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THE NALAWAN SOCIETY 431
the grade is so-called because all who do not belong to it are
strictly excluded from its celebrations. Very little is now
remembered about these former grades, but it seems that the
dance nimbumbal (which presumably is similar to the nimbmnbal
of Seniang), was associated with Nalau/an A11/as, and that
during its performance the men wore a croton called nelu/as
stuck in their hair. The dance performed for the ceremoniu of
Nnlawan Ambar was called mi maghnmagha, and for this the
croton nelwas is worn in the belt. The central ieature of the
Nalawzm Ambav rites was a we-ndar tree which was set up in the
dancing ground, and at a certain period in their performance the
candidates danced with nmdar branches in their hands, the
number of branches which each man carried being equal to the
number oi pigs which he had killed.
Oi the Nalawan grades which superseded these earlier ones
we know nothing, save what is probably a list of their names,
which runs as follows :—
N alau/zm Nei (or Ambar).
Nalau/an Sinowei,
Nalawan Olojm.
N alau/an N imbanggz Taghatagha.
N alau/an M m ngnei.
Nalawnn Av/as.
Nulamm Gulakang.
It these are indeed the grades which the people ot Mcwun
adopted into their system from the Nulau/an of Seniang, it is
‘curious that none of their names should show any resemblance
to‘ those from the south, unless we can correlate Men ngeni
with the Nimbatin ngnei of the south coast. Nalawzm Nzi is
almost certainly an abbreviation of Nalzm/an Nei Tilï¬Åh (also
called Nalau/an Ambar), and this together with Nalau/an A11/as
are undoubtedly the two original Mewun Nalaw/an grades
incorporated into the new series. The phonemcm of the Mewun
dialect are so markedly different from those of any coastal district
that such differences in the namcs are perhaps not to be wondered
at. Furthermore, it was observed as regards the Nimangki,
that the people of Seniang had added to their Nimangki system
a number of grades which they claimed to have obtained from
Lambumbu, yet the names of these are unknown in this north-
west district. So, too, the people of Mewun may have borrowed
Nalzzwan grades from Seniang without necessarily retaining the