Four ceremonies of special importance

Male totem

1. Totem ceremonies

‘The totems are where you get a place in history, to make sure your name will always be remembered’,

When building a totem, which happens when a new clan is formed, there are a lot of rituals and a great ceremony. To start the ceremony, the people of the top house ‘ride’ the totem into the village. They sit on the totem while the people of the support houses carry them into the village. When the totem is planted, they have to do vivid/live sacrifices of one dog, one pig and one chicken. The animals are put in the ground and the totem is planted on top.

Apart from the planting of the totem, there are many ceremonies around the maintenance of the totems. Two of the most important ceremonies in the maintenance are the restoration of the wood, Mula Ngadhu, approximately needed every 500- 600 years. And the more frequently held ceremony is when the grass needs restoration. In addition, the totem becomes a symbol of the ancestors and the importance position the ancestors hold in the traditional society means many of the ritual of sacrifices goes to the ancestors. The ancestors must be pleased for the clan to live a good life.

2. Opening of a new house
Ka Sao, is a ceremony that takes place when the roof of grass is put on, which means that the house is ready to live in. The Kepala Suku we interviewed told us that for the last opening of a house ceremony he held, in the autumn 2006, it took the scarification of seven water buffalos, 42 pigs, and more than 100 chickens. The costs are enormous.

3. Traditional New Year Celebration
Reba ceremony, was held on January 1st in the village of the Kepala Suku whom we spoke with. The date, however, varies among the villages.

On January 2nd 2007, during the traditional New Year feast in the village of Gorosina, an ‘inculturation’ ceremony was arranged. Gorosina is a neighbouring village of Jerebu’u, within this parish. In this ceremony, both religious and traditional leaders participate. Romo Bernard held, with 11 other priests, the prayers for the ceremony. Both Catholic and local songs were song, and local traditional rituals were carried out.

In neighbouring Langa village, we had the opportunity to participate in an extended New Year celebration on the 19th of January. The celebration is not for the New Year proper, because in the animistic belief they don’t count years,

but it is a celebration for a new cycle of months.

The ceremony started with all the men in the village gathered in a circle dancing and singing, while they were all dressed up in the traditional sarongs, with their machete knives. And a bottle of the local palm wine, Arak, is passed around to the participants.

After the dance, the families gathered in the houses of the Kepala Adat (traditional leader). The traditional houses of the Kepala Adat are very expensive, and sacred. Well inside the house the most important part of the

ceremony is about to start. The Kepala Adat does a sacrifice to the ancestors. The sacrifice consists of rice, some meat and Arak. In addition, the Kepala Adat chews the betel nut, while he conducts a hymn for the ancestors. And on his signal, the door into the room is opened to let the ancestors inside. After the sacrifice, the rest of the people in the room are allowed to eat and drink. The whole idea of this ceremony and sacrifice is to get the ancestors’ blessing and make them bring good luck for the next cycle of months.

4. Mula Mului or Zoà Pare
A ceremony to ask for good conditions for the crops. It is preformed some time in October, before the rainy season starts. The ceremony involves the planting of a banana tree near the house and is to be done by every household. But it is very important that the Kepala Suku is the first one to plant; otherwise the corps will be bad the next year.

In Jerebu’u, there are a great range of ceremonies not mentioned above. The four mentioned are not daily life ceremonies, but they show clearly that keeping Adat represents a great expense to the local people. And their belief that good life comes with right sacrifices might be seen as a hinder for their economic development because it takes up so much of their resources.

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