Anastasia Clarke, Rea Lila and Shaimaa Helal Introductory Skit Uwelasis Death Owners and Workers The Threat of Sorcery Carrying the Dead Person Keeping the Dead Alive 3 Key Themes 8 Anthropological Terms Game/Challenge Concluding Remarks Please listen and enjoy! Each person now has a role to play that will change the direction of his or her work for at least half a year Attention to death is swift then drawn out over a long period of time. The deceased is far too valuable to disappear quickly from the minds and hearts of those who mourn Uwelasi, an old but powerful chief, second only to the Tabalu chief- who lived in Tubuwada, a village about 5 miles from Kwaibwaga, had been ill for several weeks when the neighbours of Weiner, Bomapota and her mother, took her to see him. Internally Uwelasi was dying, but outwardly he was adorned with cultural symbols of youth and chiefly rank expressive of his past seductiveness and fame. Almost every death that occurs is believed to be the result of sorcery (bwagau) effected by a specialist who chants magic spells into the victim's betel nut or tobacco Only when a person is very old and dies while asleep is death considered 'natural'. The villagers simply say, 'His time was up; he lived a full life without angering anyone' Uwelasi was old, but he was a chief and so it was believed that someone wanted him dead. Illness signals danger. An enemy is showing his intent. Hostility showed by an enemy that results in death not only culminates in the loss of a person but also is viewed as an attack against the very vitality of a matrilineage. Note: Trobrianders reckon descent matrilineally. The ancestors, usually a woman and her brother, of each matrilineage are called a dala. Kinship is the key factor in defining the part in the ensuing drama that each person will play The "owners of the dead person's things" (toliuli) are those who are members of Uwelsai's matrilineage, assisted by other villagers who belong to his clan. They organize the burial and the exchanges that follow. The "workers" (toliyouwa) are villages from other clans who are related to Uwelasi through marriage and patriliaterally. From Diagram: Major owners include dead person's matrilineage and major workers are the wife and father of the dead person and the other members of their respective matrilineages. Workers can also include friends and political allies There are distinct roles for owners and workers A chief's death used to last three days but after colonization, the Australian government demanded that burial, for sanitation reasons, occur more quickly, and now it takes place on the day following the first all-night vigil. Competition among male workers in singing the repertoire of their ancestral song Trobrianders are taught to mask their feelings for each other. To express anger openly evinces fighting and once these hostile feelings are exposed, they can never be recalled. In the minds of the Trobrianders, such behaviour ultimately leads to sorcery. Big mistakes in the past can lead to a matrilineage line being destroyed by sorcery as a result of that mistake Each dead person is perceived as a victim of someone else's control The vitalness of the matrilineage is a key reason why sorcery is the ultimate threat. Even chiefs must reckon with such limits within their own groups. Succession to a chieftaincy is inherited within the matrilineage. So when a chief dies, his heir is a suspect. Uwelasi: Those conducted burial first removed his shell decorations for these symbols are too valuable to bury In the night before the burial, women had placed their feet under the body, carrying it and they also clipped his figernails and cut off some of his hair. They carefully placed these physical mementos in small white cowrie shells which were attached to a long red necklace. A few women workers who were closest to Uwelsai, for example, his father's sister's daughters and his own daughters, each wear one of these necklaces and will "carry" Uwelsai in this way as sign of continual mourning. When someone is buried often nothing is put with him but with chiefs, something valuable is put so with Uwelsai, three 12-foot long yams (kuvi) were brought to his grave to be buried with him. Taboos of Death: The surviving spouse failing to seclude themselves Not only do mourners stay secluded or cover their bodies in black, even their own names become taboo. The major mourners such as the dead person's parents, siblings, children spouse, father and father's siblings, are called by a special kin term that defines who he or she is in relation to the deceased. Weiner accidentaly, after the death of Dabweyowa's father forgot to call him by his new name, Tomilabova (the son of a dead man) and called him Dabweyowa. He did not say a word and got up and left without returning for two days, at which point, no mention of the incident was made. Mourning taboos: Other workers must observe some mourning taboos; most shave their heads, those more closely related will refrain from eating 'good food' and those more distantly related will wear dark clothes or even tie a black cloth around their arms. Before taking on taboos or symbols of mourning, each person must first receive a payment from the owners for the part she or he played in the burial proceedings. First set of exchanges are called sigiliyawali Second set of exchanges are called taytu Largest distribution goes to the spouse and spouse's matrilineal kin and to the dead person's father or father's representative and members of his matrilineage. The matrilineal kin of each spouse will present men's valuables, such as stone axe-blades, clay pots, large decorated shells, and sometimes money. These valuables are given as compensation payment for their lack of care in allowing the death to occur. If owners do not accept gifts, the matrilineal kin will become suspects of the death The following day, another distribution (tadabali) was held. The women organize exchanges as they give their wealth, bundles of banana leaves to all the workers, who by their dress will continue publically to express their grief. A much larger distribution will be held four to six months later, when all the workers will be handsomely repaid with large numbers of bundles and skirts that will end the formal mourning period. When a man dies, his children receive payments as workers, but if they are married, they also help the owners in fulfilling all the necessary distributions, this help is necessary especially in small matrilineages. Of course, they are not 'true owners' and will be physically distinguishable as 'true owners' shave their heads and paint their bodies black. By examining the procedures of death, we find how important it is to conceptualize the "social person" as someone who is created in part by others. The attention to death is a serious and time-consuming attempt to make some part of the dead person survive for the living. The exhaustive effort that surrounds mourning is an indication that the work of attending to the growth and development of the person has not been in vain. Definition of Kinship: The people we are related to through blood (consanguineal) and marriage (affinal). Kinship is the key factor in defining the part in the ensuing drama that each person will play during a death. The members of the matrilineage earn privileges as 'owners' of the deceased's person's belongings. They are responsible for organizing the burial and the exchanges that follow and they also must not touch the corpse, dig the grave or carry the body to the grave site. The members of the matrilineage also have responsibilities to mourn the death of the deceased through shaving their heads and blackening their faces. When a chief dies, it is a member within his own matrilineage that will succeed him in chieftaincy The members of the patrilineage and marriage have the responsibilities of becoming "workers" in the customs and traditions of death. These examples are among the many discussed in this presentation. In essence, kinship determines what roles people play in a death, and what organization presumes after the death of an important figure like the chief, and so the theme of kinship as an organizing principle is exemplified. This theme deals with the discussion of socialization, status and role, the realm of public and private and social and group identity (among other things as well) The status of the individual is showed within the burial ceremony as those of higher rank are buried with more valuable possessions, such as Uwealsi who was buried with a yam. The event of death is a communal one as villages of different matrilineages come together to mourn the loss, and even compete during the singing of the ancient repertoires, an event that helps bring the groups together The death of an individual also stalls the activities of society as during the mourning period, there is to be no celebrations even if it is the harvest season The realm of public and private is further explored in the theme of death as there are both public mourning sessions and private mourning sessions (i.e. the isolation of the spouse) which both serve their respective purposes In all, through the death practices of the Trobrianders, the power and role of individuals in society is shown and practices/rituals affect both groups and society on a whole Belief systems and practices include religion, religious movements, myths, rituals, witchcraft, magic, sorcery and dinvination. When it comes to death, sorcery plays a huge role in explaining what the Trobrianders believe is the cause of death Sorcery is the only fear instilled into the minds of Trobriand children and it is a grave matter that is carried on from generations to generations through the matrilineage line. A mistake of an ancient ancestor can cause the death of an entire matrilineage as shown in the story of the family of ten children, of which only one was currently alive due to sorcery Sorcery also affects the practices conducting during death forcing the Trobrianders to mourn unstoppably in fear of being accused as a suspect of the death. The spouse's matrilineal kin's exchange of men's valuables to the 'owners' is done as they assume responsibility for the loss while also proclaiming their innocence of the crime itself. If owners think that the payment is not large enough, they assume that truly the spouse's kin has a direct hand in the killing and may begin to plot their retaliation. Belief systems play a large part in determining rituals and practices, as well as greatly affect social relations and interactions The news about the death must first be spread and reach the rest of the family and friends of the deceased Definition: A religious or solemn ceremony consisting of actions performed according to a predetermined order The villagers then begin making the corps look youthful and beautiful by dressing it in the traditional garments worn by village youth. Locks of the deceaseds hair and his fingernails are removed and slipped into cowrie shells which female workers are designated to keep on necklaces as a symbol of mourning for several years. The decorations which are deemed too valuable to bury are taken off the body and wrapped in pandanus leaves. Workers begin to dig the grave while it is late in the day and the sun is still up. At the burial, the bodys arms and legs are bound to keep the body looking dignified and about ten men hoist the body on their shoulders. Mourning continues for a minimum of four months after the body is buried traditionally. During this time the owners host many exchanges of goods. There are three cases of acculturation through contact with the Australians and the government. Definition: Major cultural changes people are forced to make owing to intensive firsthand contact between societies Australians changed the practise of mourning into 1 day the death of a man his wife would be required to stay in solitude in a hut, for about half a year. The Australians changed the practice so that the widow would be allowed out to excrement waste. The second case of accommodation is the government ban on a second burial. Customarily the workers would remove the corpses bones, clean them, and store them in their houses for 5 to 10 days, then rebury them. The final case of accommodation was the widespread fear that young men would get Western poisons when they work on other islands outside the Kula ring. Definition: An explanation of events based on the belief that certain individuals possess an innate psychic power capable of causing harm, including sick-ness and death. Also includes beliefs and practices of benevolent magic Flying witches are individuals who are believed to have the ability to leave their bodies while asleep. In an invisible state, they can attack someone by destroying a vital organ; however, a flying witch can also recite spells that will counter the attack and cure the patient. Whenever an old woman who was said to be a flying witch was met, young men and women gave her their last betel nuts as they did not want to anger her. Definition: A set of rituals, rationalized by myth, that mobilizes supernatural powers to achieve or prevent transformation of state in people and nature. Trobrianders have spiritual beliefs. They believe in the afterlife: after death, the spirit baloma will travel to the island of Tuma and will be rejuvenated. One must turn the body of someone with powerful magic to avoid evil spirit kosi escaping. Set of taboos strengthen connection between the living and the dead. Wife must be secluded. Relatives must be called by kinship name. Definition: A mode of exchange whereby the giving and the receiving are specific in terms of the value of the goods and the time of their delivery The workers, before taking on these symbols of mourning, receive a payment from the owners. The first set of exchanges, sigiliyawali, involving yams, taro, and small amounts of money, takes place the day after the burial. Both the large yams, kuvi, and the regular sized yams, taytu, are used for the necessary payments, but the sizes and the amounts given vary depending on the status of the person and upon her or his relationship to the deceased. The largest distribution goes to the spouse of his/her matrilineal kin and to the dead persons father and members of his matrilineage. Owners must call on their supporters for help in amassing the necessary numbers of yams. Everyone knows what they will be receiving and when a member of their matrilineal kin pass away, this same giving process will be returned Definition: Sounds or gestures that stand for meanings among a group of people Before burying, the Women workers remove a few fingernails and cut off some of his hair and form it into a necklace. For several years they will carry Uwelasi in this as a sign of continual mourning. Shaving their heads, close relatives refraining from eating good food, wearing dark clothes and tying a black cloth around their arms are all symbols of mourning. By carrying the symbols of beauty and power that in youth and in adult life helped make that person strong and vital, the dead persons fathers sisters daughter demonstrates all that was achieved through the years of living. Death is seen as a symbol of destroying and calling into question all the relationships that a dead person worked so hard to develop throughout his or her life. A matrilineage strong in numbers and with the ability to pay workers indicates that the loss of a single person can be overcome. The exhaustive effort that surrounds mourning is an indication that the work of attending to the growth and development of the person has not been in vain. Definition: The social esteem others hold for an individual If the dead were a chief he would be buried with a large yam so when he reaches Tuma he can show it as part of his political power [the average person is buried with nothing]. Even when a chief is ill, he is adorned with cultural symbols that express his past seductiveness and fame (his prestige) Definition: Descent traced exclusively through the female line to establish group membership The importance of matrilineal descent is exemplified through the "owners" and "workers" titles The matrilineal descent being the most important to the Trobrianders, allows them to gain the position of 'owners' rather than 'workers' during a burial Do you remember the brief story from the beginning? Accessorise chief Uwelasi! There will be a prize for the individual who can do it correctly! State the significance of these accessories and relate them to one anthropological concept. GOOD LUCK!!