remembered.
It should be remembered that the important geographica1 distinction between parishes was their separate gardening a r e a s . Along the seabord axis the string of settlements was almost continuous between one parish and the next. In several cases there was no physical separation of residential areas at all.^
The village, among the Teitasi at least, seems to be a unit created for administrative purposes under the
colonial government. In some cases the names do coincide with regions roughly distinguished traditionally within
the district but not with corporate groups except in the rare cases where the parish has become a village. Just as commonly the parish is divided by village boundaries and often the meaning of village names is not known.
The strip of settlements along the shores of Hanahan Bay, from Hahalis to Kotopan, are i hanana i H a n a h a n , the group of settlements of Hanahan. Similarly, further
along the coast are the settlements i hanana i G o g o h e , i hanana i Lonahan and i Malasang. These units coincide almost exactly with the maximal political groupings - the districts. (Lonahan and Malasang may have had a fairly constant alliance with each other.) Informants from Ieta said that the area of the coast that their group controlled was not such as to warrant the term i hanana i Ie t a .
The Hananan group of settlements has its eye
(h a m a t a n ) to the south. It also has its middle (hahagus )
1
I am told that settlement now is somewhat more nucleated than before the arrival of Australian Kiaps. There was also probably less settlement on the beach before contact. 2
The same applies to Gogohe and almost certainly to the other districts.
at the area known as Hagus vill a g e . It is notable that there is apparently no corresponding term such as 'back12 for any of the settlements to the north of Hagus.
The people from Hahalis to Tohatsi inclusive refer to each other as ara hobo t o , rwe (inclusive) together1 or katun itarara, 'our people *. Even though people at either end of this district may not have so regarded each other quite so readily as others, this usage expresses the unity of a political organisation whose members were all ideally on friendly terms (n i g a n a ) in the days before pacification. And they were set off from enemies (pa k o u ) across the borders, the G o g o h e , the Solos and the Haku. Again, at the margins of Hanahan territory there were groups which had closer ties with adjacent districts than did groups at the centre - Hahalis with Tahetahe (Gogohe district) and Solos villages; Hanahan hamatana with the Solos; Tohatsi with Haku villages to
the north.
There are 3 formal categories of rank status. The least important and most common is the tsunono. In the second, more select, category are those tsunono who are tsunono m a u , ‘tsunono to be mour n e d 1 conspicuously.
Each had the right to construct the lumankessa clubhouse. They are said to be so ranked whether or not their own
clubhouse is maintained by the parish as the centre for ceremonial or feasting. Greater respect is paid to the tsunono mau than to an ordinary ‘big tsunono1 because, people say, the sorcery he has inherited is greater. Of highest rank was the tsunono who holds the position of
2
m onihil, the chief of the district. This man alone is
1
The people of Tohatsi speak the Haku and Halia dialects equally fluently.
2
Very few people today can even make an attempt to explain the meaning of moni h i l . A literal translation is ‘stem of the b l a c k p a l m ’ which, as the few point out, was the material of bows and arrows and other weapons.
4i
k n o w n as tsunono m a l , u s u a l l y explained as ’the tsunono whose bi t t e r words are f u l f i l l e d . *
It is said that the m o n ihil has no sorcery of his own and w i l l not abet the irresponsible use of sorcery. He knows w h i c h e v e r p erson has it. The type of sorcery ref e r r e d to is matouna (m a t o u t u = * to f e a r * ) w h i c h is contr o l l e d by t s u n o n o . There are contradictory views h o w ever as to whether all tsunono themselves have matouna now. It is a s s o c i a t e d w i t h the l u m a n k e s s a . The most powerful sorcery of all was a s s o c i a t e d w i t h the h e a d of the ruko figure h o l d at Togolo in H a n a h a n (see monaruko below). This a n d the secrets of other sorcery of e a r l i e r tsunono is s a i d to have b een learnt by the man who, as a boy, was their messenger. He came from N i s s a n
Island to H a n ahan and is the most notorious sorcerer in the H a n a h a n district a n d is treated almost as a pariah.
However, he is said to be only the agent of the tsunono who must meet w i t h the chief and reach unanimous agreement before the sorcerer or his agent is sent to fetch something a s s o c i a t e d w i t h the victim*s person.
A.
tsunono who wishes to protect the v i c t i m supposedly declares that they must k ill 'over his d e a d body. *People complain that the procedure, since the a r r ival of whites, is secretive w h e r e a s in the past the tsunono wou l d publicise their d e c i s i o n at a singsing called m a t e m a h o , * death tomorrow.*
Some people rather than emphasise the m o n i h i l * s
di s c r e t i o n a r y role insist that sorcery was the essence of his power. To punish a n y direct or indirect challenge to his a u t h o r i t y he could call on any sorcerer or all or
could command any man to spear the offender.
As Parkinson (1907:587) first noted, ’the whole p o p u l a t i o n of Buka is d i v i d e d into two great m o i e t i e s . * N a b o u i n has the sea eagle (manu) as its e mblem and is r e garded as senior to Nakarib, the fowl (k e r i o u ) . There seems to be firm gr o u n d for the popular b elief that the N a b o u i n are much less n u merous than the Nakarib.