food to the ancestors.

This formula consecrates the food and women may not partake
of such consecrated food, but the men eat it.

Rev. L. thinks that the ancestral spirits do not roam about
they come only at night, and only to the places where food
is exposed.

When the epidemics of whooping cough broke out in Tupuselei
the people thought this was due to the revengeful attitude of
the ancestral spirits, offended for being neglected owing to
the missionaries' influence. They came to the missionary and
said they had better begin making offerings again. Normally
though the ancestral spirits are not evil. (Lauma dika.)

Vada is the generic name for all evil spirits and influences.
It is however, in all cases a personal agency.

Rev. L. says that Mana, the conception widespread in the Eastern
Pacific, is always associated with a personal agent.

It may be attached to an object, but its source is always
personal. Mana is always associated with ? tapu?

A man with mana can impose tapu and the thing thus treated
has got mana in its turn. But the mana of the man is the original source of all these processes. This holds good only with
regard to the Eastern Pacific, New Zealand, Tahiti, Raratonga, Vada would be something analagous to the Polynesian (not Melan-

esian mana. Objects may also become vada. The chip of a
canoe, the hair of a person may become vada.

Certain stones used for ensuring good crops. The possessor
of many stones has to observe certain taboos. If the possessor
transgresses the taboo the stones lose their power. The Rev.L.
believes that this holds good in regard to all the charms.

A woman, a convert, told that her mother had some stones which
she used in making land fruitful but their power was really de-
pendent on the conduct of the holder.

In the Eastern Pacific a man has a cure, but if he were
no common ? the medicine loses its virtue.

An old woman who knew of a really effective remedy against
the bite of the stinging fish, the nohu (M.) which may be
even fatal. It stopped the pain at once and the pain was
awful. She would not betray her secret to the Rev. L. because
she thought that he would take away the value of the medicine.

Religion. Doriga Yago. - a Kila-Kila sorcerer was swallowed
by a snake and carried by it far away into the bush. Then
the snake allowed him to get out by the same way as he entered
him and D. saw lots of and learned all about
purri-purri gardens, etc.

Tabu. Tabu. A tabu is always an animal, though A says
that some may be like a man. They live in wells or swamps or on
the hills where there are many rocks. Aqure tabu is a snake.
Man is afraid to rest on a tabu place, to drink water out of

Page 89

a tabu spring or eat near tabu place.

Before drinking water a man must tell the tabu "Hamuaboi
neganá oisi bomu emu ranu a dinai ita raruosi edá ranu tamona!"
"In the night you use the water yourself but in the daytime you
and I will use it together."

Bara tabu is a snake which lives in the bush on a small hill.

Ruisa tabu

vide Koian people.

Namam tabu is a snake and a man.

Ranta tabu is a snake.

or
The tabu feast. Any man whose father, / grandfather were tabu
can suggest a tabu. He will send word to all the people
of his village, (in the case of Almia only people of Hohodai)
and they would come to his house and get some food. The originator
proposes he will hold the tabu. There must be three men more
who wish to join the feast as 2nd 3rd and 4th. The next morning
some forked pots will be carved, and about 4 horizontal poles
are prepared to put into the bifurcations in which again horizon-
tal poles are stretched. This is a provisional platform or pata.
The whole village then go to the gardená and get bananas and
bring them to the dubu, heap them up in front of the dubu. The
fruit is heaped before the provisional platform in rows. The man
of the right front post and his people put their row along the
right front post, etc. Then they pick out bunches for the chiefs of
the neighbouring villages - all villagers who are on friendly
terms with them, especially to the Koita villages.

Page 93

Notes about tabu.

It lasts for 3 months, from April till July. The preliminary
dances are held before the first platform is being made, which
constitutes the beginning of the proper feast. The dubu is made
for the tabu feast in July.

The villages west of the Hohodai did not make any tabu feasts.
These were frequent in the village east of Hohodai. There were
prayers to ancestral spirits.

The inland Koita had no fixed villages. They roamed about
abandoning their villages about every 2 years. When they used
up all the land near the village they gave up the spot and went
on.

Dr. Malinowski's Field Notes.

Page 6.

Every iduhu has got a common ground. The whole piece was fenced round with a wooden fence made of mangrove sticks or other sticks. In this land there was planted bananas, yams, taros, sweet potatoes, no cocoa-nuts. Every man had a plot of land in the ground. Iduhu rohis had the largest piece, sometimes in the centre, sometimes in the corner. All the other pieces of land divided all round. After fence, (round whole plot) made, yams and bananas and sugar cane planted. Every man plants his own ground. Men and women both working. Man plants yams first, lets woman do work afterwards. Planting consists in putting pieces out with the skin off the bulb into the ground. Women weed garden, starting from December, weeding yam garden till March. The planting took place in month Veadiado - July(?) August till September; start planting bananas in September. Yams ready in May next. When in March yams begin to show their heads, the iduhu kuarana, (Motu) iduhu rohi (Keita) forbids to go into garden. Reason was that a man or woman who had connection would spoil the garden. If one sees in March that a patch of the iduhu land was spoilt, leaves gone bad and yams getting small, one saw that the owner had connection.

Page 7

Page 14

## Marriage Mao heni form

Page 15

Ahnuia

A. gave 50 armshells and couple of pearl shells and boards tusks (1 boar's tusk - 1 armshell) some axes, some knives and 1 canoe (1 canoe - 2 large armshells and two adzes plus one mosquito net plus one pound tobacco, that is what A. has paid for the canoe.) Father-in-law kept the canoe.

**Gabuato or gadoroho.** Gabuato means to put money on the bed, (Gabu - bed, ato - put.) Gadoroho means tattoo on the breasts. Girl cannot marry before this tattoo made. A girl may not sleep with a boy before being tattooed on breast. If she did she would be called Mattabodaga, kekenina, (Matta - eye, ohe, bodaga - stink.) After she has tatting made on her breasts she can sleep with boy.

Marriage headava form, (headava - marriage.) "I like my wife, she likes me, we meet in street and talk. Father and mother know afterwards." After three, four or six months, relatives are told that the wife will be brought next morning to the house. One armshell, one boar's tusk and one pearl shell taken to Maku's (future father-in-law's name). Left in the bed, (gabuato). In the morning when wife brought to the house, all women, wife's relatives, took water-pots from each house of Mune's relatives

Page 16

and carry water for each house, and they go to the gardens,
each woman goes to her own garden. They bring some food, yams,
bananas, sago, cocoanuts and fish or wallaby. They cook, itd
in A's relative's houses ; the food is eaten by all those pre-
sent. That is the end of the marriage.

Page 22

When a man got up in the morning, they usually got up
before or at daybreak, he never used to eat. If a man would eat,
people would laugh at him and say he was not a man, not a strong
man, The man went out into the garden working, or if he went
fishing or huntinghe came back at about 3 or 4, at dina gelona,
(afternoon; sun-dina, gelo - coming down.) Then they had their
aniani, aniani afia - food-eating. The meal consisted usually of
yams or bananas or sagos or taitukava. Taitu) a bulb, taitu-
kava - wild taitu. Meat was not eaten so often, not every day.
In the evening, the rest from the meal, the bah;) were eaten. The
meals were eaten in the house or on the verandah. All members of
the household were partaking of the food at the same time. The
food was eaten with a bone or with a native spoon. Yams were
boiled, cut into big pieces, one such piece taken on a bone and
eaten with it. If yams boiled very soft, taken on a spoon and
eaten off the spoon. Only small portions were taken on the spoon.
Spoon used for yam, sago, fish, soup, wallaby soup. Soup prepared
by boiling meat or fish with yams.

Page 23

Ani-bo, Ani eat; bon - meet together. When a sorcerer was asked to make some gardens good, he goes out once to purri-purri garden and came back to house and stay in his own house and don't go out more for a week, and then go out to purri-purri again.

The sorcerer cannot drink fresh water and cannot eat food boiled in pots for other people. They cook his food in a separate pot.

Spoon - bedi M.

Begagai M. enobo M.) enobo - have connection with his own wife.

Anibon, contd.

Sorcerer knows how long he has to stay at home. At the end he says "I would like to have a drink of fresh" "Lau na vramu ranu baine inua." (Like water, future drink.) The people kill pig and catch fish and they cut up pig and heap up bunches of fresh bananas in the sorcer's house, and the sorcerer put the pigs on top of the bananas, all in sorcerer's house, and the sorcerer will get up and take piece of banana leaf and he says a prayer and they will take off the banana heaps and pigs and they boil bananas with the pigs and after food has been boiled they put it in a large bowl of earthenware called naubada (nau - dish, bada - large,) and then they call in people from different iduhus and all come to the sorcerer's house and sit silent and sorcerer makes another prayer.

Page 35

Each of such individual plots was very large and it
was cultivated only in small bits and parcels. But no-one
else, nobody from a foreign iduhu was allowed, without obtaining
permission, on the ground. If permission was asked, A. says,
it would be just as likely that they would get it, with the
stipulation that they left the land after having made garden.
There was some fighting in the olden days about land. Thus, A.
remembers that Kila-kila people, (people of various iduhu of
the Kila-kila village) burned down fine grass on the Manuti
plot, belonging to the Dubara iduhu in Hohādai. "Grass on Manuti
belong Hohādai." No person can burn down grass." Manuti
belonged as land to the Dubara iduhu. All clansmen might have
gardens on it. But the right of burning grass belonged to one
man. This man had the right to decide to burn the grass. The
Dubara iduhu went then and burned the grass. Anybody could come
then and catch wallabys and bandicoots and pigs. (The economic
result seems to have been exactly the same, only the platonic
privilege of deciding about the burning of the grass seems to
have made the whole difference.).

Page 41

putting cross poles, tied with sei, a kind of creeper(?) in olden
days planted cocoanuts very close to each other, - so that when
these grew up - - -

Kapa, a plant used for making petticoats, rami. Leaves cut
off, dried and cut into pieces. Rami also made of palm-leaves.

Nuru, the netty ~~"shoots"~~ *spratling* of a cocoanut used for bags to put
sago in, used for bags to cover bananas and to squeeze out cocoa-
nut oil.

Hodava, native nut tree.

Tattoo on face.

Native comb. Sticks of palm garagota (M) woven together with
a fibre. They comb their hair
to keep hair open".

Iduhu signs. Uhadi iduhu used to hang a bundle of wild nuts
tarekomu on their door, (iduara (M) udua (K)) That is a dagi, K.
or dagina (M)

Page 44

Native spoon for putting sago out of pot into dish. Shells used for scraping yams, potatoes, bananas, taro. Laro (M) shells similar to small mother of pearl shells sharpened.

Net for catching pigs, a piece of *ratang* cane bent into a circular shape, in the joint wound round with pieces of *split ratang* cane bark.

A semicircular piece of cane comes from the point where joining space finished. String made of ogeta, a fibre obtained from the bark of a tree. Net (Koda)..

This whole description is muddled up - moreover unnecessary, as we have plenty such nets in all museums.

Diagram of the valley in which Homaka Goro, a man of Grabone idu-hu is master. This right is inheritable in the male line, if there were no son, the daughter would inherit the right. Homaka Goro is iduhu rohi. But if he died without son, the chieftainship would descend to his brother, and the right of burning grass would descend to his daughter and then to somebody of Grabone iduhu. This right (maoro M.) could not pass out of an iduhu. The man who has got the right is called badina maoro tanna. The badina maoro tanna after he had decided to burn the grass had to go to Almua as Dubara iduhu rohi. To AVAKA (ROHI) iduhu rohi as the in red. of Taurama, and then those send word to all in the

Page 46

The space left free from fire on the surrounding belt
was occupied by those hunting for the animals. They used
spears and bows and arrows, but the most important mode of
securing game was the net, (huo M. ivi K.) Dogs were also very
successfully used for catching wallabies and pigs. The height
of the pig/was about 175 cm. that of a wallaby net about
150 cm., vide diagram. The wallaby bounding into the net
drew the upper and lower ropes together and thus became caught
in the net.

Hunting

Page 48

looking for them in shadow. He steps very slowly and carefully avoiding making any noise. He tries to get at rather close quarters. A. seems positive that about 5 - 7 metres would be the limit at which a man could spear the animal comfortably. 12 ms. seemed to him to be the limit of an attempt. If he hunts wild boar alone he must have dogs. Dogs find the pig, there may be 2 - 6 dogs. Then they trace the boar, they surround it and bark. The man sees the pig standing and throws spear against the boar, either aiming at the ribs or at the loins; the man takes his koda then (after he has thrown the spear) and tries to catch the pig in it. Sometimes the man will kill the pig straightaway, if not the koda was both to protect him and finish the hunt. If he catches the pig with the koda he will have very hard work because the pig will pull at the koda.

Medecine. Mehey give some bark of trees growing down in the gulf to dogs in order to make them catch the pigs well.

Page 60

and the fruit eaten. Sometimes eaten raw and sometimes roasted.

Matoa (M) a kind of fruit.

Taitu (M) a kind of yam.

Taitu-kava wild taitu.

Maho -yam.

Talo (M) taro.

Kafima -

(This is not correct! Taro keeps for a year.)

Taitu will keep for a month, taro will keep for six weeks,
taitu-hava will keep for a week.

## Labour, forms of labour.

Then the iduhu rohi went round and determined the place of the garden. Marks were made all round on the trees, or the grass was twined? Then the different plots were allotted to various people, the iduhu getting the best part, marking the boundaries on the trees. No individual marks of property were made. That happened on the first day. A is sure that there were no magical or religious

Page 64

The next work to be done was the planting of yams. This took place August - October. It was done by putting a stick(made of mangrove, no value attached), yam portions, (eyes) planted, the skin down, the flesh up, communal labour Bittarheit used also. Men and women took part in it. A. is fairly positive that both sexes participated in garden work, except the cutting, burning and upheaving work of high grass sod, in which men only participated. In so planting yams as a rule not/many people used as in pulling grass and fencing up the garden. Food distributed among them in dishes. After that bananas planted, a deep hole bored right into the ground and the tree put in. Then sugar cane.

A. volunteers that labour in gardening, building, etc., always paid in food.

## Names of Stars.

Venus - Perau hisiha - star of Perau. It was the guiding star when people went left the Jule Island for the Vailala. Perau is the Motuan name for Vailala. Almia did not know about Venus.

Jupiter - Aho hisiuna - the high star, the star that comes up in the morning (Venus/also.)

Page 67

## Firemaking.

Fire sometimes broke out in spite of these precautions. Several times, A remembers, houses were burned down. He remembers a fire in which Hamanbada and Elevala were burned down. Usually when a fire went out in any house people went next door and got some fire from their neighbours. But from March to May people had to take care of their fires as in that season nobody would give fire to his neighbour. Because the donor of fire might and would have a poor crop of yams. This is an instance of the helaga, religious prohibition. Again, if people go fishing and another canoe asks them to give them fire they would not. "Lau lahi oi basina madibe helaga. henimu," "I fire thou not (future) give you because forbidden."

Page 69

Helaga refers to the action, giving was helaga, not fires. When Motu people make dugong nets, no people would ask fire sticks from that house, or no dugong or turtle would be caught, — again helaga. When women have a child born no fire-stick can be given from such a house. If they took a firestick the child would be sick.

Page 72

Personal riches. Every man got as much land as he wanted, the only limit being his and his wive's capacity for working, it out.

Mr. R. Hunter. Informant.

The Motu have settled at least some three generations ago. But it might be much earlier. Motu seem to be immigrants. They first settled near *Tupuseleia Motu Hama*? in ? coming there from the westward from the gulf. Coming from the west they were driven past Pt. Moresby and they settled in Motu Hama. They were driven by the coast tribes to Pt. Moresby where they now have settled.

Page 82

else the child will get sick. Only the father can go out
for fishing and hunting. People do not take away firesticks
from the place where the child is born. The ashes from the
fire are not cleared till the woman brings the child outside
after one month.

Rev. Lawrence informant.

Story about the man who went to the place of ancestral spirit.
Pursuing wallaby he went into a cave and saw spirits of people.
He was warned by some of his friends not to touch food, but he
took some and at daylight he found it disappeared.

Dreams.

There seem dreams and interpretations of dreams. They applied
to the sorcerer for their explanation. The sorcerer will often
tell people about his dreams and tell them what their ancestral
spirits wished. The informant/thinks that the main layer of
their religion consisted in ancestor worship. This found its

Notes about tabu.

Laulau is defined as the man's shadow.

The Lauma is invisible and it goes to some unknown land. The
Laulau goes about in the night, but when one wants to sieze it it
vanishes.

The DEVASE of C.G.S. p.186. are again different from the Laulau and
Lauma, they are IDIA SIBODA VARA - 'They are produced themselves' -

The Devase are agents of the DABALAU. When he makes garden magic he
plants the plant, the Devase come like Laulau, they are not bodies,
and they bring the BIKU and LAULAU. MAHO LAULAU i.e. the spirit of the
banana and of the yam and thus make the garden good.

The Devase are also the original teachers of men. When they saw a
man or woman whom they liked they got at him. This man's eyes were
turned round, his wits were upset, people thought he was going mad.
A man, however, who knows things, would at once see by certain signs
viz. they utter their magical spells in a trance, that this man or
woman has been made a Babalau.

The Babalau is always instructed in his wisdon by the Devase.

The ordinary forms of magic so widespread, pig and wallaby, lakator,
fishing, cocoanut, are not done by Babalau, they can be done by
ordinary men.

The especial domaxins of the Babalau are illness, some forms of
garden magic (see below)

There were some HADIKAIA tandia who knew how to kill people at a
distance.

A repeats again that the Vada and men of evil magic -

P.613. is used as a sympathetic charm for the bananas, these being reddish yellow when they are ripe. The Babalau addresses the Birava before the Ambou. "We have made this feast, as usual in olden days. Now you come and be good to us".

The men ate much, the babalau did not eat very much - a little of everything. The spirits were supposed to eat of everything. They used to eat the "spirit of the food".

P.614. After this ambou the food grew plentiful, hunting and fishing were successful.

Taubada, alone. Jan. 31st. 1915.

Feasts. The Motu and the Koita had different feasts.

The biggest Motu feast was Eva.

Preliminary description

Tutykoi first small feast, consists of dancing. Next day bringing of bananas and cooking these with sago and yams - no pigs. Name ABILASI and a common eating. Then they dance.

Then comes dancing for 5 or 6 months, then comes again a small feast known as KARUKA.

P.615. Then comes a period in which 'things are made good' (gardens mended and food brought etc.)

The division in Dori and Tauna and Badi and Tauna is made during Tutukoi. After the karuba comes the beg feast, in the middle of which the men go to a special hunting called Tavana.

The tabu feast is made by the E.Motu (A. syas there is no tradition of their ever having lived inland, but they are more P. 616. like the Koita in custom and culture than the W.Motuans are. The Motuans in the Eastern district make the same form as the Sinay golo and very likely they learned from them; (this is A's opinion) The Kobadi and Nara make no tabu, the limit of the tabu making Motuans is the village of Pari (the Pari do not make any tabu.) Pari, Manumanu, Porebada are Hanubada are colonies. A is positive about the fact that the Koita came down from inland to the shore, but this was before his grandfather was born.

All the Koiaro make the tabu and under the name tabu.
P.617. The Koirari, Koitu and Sinanyala make a different tabu feast each of them.

The right of being a tabu biaguna is hereditary. Only a man whose father and grandfather had made tabu can be one. If a parvenu tried to make a tabu he or his children would get sick or get toto. The preliminary feast of a tabu is called Boihetoho (Vasika-va in Koita) and was done about April. It was done on a small platform. Then comes the construction of the Dubu platform. The cutting of the mainposts is accompanied by kitu and gaba. There is a small Ambou (common feast) before they go out for getting the posts. P.618. There is also kibi and gaba during which they fetch the posts.

1. Girava and Varika

.2. Iobu " " four brothers who started the

3. Duba " " tabu feast.

4. Kola " "

The father of the above hour men was the founder of the tabu.
He lived in Tabologolo and thought alone in himself "Why should
we stay at home and do nothing?" We better do a feast, a Baba."
P. 628. He then gathered bananas, then taitu. The bananas were
put on long horizontal poles ruhning all along the street
(S.Gewa; Motu Eva) The taitu he baked with stones. Then he
took the sugar cane and put it on the Dubu. Then he made the
Geagea Ubilolo dances. Then he distributed the sugar cane, then
he baked the taitu, maho, then the bananas were distributed.
(The bananas were not amudo in olden days, they were roasted, gabu)

Such small feasts were called VELEKO and were held every
month, when there were plenty of bananas. In the meantime
they dance every night.

Note. They were not able to give me any good account
of the mythical origin of the feast. All they said was
"The man (Venna Variba) thought, thought and he made it." and
here follows the description of the tabu proceedings as they
are told to-day.

["P.629", "Such small feasts were held 4 - 6 times, no pigs killed.\nAfter they have amudu'd the taitu, the men go to their houses,\nput on decoration and go down to the dance. They dance and sing the\nBebe and Dobu song. The women make the amudu.", "The dancing has begun already in this village but the first\nsmall feast will be held in April, (Lailai). Then they go on\nmaking several of the small feasts. This lasts for three moons\n(Lailai, Ghoroghoro, Darodaro). Then the big feast, tabu, is\nheld. The times seem to hold good with reference to all the coast\nal trites. Babaga (inland of Hulaa, taro, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

631

and puts it in front of the Lubu near the Kola and Guguri piece of wood. He says, "Bita laulaga Mami Ghosibe, Kumma natavaiai"

Bita Lau Lage G hosi Be Komma Na Tavaea Mero Vavine Ghomi Gula Gholaga Mero Vavina Gola Kalosi.

After this spell is uttered all the people who listen silently and earnestly utter one guttural waa' wild cry and then a high one. Then the spirit is glad. The then bananas are distributed among the people. Then another man distributes the sugar cane shaking one cane with a stick and naming a man. Then the taitu are roasted and distributed. Such is the course of a small feast.

## Big Tabu Feast.

The most sacred moment of the tabu feast is the tabu song when they kill a small pig in front of the balu. It is said to make good the spirits of the ancestors of all the men present.

634. Gaba name of big feast.

Tabu only an incident, the present given by the other "half" of the village.

Gaba - drum is sounded on the side giving the feast.

Baiseno, the semi final feast, no pigs killed. It is known at that time who is going to contribute. The Seno is given to this man. The Gaba was a rather sacred thing in the olden days. Its use subject to helaga. The man who tuned the drum had an inherited right to do it. He was not identical with the dubu chief. He tuned only his own drum. He sounded it either in the bush or in

635 the village when decided to make a feast (this man tuned it and he did beat it.)

The babu is helaga after the end of the feast. Matters shout gardens and fitness for feast would be discussed on the Dubu platform. Mamaro or Mamuda - feast for new yams and taitu. They dig some fruit and have a kind of thanksgiving feast. Then they know about the fitness of their gardens. If they were prevented through scarcity of food or death to execute the feast series (tabu) they would make it Gaba Tusuanagi, - shifting of the final and semi-final feast.

Note. During the Mamuda they boil the remainder of the old food with the first new food. A. confirms estimate connection between economic year and festive year. When they begin great series with first fruit, they continue till the food is out of the ground. The game and the taitu are the decisive crop.

Platform. They use a specially hard wood for dubu, pots and also the planks. All parts have their owners. Only the owners would go on the dubu. No young men would go on the dubu except in the case of homicide. The platform is not often repaired, no ceremonial. Any renewal has to be made by the owner of the dubu. Sega. New garden, place cleared for garden, yam and taitu with some bananas in between. Biru is the work in the garden. Uma - garden as it is made. P.638. Digging up of yams, (Sela fuma.

2nd growth of yams and taitu. They get always second growth of taitu they leave the vine. They don't get more than two growths because then the fence is down, and the pigs get into the garden.

p.638

After that they also replant the young banana plants (Duhi). The young banana shoot takes 5 - 6 months to bear fruit. The coconuts will grow right up to the base of the main range, not in large quantities. Generally they are only round the village sites, i.e. on tops of hills as a rule. So are betel nuts, they require more moisture and are planted not far from villages, near creeks, rivers, in gulleys, etc.

Land Tenure. Whole territory is divided into plots with the names and boundaries; each such plot was owned by one individual who could decide who had to join in the making of the garden. Every man in every iduhu had his own plot of land.

S'inangolo never acquired the art of making sago (washing, etc.) they simply cut out the pith into blocks and roast them. The coconuts were owned individually.

P.640 The Halaa, Kaile, Kerepunu, Balaya know how to make the sago.

Taro is made in special plots, or special gardens. It wants more moisture than yams or taitu.

Inland people eat a kind of leaf like cabbage.

Falling trees, end of dry weather here, (Sept. - Oct.) Planting of yams and taitu, buying of raisins, after first showers, often too soon. Digging of yams and taitu 4 - 6 months after planting. March - April. P.641. They should dig taitu and yams when vines die off.

Taro. Informants - Laimo bari, old man of Kuarium and Lubu,

P.641

Land tenure and allied questions. A's mythical version and explanation. In very olden days there was always one man who was the lord of a land, he kept many children, several iduhus and divided the land, each iduhu one plot.

A says that a man who does not know would hold that men of one iduhu are not related. A man who knows will say they are descended from one man.

P.642 Still more, several villages are of common descent. Thus for instance, the men of Ligo, Saloa, Kuarimo, Lubu, Vabulava, Saloa, Kei, Kemaia - in fact all the villages of the same speech are considered to be Bese and Tamona, "Gado tamona, bese tamona." (A's views are endorsed by the other informants.)

The villages contain either one lubu or two. The usual thing is one lubu. (I should think the primitive thing is one lubu in one village.)

Thus Saloa has one lubu, Saloa lubu; Vabulava has Ghoda Lubu, Saloakei - Saloa Lubu, Ligo or Gomore has two Lubus.

P.643. Ligo and Bono and Kuarimo has the same. Every lubu is divided into right and left part. Aloribana - right, and Kaurina - left. A explains this division. Originally the iduhu was one, it was split subsequently into 2 parts. Reason. At and festive eatings, Anibou, the food, is put in the middle, the men sit all sit round. When the iduhu was too numerous to sit in one group two groups were created and now during feasts 2 anibous, the right and left side sit separately. Cf.p.654