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

644 MALEKULA
the honour reserved for the ï¬Årst keen-sighted man. The beating
of the gongs is the signal for the beginning of the holiday. All
work, such as the cooking of the puddings, is ï¬Ånished. The men
don their ï¬Ånery and parade about. Everyone is happy. Next
moming early the feast takes place in the men's club-house when
the puddings cooked the previous day are eaten. The leaves
in which they were cooked are then gathered together and
thrown away in the bush and on the gongs is beaten out the
announcement: “ Neerew imlu/m " (“ Neerew is ï¬Ånished ").
It will be seen from this account that the Neerew Rahulemp
has three main aspects. Firstly, it is calendric for it marks the
beginning of the new year in the district. " When one year
ï¬Ånishes the neevew begins the next " it was explained. Secondly,
it performs the function of a general harvest festival with especial
reference to the yarns, for while there is a general prohibition
against bringing any new yams into the village before the
ceremony, all foodstuffs from new gardens also come under this
tabu. Finally, it involves a rite of commemoration of the dead.
The conjunction of a harvest festival and commemorative
ceremony for those who have died within the year is common
amongst many agricultural peoples throughout the world, and
this funerary aspect of the N eerew Rahulemp is to be studied in
association with the practice at the clan neerew of gathering
together the bones of the recently deceased and placing them
in the nembrmbrkzm. It is noticeable that despite the name
Neerew being given to this festival it lacks one feature which is
typical of the clan neem/1/, for it is not apparently engaged in
“ making " or " increasing " anything. It celebrates the
harvesting of the yams, but it ‘does nothing towards making them
proliï¬Åc, this being left to the Neerew Nimlvazzi of Rahulernp in
Seniang and of Looremew in Wilemp. Although Deacon notes
that the N ogho Tilabwe of Mewun " is said to be the corresponding
thing in Mewun " it will be seen that actually the correspondence
is not very close for, though they have certain features in common,
the Nogho Tilabwe is of importance primarily as a fertility rite.
THE Neerew Mbatiar or WILEMP
There is unfortunately scarcely any information recorded
about the N eerew M baiiar, the annual harvest festival of Wilemp