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

482 MALEKULA
together and perform the dance called nivopwowim. Though
there is no explicit statement on the matter it seems that this
dancing is carried on in a clearing outside the Lupus house ; on
the other hand it is possible that the gathering is in the village
dancing ground, for according to one note the men also perform
on this occasion a dance called mbal pangpang and, owing to the
igah nature of the nivaval it does not seem probable that they
would approach it. The following day all the candidates are
taken down to the neighbouring river. Each is accompanied by
her maternal uncle and her maternal uncle's wife. The girl lies
down i.n a semi-recumbent position and is held by her aunt.
A piece oi wood taken from the core of a tree (nivin balumint)
is put into her mouth like the bit of a horse's bridle so that she
cannot clench her teeth, and her mother's brother then carriis
out the operation by hammering the incisors with another piece
of wood. When it is over, the candidate returns to her village,‘
kills a pig, and presents it to some woman who has herself been
through the ceremony. In return she receives from this woman
the title of her new status, Lisap. The girl's mother then gives
her daughter a small head-mat (nimban) which the latter piits on.
This closes the ceremony. The girl is now recognized as a woman ;
she may wear the mat-skirt (niisrnbet), she is eligible for marriage,
and as soon as she (or her father for her) has collected suilicient
pigs she can make her ï¬Årst step upwards in the Lupus.
In the Lupus society as in the Nimangki and Nnlau/an, each
grade has its own name, and a distinctive title for its members.
These are as follows “ :—
Grade Name. Grad: Title.
(lg PN_n‘um Limbwelinip Likan. ‘
2 Nmom Langulnng . Likan Mbuas or Likan Roovun.
5:; r ~
(5 Linggul . . Linggul.
The meaning of these grade names has not been recorded, but
it appears that the ï¬Årst may signify " The House which Deceives “
1 It is possible um Gila returns not to the village but to the house in the
bush where she has been secluded ; the iOr|:nar in, however, the more pr0bable.—
6' 5"n."§;= is some doubt as to the name of the lowest grade. Besides the
“SE given above two Oiihm‘ lists have been found, which, it is possible, i-are:
to can secret association I8 it is found in Other districts of semi Malekull.
The ï¬Årst includes four names: Likun Vamm, Likan LAM awfll, Niko» Tmi,
um» Mon‘. The other has six names: Likwn, Lilian guru, Lilian Tm,
Lilian Langaudll, Lamggul, and Linmip.-c. i-i. w.