Palu'e - Religion and Expressive Culture

Religious Beliefs. The mythology of most water-buffalo-sacrificing groups contains an account of the voyage of an ancestral pair coming from the far west and arriving at the present location of the island. Their boat carried the "stone and earth," a metaphor for the island, which grew to become Palu'e. These first ancestors brought along all knowledge of hada. In another myth of origin, seven boats traveled together. During the voyage the boats containing rice and water went astray and this accounts for their lack on Palu'e. The universe is layered, with seven levels constituting the terrestrial realm and eight levels making up the firmament. One myth recounts how the ties between the skies and the island became severed. In ritual terms, Palu'e is imagined as a living body with streams of blood circulating beneath the surface, the seaboard representing its "feet" and the mountain its "head." One abode of the ancestors is inside the volcano, where the island, with all of its domains, is replicated. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are met with the exclamation "We are here!" in order to remind the mythical animals on whose back the island rests of the existence of human beings. Lunar eclipses are caused by the morning star spearing the moon. In analogy to the growing "stone-and-earth" motif, every domain has as its ritual centers two monolithic structures ( tupu ) that are increased in size with every ceremonial cycle. The tupu is the place where the priest-leader can, by way of ritual and offering, establish contact with the first ancestors and with the Supreme Being. The Supreme Being stands at the origin of everything and is referred to as "SunMoon/Stone-Earth" ( era-wula/watu-tana ). There are several categories of supernatural being: nonpersonified spirits associated with specific places such as trees or rocks ( nitu ), and named personified spirits associated with natural phenomena such as rain and drought. By far the widest range of spirits dwells outside the island and incorporates both indigenous concepts and those from outside groups. The human soul has essentially two aspects, one that remains with the body until death and another, referred to as the "shadow-soul," which can leave the body during its lifetime and take on a number of human and animal disguises. It is this soul that the witch employs for his flight. Dogs bark at disguised witches, thereby providing the means for differentiation between these and other types of supernatural beings. Ancestral spirits that have not been able to leave the island are of a similar type.

Religious Practitioners. The efficacy of a practitioner ultimately depends on his relationship with the Supreme Being. As priest-leader, the lakimosa can establish the closest relationship to era-wula/watu-tana within his domain. Because of his close affinity with the sun and the moon, the life of a lakimosa is endangered during a total eclipse. The ritual activities performed by him and, by way of delegation, by members of his descent group, ensure the well-being of all of the domain. He is the guardian of the entrance to the ritual center and, as such, he controls access to the Supreme Being. The healer-sorcerer ( hata pisa ) can act only with his consent. With the help of his ancestral auxiliary spirits, the hata pisa can contact the realm of spirits and ancestors and locate and manipulate the cause of illness and misfortune befalling individuals or houses. These faculties also allow the hata pisa to assist the lakimosa in domain-specific ceremonies. The acquisition of the powers of a healer-sorcerer involves a period of illness or mental disturbance in the hata pisa's youth. This is rarely followed by a formal apprenticeship. In most cases the healer-sorcerer is male. Payment of his fees (livestock, ivory, golden ear pendants, money, land) is ensured by his capacity to cause harm. Most hata pisa are also considered to be witches ( hata nutu ), male or female individuals whose "shadow-soul" has the capacity to fly by night and enter people's dreams in order to cause harm. Witches can be expelled from a domain or taken to court for such activities. Minor practitioners include members of houses who hold special skills ascribed to named ancestors (e.g., influencing rain and wind, healing specific afflictions, and finding lost or stolen objects) and those who possess magical qualities related to agriculture, fishing, boat building, dyeing, food preparation, warfare, and navigation.

Ceremonies. The theme of ritual heat and coolness pervades Palu'e ritual and ceremonial life. All new things are hot, breaches and mistakes of hada create heat, and the general accumulation of negative influences generates heat. Such heat is noxious to human beings and needs to be cooled down regularly by way of ritual. The cooling agent is mostly coconut milk. All ritual cooling is accompanied by an offering of food and/or blood. Blood offerings are ranked according to ritual potency in the following order: water buffalo, pig, chicken, dog. Most ceremonial events involve the exchange of goods. Not all domains practice the sacrifice of water buffalo. A domain can also lose its capacity to do so if attempts to raise sacrificial animals have repeatedly been unsuccessful. The ritual cycle extends over a period of five years, beginning with the ceremonial purchase of yearlings from allies on Flores and ending with the sacrifice at the ritual centers of the domain. Several years of prohibition on the construction of boats and houses and on the export of harvest goods follow the sacrifice. The number of animals sacrificed varies between domains. The water-buffalo sacrifice is essentially the prerogative of the kunu of priest-leaders. It ensures the welfare of the domain and establishes its prestige by acting as host to other domains of the island, and specifically to its allies. The water-buffalo sacrifice and the ceremonial inauguration of boats make up a category termed kua ca, "large ceremonial events." Both employ similar texts recounting the myth of origin and involve the presence of other domains. All other ceremonies are termed kua lo'o, "small ceremonial events." This category includes the inauguration of houses, life-cycle rituals, healing rituals, rituals connected with fishing, and the rituals of the agricultural cycle. Every major stage of the agricultural cycle is initiated by the lakimosa on a ceremonial field and is followed by a ritually marked period of restriction on agricultural activities. In all domains the kua lo'o are essentially the same. In recent times the "domains of pig blood" have increased the scale of a ritual aimed at controlling the population of rats in an attempt to match the prestige of the "large ceremonial events" of the "domains of water-buffalo blood."

Arts. Graphic and plastic arts are restricted to tie-dyed textiles, decorated objects for everyday use, and carved and decorated implements for ceremonial use. The creation of chants during ceremonial dances is a major means of artistic expression. Chants are accompanied by three gongs and two drums. Musical instruments include the bamboo zither, Jew's harp, flute, tambourine, and ukulele.

Medicine. Relief from minor afflictions is sought by applying the common but limited knowledge of medicinal properties of herbs. Afflictions such as skin disease, intestinal worms, or toothache can be successfully dealt with by minor practitioners. Illness is generally caused by breaches of hada or witchcraft. In cases of severe illness the priest-leader mediates between the individual and his ancestors by way of ritual and the sacrifice of a pig. The sacrificial animal takes on the illness and is consumed by all members of the domain. In the last instance the help of the healer-sorcerer is enlisted. Knowledge of the ways of the healer-sorcerer is secret.

Death and Afterlife. Death occurs when the soul leaves the body through the fontanel. The body is wrapped in textiles provided by wife givers, and wife takers place golden ear pendants in its mouth. The deceased is buried in the vicinity of the house on the same day. The body is interred in a pit in reclining position with the feet pointing toward the rising sun. This orientation is reversed if death has been caused by an accident. A banana trunk can be substituted for a missing body. Personal belongings of the deceased are destroyed and disposed of in the direction of the setting sun. A general prohibition on agricultural labor is imposed throughout the domain for three days. A period of mourning of one year applies to members of the house of the deceased, entailing prohibitions pertaining to food, dress, agricultural labor, and general behavior. A widow of advanced age may be subject to prohibitions for the rest of her life. Prohibitions are announced on the third day after death, when the soul of the deceased has returned to the house. It is then sent off to commence its journey to the ancestral place of origin in the west. Elaborate secondary mortuary rituals entailing the setting of monoliths as points of communication with the deceased take place collectively for all of the deceased of a domain before the beginning of the final stages of the water-buffalo-sacrificing cycle. In some domains this is carried out separately by individual houses at any given time depending on the availability of harvest goods and livestock for ceremonial exchange. There are three conceptually interconnected abodes of the ancestors: the place of origin in the west; the inside of the volcano; and a banyan tree ( Ficus benjamina ) on the moon, from which the ancestors can observe the doings of their descendants.