4 from ritual to theater and back: the efficacy ... - AAAARG.ORG

from ritual to theater and back 121
contemporary sources. As I said, the process runs in two directions –
from ritual to theater and back.
Unlike the kaiko dancing grounds, the “council grounds” (as they
are called) at Kurumugl are near no regular village. The colonial Australian
government – Papua New Guinea became independent in 1976
– set up the grounds as a place where former enemies assemble to singsing
(pidgin for dance–music–theater). The difference between the
Tsembaga and the people at Kurumugl is that the kaiko brought
together traditional allies while at the Kurumugl sing-sing traditional
enemies met. The performance at Kurumugl was in danger of tipping
over into actual combat, even though the performing looked very
much like that of the konj kaiko: dance movements adapted from combat,
war chants, the arrival of a guest group at a dance ground piled
high with freshly slaughtered, cooked pork. The celebration I saw at
Kurumugl took two days. The first day consisted of arriving, setting up
temporary house inside long rectangular huts, and digging cooking
ovens. All of the about 350 people assembled on the first day were of
one tribal group. They awaited the arrival of their guests, a group
comparable in size, and recently the enemy. The second day began with
the slaughter by the hosts of about 200 pigs. These were clubbed on
the snouts, their heads smashed. As each owner kills his animal he
recites – sings – a speech telling how difficult it was to raise the pig,
who it is promised to, what a fine animal it is, etc. These pro forma
recitatives are applauded with laughs and roars, as they often contain
jokes and obscene invective. The orations are accompanied and punctuated
by the death squeals of the pigs. Then the animals are gutted,
butchered, and lowered in halves and quarters into earth ovens where
they cook over hot rocks. Their guts are hung in nets over the ovens and
steamed. Their bladders are blown into balloons and given to the children
who rush around the grounds shouting and playing. The sight and
smell of so much meat and blood excites the people, including me. No
special clothes are worn for the killing. The only visible ritual element I
detected was the careful display of pig jawbones on a circular altar-like
structure in the middle of the dance grounds. From each jaw flowers
were hung.
As the cooking starts, the men retire to the huts to begin adorning
themselves. From time to time a man emerges to try on a towering