[Note: this transcription was produced by an automatic OCR engine]

THE NIMANGKI TLEL SOCIETY 455
The period of seclusion from when the novices ï¬Årst go into
aiter the performance of the nenup rite, until the
the loghzrr,
time when they leave after the big dance, is said to cover a space
oi about three or fnur months. This does not tally with the
calendar oi activities as set forth i.n the account oi entrance into
Naai M0'r6h. According to this only thirty days are accounted
for, but this is almost certainly due to the fact that the informant
failed to give a complete recital oi the proceedings, and mentioned
only those incidents which had impressed hi.m most or which
he was willing to mention to the ethnograplier. Clearly 21 point
of outstanding importance to him were the intervals of ï¬Åve
days which elapsed between each phase oi the ceremonies 1 there
are ï¬Åve days between the exhumation of the bones and the
nemzp rite; ï¬Åve more between the nemzp and the nmsensung-
gorian ceremony ; and yet ï¬Åve again between this and the
investing oi the candidates with the Maui mbis. The only interval
which is not a ï¬Åve days’ one is that between the ï¬Årst trial per-
formance of the dance and the setting up of the new/ar nan lam,
which is said to take place eight days later. But the notes about
thi art of the ceremony are rough in the extreme, and foo
B P
much conï¬Ådence should not therefore be placed in them. On
' ' ' l 't became
inquiring into the signiï¬Åcance of the ï¬Åve-day interva s, i
- izlear. that they were regarded as a repetition of the funeral feasts
occur‘ _ev‘cry‘-five days until one hundred days have elapsed
i ;'"»i-Vi1$rl‘1‘i‘ti;he"’~_'£ixiie-iaf"the man's death, when the ceremony nitmah
§¥_i%§'*£i§;l‘¢l§§S':{f};i§§f{'eriiphasizes still further the close connection
in-: tweem.!he>lyi>niqngki Tlal and the ghosts of the dead.
" iinjaressed Deacon very greatly was that
‘;bï¬Åtx:€??“'_'hil9~"iY§htfl1ig]ti">I181 of Lambuinbu and the Tamale
‘:$0CietleS of the Banks Islands. He wrote :4
fl i» ," It is very instructive to compare in detail the Nivriangki
P l1,J:£,;:;;;i,T:,:;f;:£o‘£: ‘*“*i"%-t is 2“~““’¢"’i?iil°
H13 9 0 € WWW B, ll C
, iiesafl-xi iglggrnthe hats bging ghosts seems to be quite
In a. letter he developed this theme :—
_ “ In view of the striking resemblance oi the Nimangki Tlzl
_ to_the Banks T amalz the naming of the Nimangki"1'lel is interesting.
Rivers was always getting at the relation oi the Suki;/z to the
T at * h so to speak, Lhe Tamale is simply called ‘the Sacred
am 5, OTB,
Suhwr and the relation is fairly clear. The Nwumgln Tlel here