In the Andamans and Nicobars Part 28

Some come already dressed, others bring their attire with them, and don it on the spot.

The special guests bring ten or a dozen pigs of moderate size, as presents to those by whom they are invited. (Here it may be said that the people, although well acquainted in general, never call each other friends promiscuously. Whoever contributes a gift during this festival to another, is alone his true friend. There is a regular agreement about this, and special invitations for any occasion are only given by turns.) The women bring with them baskets of prepared food--panda.n.u.s bread, boiled yams, rice--and with this, and with pork presented by the hosts, they refresh themselves during the night.

Dancing and singing then take place. The men give their performance first, and when they are fatigued, they make way for the women, and so it goes on, turn and turn about. The former in their dance go through various motions of sitting, rising, bending, and jumping, but the women only attempt a series of steps.[206] This proceeding continues in the compound of each festival party throughout the night.

In the morning, while dancing still continues, there are brought forward some strong wooden cages, about 4 feet long and 3 feet in height and breadth--some in shape like a palanquin, and some dome-shaped like the houses. These cages are gaily decorated with flags, chintz, and gilt jewellery. On the top of each a platform with curtains is prepared, and on either side stout bamboo poles are fastened. A huge long-tusked boar adorned with jewellery is placed in each cage, and a man, woman, and boy, seat themselves on the platform with a quant.i.ty of plantains and betel-nut.

When everything is ready, new red loin-cloth and _ta-choklas_ are supplied to the guests. Then the cages, with the pigs inside, and with the people upon them, are carried round from house to house in a procession, with singing and dancing, each borne by about forty men or women. Those who are not able to construct a cage, carry, as a subst.i.tute, long bamboos, across which the pig, with bound legs, is fastened. As they proceed, betel-nuts and plantains are distributed by those on the cages. In this way they march round the village, and return to the starting-point, _via Elpanam_, the teams of women as they stagger along with their heavy burden giving rise to much amus.e.m.e.nt.

When the procession is over the natives release the pigs in the cars, as well as nearly all the others, detaining only those that are to be slaughtered on that day for the guests. Then after felling the poles of the _na-kopah_ by cutting them with an axe, 6 feet above the ground, they scatter the food in the jungle and fence the site. The canoes and other articles are broken to pieces and thrown away, and only the _merahta_, or iron pike, is preserved, with its decorations, to be made use of later.

Next comes _Henghawa_, meaning "In return." A dozen or more pigs of ordinary size are distributed by the inviting party to the group of performers. These may kill and eat them on the spot, or take them away to their homes. This present is made in place of giving a feast. The dancing party who receive it would, according to their own numbers, kill a few of the pigs, cut them into pieces, and distribute the flesh among the families of their group. They roast the pieces, eat as much as they like, and take the remaining portions away with them. The pigs that are not killed will also be taken to their village, and will be there reserved for some public occasion. As a rule, the people who receive the present must be ready to give away a similar one in their turn when the same festival occurs in their village.

The spectacle of these people as they depart, men, women, young and old, each with a load of roasted pork either fastened to long sticks, strung on cords, or packed in baskets, affords further amus.e.m.e.nt.

The general guests--the people of the nearest villages--will remain till the close of the feast to a.s.sist the hosts, and to give further performances of dancing and singing every night. They take their share of the food with the commemorators.

With their help the amus.e.m.e.nts are renewed, and on the following morning the big pigs, which were carried in procession, are slaughtered and cut into long strips, some of which, generally the spinal portions, are suspended at the entrance of the houses, as offerings to the evil spirits, and are there allowed to remain until the next celebration of _Kana-Awn_. Several pieces will also be distributed to friends and relatives.

Before these pigs are killed it is customary for young men to wrestle with them, and many of them are often so severely gored by the long tusks of the animals that they have to be carried away in litters.

This portion of the festival is called _Yeng Awn_--the great boar--for each of the animals which are dedicated to the purpose is looked on as a sacred creature, and is offered as a sacrifice in token of the last head of the family who died.

From the remaining portions of pork they separate the fatty part and prepare lard from it by pounding it in a wooden mortar and boiling it down in an earthen vessel. This lard is preserved in coconut sh.e.l.ls and eaten with meals like b.u.t.ter. A few sh.e.l.lsfull are presented to those of their friends who have a.s.sisted them. This portion of the ceremony is called _Wanaka Kuv_ (making lard), and with the immediately preceding stage lasts for four or five days. Then commences the ceremony of _Kisu ta el pati_, during which all the decorations of the houses are removed, and dancing and singing take place inside. This is done in order to purify the house.

Next, the practice of _Tanang alah_ (prevention) takes place; and throughout the day the people busy themselves covering the houses and huts in _Elpanam_ with green coco-palm leaves, to prevent pollution by the disinterred bones of next day's proceedings. They take their supper in _Elpanam_, and dance there all night.

At this point, the climax of the whole is reached in _Anula Kopah_, or _Ula Kopah_ (digging the graves). The women, children, and others stand at a distance from the graveyard, and one or two of the adults belonging to each of the houses commemorating, open the respective graves, remove the bones, and throw them in an adjoining bush called _Tam n'gi Kopah_[207]--burial-place of bones (ossuary). But they replace in the graves the skulls of respected people or heads of families, and after refilling the holes with earth, place over them the new _kuimitila_ or _kare-yeng-chon_ (headstones). Before the skulls are replaced, however, they are sprinkled with the blood of fowls and young pigs.

The men who break open the graves are termed _takkuwi_ (polluted) and when all is over they bathe in the sea, and then spend the night in the "house of pollution," after a period of feasting and dance in the _Elpanam_, called _Kiriam Anula_ (digging dance).

Two or three days later the coco-palm leaves are removed from the houses at _Elpanam_, and another performance is held called _Kiriam-nga-rit-roi-ta-oka_ (dance for clearing up coconut rubbish).

Next morning sports and a little wrestling take place.

Finally, the people invite some of the _mafais_ of adjacent villages to give a performance, and entertain them with gifts and feasting. This ceremony is called _Afai tapoia_, or _Mafai tapira_--grand _mafai_ dance. When it is concluded some other village is challenged to a canoe race, and a dance and feast follow. With this ends the festival of _Kana Awn_.

When everything is over they carefully gather together the jawbones of the pigs that have been killed in every house, fasten them to a long rattan, and hang them up in the public building at _Elpanam_. In this way a comparison is made between past and present wealth, and proof is afforded of the splendour of a ceremony that impoverishes many of the hosts for years to come.

The following is an account of the ceremony of _Anula_, or _Ula Kopah_, as it was actually carried out in the village of Lapati on the east coast of Kar Nicobar. It was preceded by the usual festival of _Kana Awn_.

Of the _takkuwis_ (polluted ones) who were engaged in digging the graves, the men wore white loin cloths and the women petticoats of a similar colour. The graveyard was thickly screened by coco-palm leaves.

All the big houses in _Elpanam_, and the cooking huts in the village, were so thickly covered with leaves that no breeze could penetrate. A wall of palm leaves and four temporary huts were erected in each corner, that the _takkuwis_ might take refreshment. Several pieces of white calico and Turkey red cloth were kept in these houses for wrapping up the bones. Those graves to be left untouched were covered with white cloth and neatly decorated.

Whilst each grave was being opened one of the _tamiluanas_ stood at the head and fanned it with a bunch of "devil-expelling" leaves, and another man kept in readiness a palm-spathe and piece of white calico. When the grave-digger took out the skull it was cleaned by hand, carefully rolled in the calico, and placed in the spathe; all the other bones were then collected in the same spathe, which was taken away and placed over large yams scattered below the "deadhouse," where it was wrapped and bound with red and white calico. About fifty graves were opened, and the bones similarly treated. A few bundles were reinterred, but the others were taken away to a place called _Kofente_ (place of pollution), where they were opened, the bones thrown away and the cloth torn to rags.

After this the grave-diggers went to the sea and washed their hands and legs, and a few bathed entirely.

The following is an account of the observance of _Katap-hang_, or lighting the _Elpanam_.

For several days a number of young men and women are engaged in cleaning out _Elpanam_. During this process they are not allowed to touch eatables meant for others, nor may they enter the village, as they are considered polluted while at work. When it is over the women collect all the coconut husks they can obtain, and arrange them in lines about the _Elpanam_ and round the houses in it.[208]

The nuts are set fire to after sunset, and the people pa.s.s the night in singing and dancing, in several groups, lighted by the fires. Whenever they feel tired they eat, the proper food for the occasion being land-crabs, which have been collected during the previous week.

A spittoon of palm leaf is placed in the centre of each group, and into it go all the cheroot ends and betel-nut quids, to prevent pollution of the ground of _Elpanam_, which is now purified and fit for the habitation of spirits.

During the dancing the men cover their loins with a wrapping of plantain leaf, which makes them look like women. The women run about all night keeping the coconut sh.e.l.ls alight.

About five o'clock in the morning the performance comes to an end, and then a number of women sweep out _Elpanam_, collecting the ashes and other rubbish, which are thrown into the sea. The men, with much excitement, take the outriggers from the canoes, and placing some of these under the _Elpanam_ houses, bear others to the village, covering all with palm leaves. All portable property, pots, etc., is taken out of the houses in _Elpanam_, and, closing the doors, the people march away to the village (only the sick and one or two attendants, and those who dug the last grave, are left behind).

Silence has now to be observed for a month; no fire or light may be seen, and no cheroot smoked in the place: women and children are interdicted from entering, but should they be compelled to do so, they must make no noise, and if at night, must leave their light at the entrance.

The people can give no account of the origin of this observance. Some allude to "custom," and others say that it is because so many spirits visit the place at this season.

Thirty days after the festival concludes, a great feast is given to the spirits, and they are sent back to the jungle.

Canoes are kept beneath the houses for several months, until the festival of _Kiala_, or fetching food, when they are brought to the beach at _Elpanam_, caulked, and made ready for use.

On the day of _Kiala_ the men are out all day, with hook and line, fis.h.i.+ng. When they return in the evening with their catch, each immediately offers as a sacrifice to the canoe a mixture of chopped fish and other materials, which are made into a paste and applied to the vessel. The fish they have caught are skewered on bamboo and roasted.

Those unable to go during the day set out at night with torches prepared for the occasion.

Next day is _Anoi-ila_, a holiday, and in the morning all a.s.semble in the houses at _Elpanam_ and partake collectively of the roasted fish with other things. Then they sleep till evening, and do no work.

A day following closely is called _Enwan-n'gi_ (fis.h.i.+ng again for the children). As a rule, the fish caught on the first expedition is all consumed at the general banquet, but this is taken to the houses and eaten there. A holiday again follows.

To attract fish to their sh.o.r.es it is customary for the villages to erect on the beach at _Elpanam_, when the sea is calm, a number of long bamboos decorated with leaves, etc. This practice is called _Ma-ya-kuv-ka-ma-ka_--Papa is going this way to fetch fish. The poles remain for four days, and after they are removed, the large canoes obtained at Chaura are fed (_Ngya ap_), and fowls are offered to them in sacrifice.

Sacrifice is generally offered to these canoes thrice in each month--on seeing the new moon, at full moon, and on the waning of the moon.

A ceremony called _Ramal_ is held in honour of the safe return of the canoes that periodically make the customary voyages to Chaura for pottery. It consists of feasting, dancing, and singing, as do most of the Nicobarese observances. These songs and dances are composed some time before the events and carefully practised during the interval.

The ceremony of _Gnunota_ is held on behalf of those drowned during this annual voyage to Chaura, and is practised, instead of burial and the ceremony of _Kana Awn_, on occasions when the bodies are not available.

The death of a Nicobarese when absent is regarded with much greater concern than when such an event takes place at home. This is quite in accordance with European feeling.

A belief that the Chaura men are great exponents of _wizardry_ is deeply rooted throughout the group. One of the M[=u]s canoes having been lost on the return from that island, the _tamiluanas_ told the people that the Chaura men had a grudge against the people of M[=u]s, which, however, they did not like to satisfy in the island, but caused the visitors to be destroyed while at sea, by means of the black art, through which a tempest was raised during their return voyage.

The _tamiluanas_ possess the power of conversing with the spirits of the dead, and they informed the village that they had seen this deceased party, who stated that they had perished from hunger, and now wanted meals.

M[=u]s, therefore, was ordered to offer sacrifice, and accordingly the people contributed spoons, forks, clothes, and silver wire, besides killing pigs and preparing meals in each house.

After the sacrifice (_Gnunota_) had been made the _tamiluanas_ gave out that all the souls were satisfied with the meals and other things, but that "Davy Jones," the leader of the unfortunate party, was displeased with the offering!

Feasts are partaken of, and sacrifices made in the graveyard, in honour of deceased ancestors, whose spirits sometimes reveal themselves to the _tamiluanas_. These occasions are called _Ma-la-hal_.