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

594 MALEKULA
eight do not kill the bird." It would seem probable from this‘,
that the “bird " referred to is the unnamed totem of A1-nelf
Mbwirmial, from which the others were “ born ". The only;
village belonging to this clan about which we know is Ndawu,[
whose totem is the locust which could hardly be classed as 31
“ bird ". We know, too, Hut the tree niflinumbon sprang from;
the stone Newt Namar and that nindangmiung is a manifestation)
of Temes Mor Vaal, It is difï¬Åcult, therefore, to comprehend»
the meaning oi this list. Nevertheless, it would seem to suggest,
that here againwe have an instance of =1 number of clans respecting.
the same totem (though they also have individual ones of their!’
own) and moreover that the basis of this respect is that this:
totem is believed to be the common ancestor of them all. . ;
On the other hand, there is also evidence that the villages-
of one clan may sometimes have different totems. In the clani
of Vitvitleo, the two villages whose toten-is are recorded are
Mbwilmbar and Ncmep; that of Mbwilmbar is the temes Mob
Vaal, or his bird form, nindangndang, While Ncmep has the female‘
being Nevinbnmbaau. These two are mythical individuals, butt
no story has been recorded of Mor Vaal and those concerning.
Nevinbumbaau do not connect her with them. Another example;
of the villages of one clan having different totems is in that whose
gong-rhythm is Nambal ima rondr rondr. The totem attributed
to this clan as a whole is mam (a shellѕsh) but the village Leml
bwilmamb (now the chief village of the clan) has nemimvmnu
(a. variety of tree), which is also the totem of Nembiirii of the clan
Noumou. It is not clear, however, whether new is also a totem
of this village or whether neminumvu is its only one. '~
The Clan Nezrew
Besides the totem which most if not all clans possess, many
have also the power of “ making â€ù or " increasing " some essential
foodstuff or at widespread natural phenomenon. Those clans
which have power over a foodstuff celebrate annually at the time
of the yam harvest a kind of harvest festival called menu/,
naamw or noorow, the aim oi which is to make plentiful the
plant or animal concerned, The neerew oi each clan takes its
name after the foodstuff which it controls, as, tor instance, the
Neerew M betep (" M eerm of the brcacl~fruit ") or New/aw N1'mbaai_
(“Nearm of the yarns "). The rites are performed by one;