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

250 - MALEKULA
The Rites of 1Vé'u'ai N/.zmbb'g in Lambu-mbu
When the older men of the village have decided that the time
has come to incise certain boys, the father of each boy plants
a special yam garden for his son, and arranges with one or two
men to act as guardians (tï¬Åmbai) to the lad during the ceremonies.
It seems that these men are not necessarily related to the novice
by any ties of kinship, but they are probably men who are not
“ classiï¬Åcatory " fathers to the boy, since these, like the real
father, are not supposed to have anything to do with their " sons "
during this period. As soon as the yams are ready for con-
sumption a special house called naamcl naavavieaz or namurmur
is constructed a short distance from the dancing ground. This
is a building of exceptional height and size; it is higher than
most of the trees. The gable of one such house at Lowag was
visible over the tree-tops from Laravat, a distance of some two
or three miles, and must have been quite thirty feet high, more
than twice the height of any other house. In this building the
novices (névali) are to live during the ceremonies. When these
preparations are completed the preliminary rites are entered
upon. All the men of the village, including the boys’ guardians,
repair to the gardens which have been specially planted by the
novices’ fathers, going to each in turn. Arrived at the ï¬Årst
garden they seize the lad for whom it was planted and, catching
up sticks, roots, stumps of trees, or any other garden rubbish
which is lying handy, they beat him unmercifully. After a.
while the poor boy is allowed to escape, running crying out of
the garden, and then the men turn and begin to belabour each
other. In theory it seems that the ensuing skirrnisli is between
the boy's guardians and the other men, but actually everyone
hits out at any one whom he can reach. When this has been
going on for a time, the party moves on to the garden of the
second candidate. Here the process is repeated; the lad is
thrashed and then the men attack each other. And thus they
continue from one garden to another,-until all the boys have
been soundly beaten. Then all the novices are gathered together
and marched off to the amel rzaavavien, where they now enter
in upon seclusion of ten days before they are incised. During
all this time they may drink no water and no coco-nut milk, nor
"av
n
-
1
1
.
1
.
I