Ancestral stake festival with the Asmat people
The ancestral stake festival , also (m) bis pokumbu and emak cem pokmu , is an ethnically religious , cyclically celebrated ritual of the Asmat , a people who live in the south of the Indonesian island of New Guinea in the province of Irian Jaya . The mbis ancestral posts, soul posts, are characterized by powerful figurative representations. In the living visualization of the dead, they serve as a memorial to vengeance, and in the past they each resulted in a headhunting feud.
history
The ancestral stake festival , also known as the mbis festival, is based on the Asmat's awareness that harmony in the village would be seriously disturbed if the village population did not fulfill their obligations to perform cultic acts. Traditionally, this festival is closely linked to a headhunt. These probably no longer take place today. Today the concern is rather to resolve village disputes and drive away diseases. In addition, the ancestral stake serves to donate togetherness, energy and joie de vivre. A special tradition is to keep the deceased in good memory. This is quite reciprocal , because at the same time one hopes that a grateful bond with people will be kept alive ( do ut des ). The ancestral stake symbolizes reverence and a cry for help at the same time.
Similar to the Asmat mask festival , the preparations for this stretch over several months. They consist of a variety of ceremonies that serve primarily the goal by transgressions (well into the 20th century, headhunting) into a "twilight zone" (ainamipits) to free banished dead that they may in the realm of the ancestors (safan) received can. The lack of opportunity to shout out the names of the victims on the occasion of the firauwi festival after headhunting was regarded as reprehensible. It was also reprehensible when a warrior himself fell victim to a headhunt or fell victim to black magic . Since there is only a gradual distance between the living people and the recently deceased, it is possible for people to have a lively communication between the worlds (this world and the intermediate world). The family clans therefore commemorate their deceased in such a way that they commission expert artists to carve an ancestral stake.
The high point of the ancestral stake festival is the calling out of the names of those who have been immortalized in the stake. In this animated ritual, the dead souls incarnate in their carved images and are once again present in person in their village. If you gave the carved figure the name of a living person, this would result in earthly death and the transition of your soul into the wooden figure. After the festival, the family takes their stake to the private sago grounds. There the deceased are urged to move into the realm of the ancestors. The relatives destroy the stakes with an ax to prevent the ghosts from returning and cover them with leaves.
Modern history of the ancestral stake festival
With the annexation of Western New Guinea to Indonesia in 1962, all ritual festivals of the Asmat experienced a temporary turning point , as the Indonesian administrative authorities assumed that these were rites that promote bounty and cannibalism as well as promiscuity . The former protectorate of the United Nations allowed the Asmat to have their ancestral cult. The change of responsibilities caused the Indonesian authorities to destroy the Asmat ceremonial buildings and to impose absolute bans on all kinds of ritual festivals.
At the beginning of the 1980s, the region experienced a tourist boom, so that a rethink began. At first hesitantly, exemptions were granted and the restrictions relaxed. Over the years, unauthorized events were also tolerated. Bureaucratic awkwardness on the part of the Indonesian administration, however, led to the constant destruction and rebuilding and re-destruction of the places of worship, which led to uncertainty and disturbance among the locals. The self-image of the ritual acts was neither recognized nor seriously culturally protected. The basis of the relationships with the authorities is based on a very unstable relationship. Nevertheless, the festival has seen a revival today.
The myth
Like all major cult festivals, the bis festival is based on traditional myths . One of them is the religious myth of the young, graceful and beautiful Bis. After long marital wanderings , she found her true lover Pupuripits , the hunter Daru , who took her as a model and carved a statue in honor of his recently deceased relatives. Until then she died because her soul went into the ancestral stake designed after her image and stayed there.
This myth exists in modified versions and with exchanged participants around a more dubious bis. However, the beginning and the end are the same. The liberation is ultimately followed by a festival with an imposing carving, the mbis post.
Ancestral stake and ancestral stake festival
The ancestral stake
The ancestral posts are among the most characteristic and at the same time monumental carvings of the Asmat. Particularly noteworthy are the Bismam , Becembub and Simai cultural groups, which are considered to be the most important bis- carvers. These mighty statues of human figures, animals, plants and other objects such as drums or sago bowls reach up to eight meters in height. The projecting wings (cemen) at the top of the post are also impressive . Ancestral posts are made from the trunk of a mangrove tree. The striking blade is in filigree ajour -Arbeit (similar perforated interlace in ajour embroidery lace ) from a naturally grown from the root buttress carved, which is allowed to stand as the only. Since the trunk is turned upside down for processing, the wing is always close to the tip of the pole. The wing symbolizes an erect phallus . It is an expression of strength and fertility and protrudes from or in front of the lower abdomen of the uppermost, sometimes also the second highest, ancestral figure. The carvers (wowipits) leave it unprocessed until shortly before the festival climax. The ancestors represented in the stake are carved upright or upside down from the wood. Some of the bis stakes document an entire family history. In addition, numerous symbols and motifs related to head hunting appear in the carving ( hornbill , cockatoo , trophy heads and others). The foot of the figure column often rests on a dugout canoe that is supposed to bring the deceased across the sea to the realm of the ancestors.
Celebration preparations
The family relationship with children is matrilineal . Therefore, the mother's brother is considered more highly than the biological father. For this reason, it is up to the in-laws to go into the forest and cut down the appropriate tree. The sons-in-law of the recently deceased act for each section in the village. Therefore, several trees are selected.
However, it starts with a group of old people who cut the shoots of a young sago leaf from a palm crown and loosen the soft white pulp (wasir wu) to create a ritual object up to three meters long (bete apibis) . This is tied to the posts of the fireplace in the men's house (yeu) . The tree selected as a suitable object is cleaned all around the day after and pelted with white shell limestone (mbi) . The men boast of their heroic deeds. You return to the village and ask the old people when the trees should be felled.
Festively decorated and with a multitude of dugout canoes, the men and young people set off again for the forest. This event is held exceptionally loud, because the to be held until is now announced unmistakably for every forest dweller. Songs are sung, the paddles hit the dugout walls in rhythm and bamboo horns blown. This is followed by the intermediate ritual of a mock war between the village sections. It is important to demonstrate dexterity in defense and agility in attack. Reeds serve as weapons . In some Asmat groups, such as the Simai or Becembub , the mask spirit (biw) appears during this “warlike” activity . It is important to avoid him because he spreads horror. He walks through the selected trees and disappears again, only to appear again later in the village on the occasion of the erection of the mbis stake; this time with no intention of scaring people.
After these events, the chosen tree is adorned with a belt made of fringed sago leaves. The ghosts are to be made aware of what is happening and old men call out the names of their headhunt victims. Notches are made in the aerial roots of the mangrove tree. The peripheral branches and roots are cut off and the tree felled. Once again there is an opportunity to call out the enemies that have been killed. The length of the future post is marked with a few strokes of the ax. There is also singing, noise, and sometimes dancing. The bark is removed from the trees with cassowary bone daggers and digging sticks. The youngsters hurry into the forest to teach small animals such as lizards, fledglings or pouch mice with which the cemen board root is adorned for the journey home. These souvenirs may later only be eaten by those who kept watch in the men's house while the family members were in the forest.
Removal and ritual preparation
The trees are then brought to the village. They are worn, not dragged. From the shore line, they are carefully transported over the waterway using the dugout canoes. The returnees are expected by the village women on the bank. They hide and attack in a mock war (uc) . The other social custom that a woman is not allowed to defend herself if she is beaten by her husband can be playfully reversed here, although this time the men are not allowed to defend themselves. More serious injuries have to be endured or you evade by fleeing. Some attacks by women are actually intended to express a sincere interest in the chosen man.
The future headhunt victims are proclaimed, mostly the enemy war chiefs and their family members, to whom the cause of the celebration can be ascribed, as they had killed village members. According to the Asmat people, this creates a balance between the villages. The trees are brought into the village and covered with foliage. It is up to the men whether they spend the night in the men's house or at home with the family. They drum and sing until late at night. At night there are often appointments called papisj . This is an agreed, ritual exchange of women between two married men. The women give their placet . The Asmat assume with this rite that the community is strengthened. Headhunting societies put the survival of the association alongside the interests of the individual. Therefore papisj alliances are of particular importance in times of war or disaster or at times of epidemics.
In front of the men's house, the ancestral posts are roughly hewn so that there are contours for the fine processing and the figurative division is given. Only then are they taken to a quickly built extension to the men's house (yom cem) . In the men's house, carving is only allowed with burins . The chips that fall off are carefully stored in heaps. The women have to leave the village for this ceremony and go to harvest sago or go fishing in the river. Since the women are no longer allowed to see the posts, the extension is designed in such a way that it can only be entered from the men's house. Additional foliage hides the threshold to the outside. After the stakes have been brought into the house, rituals of fraternization are initiated and friendship and reconciliation ceremonies are staged. This is an important part of the ancestral festival, which is particularly important to some residents and which has a lasting effect on village life in its collective effect.
Shape of the ancestral stake and other festive preparations
An ancestral stake has three distinct main elements: on the one hand the foot part (ci) , which is designed as a dugout canoe or a countersunk point, then the main part (up to anakat) , which carries the carved figurative elements, and finally the phallic symbol (cemen) , the board wood that was edited last. With completion, the actual bis ceremony (the main festival) will be scheduled.
Guests from other villages are invited to the ancestral festival, because pride and satisfaction about the organizational strength of the village should be expressed. The main part of the ancestral stake is painted for this purpose; White is used for bodies and souls and spirits, red for ornamentation (lines of force) and black for hair and pubic. It is decorated with tassels , braids, feathers, Coix or Abrus seeds, cowrie shells and much more. Then the stake is carefully picked up, presented and sung about. The stakes are erected and secured. Physically provided floating bodies on the river should enable the souls to cross into the ancestral kingdom without any disturbance, which is why paddles are included.
In the village, the women bring plenty of food. As a thank you, the men put large rattan rings on their arms. A highly complicated food exchange begins. Many ceremonies are repeated. The party ends that night. The guests leave the village in the morning. A little later the stakes are unfastened and put on the ground. Then they are taken to the sago forest grounds and destroyed. This is done for two purposes. The spirits free themselves and can start the journey with the provided boats into the ancestral kingdom and the bodies (the physically broken ancestral posts) rot - covered with foliage - in the forest.
Categories of piles
The bis posts can be divided into two categories. The large, seven to eight meter high posts only have a specific function for a party. Then they are destroyed.
The smaller stakes, on the other hand, remain as house stakes by the fireplace in the men's house in the village, in order to advise and support the living in all difficulties.
See also
literature
- Gunter Konrad, Ursula Konrad (with the participation of Adam Saimas, Petrus Wer, Miguel Bingumeces and Soter Sokerau), Asmat: Myths and Rituals. Inspiration of Art, Erizzo, 1995 - 454 pages
- Gunter Konrad, Ursula Konrad, Tobias Schneebaum , Asmat. Living with the ancestors - Stone Age wood carvers of our time, publisher: F. Brückner, Glashütten / Ts. (Self-published) 1981. 192 pages with numerous. Illustrations. Size-8vo. ill. Kart.
- Klaus Helfrich (Hrsg.): Asmat: Myth and art in life with the ancestors . Exhibition catalog. Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin 1995, ISBN 978-3-88609-381-6
- Ursula Konrad, Alphonse Sowada, Asmat: perception of life in art - the collection of the Asmat Museum of Culture and Progress, Kühlen, 2002 - 383 pages
Web links
- Asmat: art, culture, collaboration
- Lowell D. Holmes Museum of Anthropology: The Asmat: Bibliography (English)
- Asmat Art Collection Gallery Berlin
Remarks
-
↑ a b
Volume 2, contribution by Gunter Konrad and Yufentius Biakai: To the culture of Asmat: Myth and Reality, p. 465–509
Mark Münzel : New Guinea use and interpretation of the environment . Ed .: Department for Culture and Leisure. tape 1 + 2 . Museum für Völkerkunde, Frankfurt 1987, ISBN 3-88270-360-1 , p. 725 . - ↑ The article is based on: Gunter Konrad, Ursula Konrad (with the participation of Adam Saimas, Petrus Wer, Miguel Bingumeces and Soter Sokerau), Asmat: Myths and Rituals. Inspiration der Kunst, Erizzo, 1995 - 454 pages // here: pp. 267–301
- ↑ Carolin Ertel: The Asmat and their death stakes. Subject "rituals". kinder-hd-uni.de, accessed on December 12, 2010 ( natural death ↔ black magic ).
- ↑ Ancestral posts under Art of the Asmat
- ↑ The life of the Asmat today. asmat.de, accessed on December 12, 2010 ( erected bis piles ).
- ↑ Images of the to ceremony ( Memento from December 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ The Asmat and their dugout canoes. asmat.de, accessed on December 12, 2010 .