ancestor worship the religion of the new hebrides—temples and strange figures, and some sacred dances.
ancestor worship was undoubtedly the original religion of the new hebrideans, and in many islands the present form of worship is based upon it. according to mr. macdonald, a resident in exate, the followers of it believe that after death the soul passes through six stages before it finally dies. when its earthly life is over it goes to the gate of hades, which is situated at tukitaki, at the western extremity of the island. here it meets seritan the cannibal executioner, and his two assistants vanas and maxi. certain questions are then put by them to the soul, and if it does not answer them satisfactorily it is passed on to maseasi, who cuts out its tongue, splits its head open, and twists it back. if the questions asked by these officials at the gate are well answered, then the {154} soul is permitted to go on in peace through its various stages.
seritan in olden days was a noted cannibal chief, hence his work now in hades seems particularly suitable to his past experience. this idea of the hereafter has a faint resemblance to the maori beliefs; they hold that there are certain stages to be gone through, and the same belief of questions being asked is adhered to—though their final end, if they be worthy men and true, is not annihilation, as far as i could gather from the older chiefs, but a life of pleasure.
the trouble is, however, that they have undoubtedly got their ideas mixed up—a fault one finds with nearly all the savage races of to-day.
in efaté there are certain classes of people who are allowed to pass unquestioned into hades—those belonging to the namtaku tribe, and others who have certain figures carved on their bodies. why they don’t all go through this operation and escape the chance of having their necks broken is a mystery, but they are not the only believers in certain religious rites who do not bother about testing them.
the “m’aki” ground and the jaws of the sacred pigs, new hebrides
modifications of the above belief are also held in other islands, and in malekula it is supposed {155} that three stages only are gone through before the perfect spiritual condition is reached, and that the soul then fades away into nothingness.
the sacred men of these islands will tell you that they periodically visit the first stopping-place of the departed souls, and they say it is a long way under the ground. in this place all the important affairs of the world are discussed and arranged, and it is from here that the spirits work and punish those who do not follow the dictates of the sacred men. these priests or sacred men in this way have gained a tremendous control over their fellow-men, for superstition is strong and no native dare disobey a sacred man.
sacrifices of pig and other foods have to be made to inhabitants of the under world, and feasts are laid out for them, which they are supposed to devour when no one is near—a spiritual feast, so spiritual, indeed, that none but those who believe in these things can see the slightest signs of any of the food having been touched. such incredulity, however, has no effect on the natives, they look at you in a pitying way when you infer that the food has not been touched—such is belief.
in connection with their religion certain peculiarly shaped stones are denominated sacred and {156} are said to contain the spirits of departed relatives. in the case of a chief the stone is placed in a hut to preserve it from rough weather, and round it are arranged effigies of the chief, and perhaps of one or two of his nearest relations.
these images, or demits as they are called, are ghastly looking things, and when one comes suddenly up against them their full horror is apparent. after death the chief is decapitated and the skull is cleaned and bleached, and then, with a preparation of clay and fibre, a face representing his, as it was while he was alive, is modelled on the bare skull; his peculiarities in feature are emphasised to a degree bordering on caricature, but they are not meant as caricatures, but are intended only to bring back to the beholders the characteristic points of the chief’s face.
a memorial effigy, malekula, new hebrides
this figure represents a departed chief who has gone to the under world and become a “demit.”
the figure is made on a framework of wood or bamboo, covered with clay and vegetable fibre. the head is the real skull of the chief covered in the same way as the body with real hair and beard; the arms, round which are pigs’ tusks, are made from a small plant, the root forming the hands. one of the reasons the natives have for making figures in this way is that the chief may still be able to look upon his friends. at the side of the figure is a bundle of sacred pigs’ jaws; in front is a priest.
the body of the effigy is built up on a framework of wood, and covered with the same preparation of clay and fibre and modelled in a like manner, but, as a rule, it is seriously out of proportion. when this imitation body is finished it is coloured in three shades, red, black, and white (sometimes blue is found on them, but as the natives are unable to obtain this colour naturally it is only used where the traders can supply it). down the trunk of the body long stripes are made, running {157} vertically or horizontally, and round the legs bands of these alternate colours are painted. the shoulders and knees are decorated with grotesque faces, surmounted by tufts of fibre which often rise to a distance of three or four inches. a bamboo cane is stuck in each of these tufts, and on the top of it splendid specimens of boars’ tusks are sometimes to be seen.
the hands of these idols are made from the roots of a sapling, and add to the weirdness of the picture. bracelets of boars’ tusks are also found on some of these effigies.
other sheds and places of worship contain somewhat different things. the sacred stone is guarded by nude wooden figures of men and women, cut in the roughest style and free from ornament. the posts holding up the shed have also elaborate figures of strangely misshaped heads with shapeless bodies attached.
but to the more important part of their religion. in every village there is a “sing-sing” ground laid out—this is the slang term for it, but it is appropriate. these grounds are kept for dancing, not the frivolous dancing of the europeans, but a sacred, awe-inspiring, religious ceremony. the very idea of frivolity seems wrong in such a place. {158} the cleared space is surrounded by a dense, dark bush, and on the edge of the clearing high wooden posts slanting in various directions are stuck into the ground. these drums, for such they are, are grotesque things, standing from four to six feet high, with a dark slit down the centre, and a fearsome face carved on the front; some are all face and look like terrible nightmares, and each has behind it a carved stone.
picture yourself on one of these grounds on a warm moonlight night, when a dance is to take place. dense clouds are rolling over the sky and now and then obscuring the moon or sending fitful shadows across the bare space; beyond is black bush so thick that it looks like a weird inferno. you wait and listen, and hear nothing but the roar of the distant volcano. presently a crowd of stark naked natives make their appearance and take up their position each by the side of a drum, and begin a dull beating noise to call the dancers. in the centre of the ground is a circle of five or six white poles, some thirty feet long, bent and crooked and leaning all ways.
these drums are made of large tree-trunks, burnt out in the centre through the long slot down the middle; both the slot and the round openings are sound-holes. the meaning of the designs on the drums is unknown. a heavy round drum-stick of wood is used. every one of the drum-groves i have seen appeared to be haunted by an old man or two. round the drums the “m’aki” ceremony takes place.
when deserted these “sing-sing” grounds are uncanny enough, but on a dance night they are worse, and when the drumming commences, which {159} sounds as if it came from the bowels of the earth, and makes the flesh of your back feel as if it wanted to come off, the climax is reached. you become chock-full of the supernatural, and would not be in the least surprised if the earth opened up and the dancers appeared amidst flames and smoke. nothing quite as bad does happen, but, presently, lights are seen flashing in the bush, and dark objects holding torches come out and calmly take up their position in the circle, till nearly a hundred human beings, naked save for paint and streamers, are moving about.
suddenly the drumming noise changes to a sort of tattoo, and then a file of men line up and begin to keep time to the drums with their feet; slowly at first, and then faster and faster till the very earth shakes, and the dull thudding echoes through the dark bush. then a savage song is heard, a low chanting, and the men begin to whirl round and round the posts till the eye becomes glazed and the flickering light from the torches conjures up a thousand things that never happen, but the drumming, monotonous beating of those wooden images goes on and the tapping of the feet. the crowd of women over by the bush stand watching in an almost hypnotic state, their bodies swaying {160} unconsciously to the beating of the drums and the feet—black naked women with vermilion-coloured faces, and white, staring, rolling eyes watching every movement of the dance. then a sudden dying away of the drums and the shuffling of the feet and silence. it is weird indeed.
the women step forward, it is their turn now, and a wild scene commences. more weird and more noisy than ever. their shrill voices, mingling with the thumping of the drums and the gruff monotones of the men, make the bush resound. this is kept up for a long time, and then suddenly they all rush off and the place is left in darkness.
on the morrow a big feast is held and the chief kills the sacred pigs. the ceremony attached to this is worth seeing, as it is one of those customs that are so time-worn that both their significance and original meaning are lost and only the outward ceremony remains. for this the natives are highly decorated with flowers and paint, and their frills and plumes are extra well attended to. after a few preliminary canters round the dancing ring to drive away the evil spirits, the chief and sacred men appear, carrying spears. to the accompaniment of drums these worthies pirouette round the ground. when this exercise is finished a band of {161} natives face them and sing a wild song. girls next appear before the chief, highly be-plumed and be-feathered and with faces stained bright red. they in their turn dance and sing. next comes the procession composed of men only, who carry the pig, which, like paddy’s, has a string tied to its leg in case it tries to get away. the procession goes round the whole circle while the drums are beaten in a quick tattoo—the squeals of the pig do not in the least affect these stolid drummers, who ever keep time and never smile. at last, when the circle is complete, the pig is cast at the feet of the chief, who spears it with much gusto and then flings the spear away. the pig is sometimes properly killed afterwards, but it is not considered necessary. it is then carried away to where the spear, thrown by the chief, has fallen. this is the way the pig is sacrificed to the sacred stone. each stone has to have its pig, so the killing goes on until the right number has been slain. then comes the cooking of all the dead and dying grunters, and the biggest feast of the season is commenced. so fat is the feast that at least half-a-dozen of those taking part in it have to be removed and rubbed down by their comrades, or the women-folk, to save them from death from over-gorging. {162}
there are many other ways of performing these dance and pig ceremonies, and each island, in fact each village, varies the performance, but they all begin with a dance and end with a feast, which is the usual programme for savage functions.
