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

536 MALEKULA
Pig-Giving AT FUNERALS
The giving and receiving of pigs is a marked characteristic
of Malekulan funerals. In the account of the rites following
upon the death of Apwil Naandu, four occasions were recorded
on which pigs were presented. The ï¬Årst of these was after the
bier on which the corpse was lying had been placed on the naai
1/or in the dancing ground. The pigs then distributed were
those which had belonged to the deceased. They were given
by his son to certain of the dead man’s relatives, including his
classiï¬Åcatory brothers and sisters’ sons. In this way the majority
of a man’s property (which consists mainly of pigs] is dissipated
after his death. The second pig~presentation took place on the
ï¬Åfth day after the death; it was, more accurately, a series of
presentations. First the grandson of the deceased brought two
of his grandfather's pigs which were killed by two men of high
N alawzm rank selected from among the visitors. Then ï¬Åve small
pigs were given to the ï¬Åve men of high N alawan rank who had
thrown the coco-nuts at the amel, gongs, etc., and handed over
to their friends. These pigs were then killed, and portions of
the flesh presented to one man of Nalawan rank in every village
represented at the funeral. To these men also, vegetable food
was given to go with the pork. Thirdly, all members of the
Nimangki grades to which the deceased had belonged received
pieces of pig, this transaction being performed without any
ceremony.
The third recorded occasion of pig~giving was the ceremony
for the conclusion of mourning, when each mourner brought a
small pig which he presented to the dead man’s son who in
return gave a pig of equal value.
The ï¬Ånal gift of pigs was that by which the widow dissociated
herself from her husband's community by paying to his son a
portion of the bride-price which had been given for her.
Other notes on the disposal of the dead in Seniang mention
still further exchanges of pigs and food.
A very fragmentary, and probably not quite reliable,
description of Apwil Naandu’s funeral, represents the pig-giving
on the ï¬Åfth day after his death as being more complicated than
in the full account reproduced above. After the five Nalawan
men had thrown their coco-nuts at the amel, gongs, etc;, the son