[Note: this transcription was produced by an automatic OCR engine]


THE NALAWAN SOCIETY 415
ambar 1:0 is put on his head. Thus adorned, he dances behind
the amel to the rhythm of naai '/12$ beaten on the gougs} After
a little While he stops dancing, comes forth, takes oï¬Å the rzmbar leo,
and places it on one of the gcngs. This little ceremony being
over, the dance, pig-killing, acquisition of the new name, and
litamate rites follow in due order.
Numbnm m' Mbamp
Another of the “ Nalawan of the Gongs " about which there
are some notes extant is the grade N umbnu ai M bump. As usual,
the candidate cuts poles and with the help of his introduccr
carves them into niteuis similar to those made for Nisanip. The
structure called numbou ai mbamp is then erected around the
gongs. A nemiar tree is selected (particular attention being
paid to the straightness of the trunk), and ï¬Åxed securely in the
ground. Bamboos and lawyer cane (mu/ill) are then planted
round it in a circle, their upper ends being bent inwards and
bound to the top of the central pole. In this way a rude conical
framework is made. Banana leaves are now plaited in and out
of the ribs of this structure, so as to form a kind of almost light-
proof tent (see Pl. XIB). The outside of this is then decorated
with red flowers of every kind to make it gay. Inside it the
temes mzninggal are placed, and it is from here that they are
blown during part of the cerernony. It seems that this structure
is sacred (ileo), for if a man is entering a low grade when it is in
the dancing ground he must when killing his pig stand at a
considerable distance from it, about eight or nine yards‘ With
every successive rise in rank he may approach nearer and nearer,
until when killing pigs for the higher Naluwan he may stand
close up against it. Through the walls of the mt/mbou ai mbamp
are thrust the decorated bamboos crowned with coco~nuts, the
navan mbatia, which are a feature of this as of earlier grades.
Around it in a circle a number of holes are dug, and in them are
I According to two deï¬Ånite statements in one of the ï¬Åeld notebooks, the
candidate does not B0510 into the dancing ground to perform this dance, but
remains behind the B7061. But in the account which Deacon wrote up, he states
distinctly that the "candidate dances out irnnr the back oi the amal This is
very probably E slip. Since the place behind the nuns! is the must sacred spot:
in the village, the construction 01 the nimbmilni nimhni and the performance
oi the candidate's dance there would probably indicate the greater sanctity
Of such acts at entrance to Nimbwiloi Ambar Lm than at entrance to lower
gradu.—C. H. W.