occur it is necessary to perform a purification ceremony; usually the offender provides Rukks Kaha or Aka,[1] or a rifle, with which they buy a pig which is slaughtered. By this sacrifice it is considered that the purification is complete. Its meat is distributed among the members of a group. In many cases the purification group is identical with the ceremonial group, but in some cases a number of the ceremonial groups combine to form a purification group. The following is the custom in the Taikokan district, west of the central mountain range.
The ceremonial groups in this district are very small, the largest consisting of little more than ten families, which are usually descended from common ancestors. The chief of the group is called Morufo ("elders"). This term is also applied to the ancestors and to the headmen of a village, and is usually assumed by the eldest man of a group. When he dies, or through illness or old age is unable to perform the duty, the next eldest man takes his place. The ritual performed by the ceremonial group is of three kinds: (1) Sumato, or the sowing ritual; (2) Taaren kimiroff, the harvest ritual; (3) Shimiyushi, or worship of spirits of ancestors. Of these rituals Nos. 1 and 3 are performed in common by members of the group, and No. 2 either in common or independently by each family. The sowing ritual marks the new year in the Taiyal calendar. No family can sow their fields unless they perform this rite. It is usually held between February and March in our calendar, when the moon is on the wane, that is, at the end of the lunar month. They dislike performing the ritual in the moonlight, and select a dark night for the purpose. In some cases they perform the ritual on the 7th or 8th month, or the 22nd or 23rd day of a lunar month. In the former
- ↑ Tiny shell beads strung together on a thread about 5 inches long; a number of these bead strings are stitched to a piece of cloth; a specimen is to be seen at the Pitt-Rivers Museum, Oxford. Beads, cloth and rifles are alike regarded as currency.
