SIGNS IN SOCIETY - STIBA Malang

jo' I Signs in Ethnographic Context
Transactional Symbolism in Belauan Mortuary Rites I 57
I was told that, in Ngeremlengui, the mourning period at the death of the firstranking
male titleholder, Ngirturong, would be ten days, for the second-ranking
male titleholder, Ngiraklang, nine days, and for the third- and fourth-ranking
titleholders seven days. Also, elderly informants recall funerals of high-ranking
individuals at which the bier itself became an elevated platform (also called
toluk), constructed not of bamboo but of solid wood. 9
The family of the deceased
did not bear this expense, however. At the funeral of the first-ranking titleholder,
senior women from the house of the second-ranking titleholder purchased the
platform from the local men's club; and at the death of the second-ranking titleholder
the tribute was reciprocated. Mention must also be made of the remarkable
andésite sarcophagus which Hidikata (1973:85-91; see also Osborne
1966:206, fig. 64) found in Ollei village (northern Babeldaob) in 1939. 1 0 Although
this is a unique object in Belau, its original placement does suggest that
mortuary practices have long been used to mark rank differentiation (Osborne
1979:270). Today, this gradation in social rank is more clearly demonstrated by
the length of time the female mourners remain confined after the burial and by
the number of pigs killed for the various feasts.
According to pre-Christian cosmological notions, just as the corpse must be
shielded so as not to contaminate the living, the ghost must be prepared for the
journey which results in its final transformation into an ancestral spirit. Ethnographic
information on concepts of ancestral spirits is sketchy but sufficient to
point out that they were considered intermediaries between living people and
more formally recognized, named gods {chelid), and that only high-ranking
houses generated significant spirits. This is one reason that these houses require
extensive and expensive funeral feasts, since the transformation from personal
ghost to ancestral spirit results in an entity which continued to exert powerful
forces in the village's political life. In the domestic context, ancestral spirits
played a positive role as guardians of the house, as sources of information and
good fortune, and as guarantors of generational continuity (resembling to some
degree the famous baloma spirits of the Trobriands); and their cooperation was
secured by regular offerings of food and prayer at the house's altar (Kubary
1969:6—7). Indeed, part of the authority of the male titleholder of a house rested
in his role as the officiant of this domestic cult and in the fact that, through his
carrying the house's sacred title, he was closer to the ancestral bladek, who held
the same title in previous generations (Kubary 1900^25—26).
Personal ghosts from all over Belau travel in a southerly direction, first to
Melachel island (near Oreor), where they are purified in a bathing pool, then to
the southern coast of Beliliou, and finally to Ngedelech beach on Ngeaur island,
the "dancing place of ghosts," from which place they cross a bridge to the spirit
world in a westerly direction (Krämer 1917-29, 3:348, 4:195). The belief was
that the ghost takes along the spiritual image or shadow of items placed near the
corpse. Alongside a female corpse might be placed her finest female valuables,
whereas a male corpse might be adorned with male valuables and his favorite
handbag. Kubary (19008:38) writes:
Women's corpses are covered with turtleshell trays, which are the principal
kind of female money. According to the wealth of the house, these extend up
to the hips, and the trays lean on the legs, or they may be placed as far up as
the shoulders, if the family is rich. If a man has died, his handbag is placed at
his left side, it is filled with fresh betelnut and tobacco, and the native udoud
([male] money) is piled up on its outer edge. His shoulder axe, which was his
inseparable companion, rests on the body, and his battle lance stands against
the door.
These particular beliefs have faded today, though I have seen photographs of the
deceased placed on top of the coffin, and people still talk, though in a Christian
idiom, of the "journey" of the dead.
These beliefs and other graveside rituals are well summarized in Captain Barnard's
description of a funeral he witnessed in 1832:
In a few days after, his brother was taken sick and soon was very sick. My
friend came to the Prophetess with a piece of money for her to cure him, but
he soon died. I was then told the cause of his death. It was because his brother,
belonging to another town from where I was, had become my friend, and the
prophetess being the wife of my friend in Ngebiul, she had spoken to her God
and he had caused his death. I attended his funeral and witnessed that ceremony;
after his death he was taken to his brother's house. When I entered the
town it appeared like a fair; many little huts were stuck up, large enough to
hold three or four individuals. The large bai [meeting house] was filled with
Chiefs cooking a hog, and a sack of tobacco ready for distribution, at the
house of mourning, for such it was in reality. The Corpse was laid within the
door, the head on the sill. Red paint [turmeric] was strewn over the body. By
his side lay his basket with nut leaves, fireworks, etc., and a sword belonging
to his brother. According to the universal custom, a grave was dug a few feet
from the door into which the body and its ornaments were placed. On the
tenth day after, stones were placed over the grave. Then all mourning ceases,
except that the females do not wash themselves for three Moons. (Barnard
1980:29; spelling and punctuation modernized)
One specialized practice pertains to funerals of unmarried women, who by
definition no longer have affinal relatives to provide active financial assistance.
These women require an additional piece of male money called diall "ship" to
accompany them on their journey. 11
People explained that the woman's ghost
travels with this piece of money to Ngeaur, where she confronts Orrekim, the
guardian of the bridge to the spirit world. Without the diall, the woman would
not be allowed to pass over this bridge to attain the status of ancestral spirit
(Force and Force 1981:87). Today things have become even more confusing because
most people no longer cite this traditional justification for the practice and
because, now, married women too are presented with the diall. Prior to the in-