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Deacon A.B., 1934. Malekula: A Vanishing People in the New Hebrides / Organization and Preparation for War / Bernard A. Deacon / Vanuatu, Nouvelles-Hébrides, Malekula, South-West Bay
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_ WARFARE =19
against any persons or villages he could, through performing
the necessary clan ceremonies, involve them in ï¬Åghting (cf.
Chapter XX). In addition to this there appears to have been a
certain private war-making magic, for we are told that if a man
chew a certain leaf and spit it out in the direction of the com-
munity which he wishes to harm, muttering the while the spell :
“ Nevurzi komb nimorot are ti X—" 1 this community will be
drawn into a conflict. The idea behind the ritual of both the
ofï¬Åcial village magician and the private practitioner seems to
be that the magical acts either bring about insults or adulteries
which will lead to trouble, or else that they make one of the
parties involved imagine that they have been insulted or injured
by the other, and therefore attack them.
ORGANIZATION AND PREPARATION FOR WAR
Very little indeed has been recorded of the preparations
which are made for war expeditions, or of the way in which the
ï¬Åghting forces are organized. Since the men of a single village
are all members of the same clan, it is probable that anyone who
has been injured by a person belonging to another clan could
ask his fellow villagers to help in wreaking vengeance, but whether
they would agree to do so or not, probably depends to a very
great extent upon the social status of the aggrieved party and
the seriousness of the injury which he has suffered. Thus in the
instance quoted above, Vilamanggau was able to rouse all his
villagers in his attack on Loorcmcw after the death of Atawo,
but it is very questionable if he would have been able to do so
had he not been a man who had attained to the title of mar uaal
" a great ï¬Åghterâ€ù. Again the hostilities between Loorlangalat
and Vindawu, of which an account is given below, would probably
not have come to a head had not a man oi very high Nimangki
rank been one of those whose wife had been seduced.
It seems that normally the man who has asked his village-
or clans-folk for their help, will act as their leader during the
expedition, but any man who is termed may vaal is a potential
war-leader. Such an one does not necessarily conï¬Åne himself
to oonï¬Åicts in which his own clan is involved. He may be called
1 These words are in the dialect of Seniang; their meaning has not been
recorded.—Cr H. W.
_ L
r
.
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Hierarchy
Books and Archives on Malekula / Malicolo, Vanuatu [Collection(s) 38]
Deacon A.B., 1934. Malekula: A Vanishing People in the New Hebrides [Set(s) 833]
Links to other sets
Deacon 1934 - Cayrol v.1 1992 [Set(s) 1662]
Deacon 1934 - Cayrol v.2 1992 [Set(s) 1663]
Deacon 1934 - Cayrol v.3 1992 [Set(s) 1664]
Meta data
Object(s) ID 86281
Permanent URI https://www.odsas.net/object/86281
Title/DescriptionOrganization and Preparation for War
Author(s)Bernard A. Deacon
Year/Period1934
LocationVanuatu, Nouvelles-Hébrides, Malekula, South-West Bay
Coordinateslat -17.72 / long 168.36
Language(s)English
Copyright Copying allowed for personal non-commercial use. Please quote ODSAS.
Rank 283 / 901
Filesize 358 Kb | 927 x 1419 | 8 bits | image/jpeg
Transcription[ See/hide ]
Quote this document Deacon, Arthur Bernard 1934 [accessed: 2024/5/7]. "Organization and Preparation for War" (Object Id: 86281). In Deacon A.B., 1934. Malekula: A Vanishing People in the New Hebrides. ODSAS: https://www.odsas.net/object/86281.
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