Things that go po in the night: The classification of birds, sounds, and spirits among the Nage of eastern Indonesia

21 Pages·1998·11.6 MB·English

by  Gregory Forth

1W8
Ethnobiology
GO
THAT PO THE THE
THINGS NIGHT:
IN
AND
OF SOUNDS, SPIRITS
CLASSIFICATION BIRDS,
AMONG
NAGE EASTERN INDONESIA
THE OF
GREGORY FORTH
Department Anthropology
of
Alberta
University
of
Edmonton, Alberta
T6G 2H4
Canada
—
name Nage term po forms part
ABSTRACT. As an onomatopoeic for 'owl', the
on further
based primarily visual criteria.
of an ethnoornithological classification It
and
sounds owls, other raptorial birds,
denotes a class of nocturnal attributed to
sounds considered
produce these are
able
inanimate All entities to
certain objects.
among
The explores relations
essay
malevolent spiritual beings.
manifestations of
combination of
po and analyses the
schemes include
that
several classificatory
addresses
thereby
on which they are based.
and conceptual It
perceptual criteria
taxonomy and other
between ethnozoological
concerning connections
questions
schemes involving animal categories.
classificatory
termino
RESUMEN.
ipalmente
atnbuidos
nocturnos
mas una de sonidos
en Denota, aun, clase
visuales.
criterios
entidades
Todas
inanimados. las
objetos
a buhos, otras aves rapaces y ciertos
dc
manifestaciones seres
consideradas
sonidos son
capaces de producir estos
esqueinas
entre varios
relaciones
ensayo explora las
malevolos. EI
espirituales
de perceptua es
combinacion criterios
que incluyen/JO y analiza la
clasificatorios
de
preguntas acerca las
De manera retoma
basan. esa
conceptuales en cual se
y la
que
esquemas clasificatorios
otros
taxonomia etnozoologica y
conexiones entre
la
animales.
involucran categorias
en langue nage,
au 'hibou'
RESUME.- onomatopeique qui refere
Le terme po,
fondee sur des
essentiellement
ethnoornithologique
d'une
partie classification
fait
nocturnes
de sons
une categorie
meme en plus
denote
terme
Le
criteres visuels.
Toutes
inanimes. les
objets
certains
attribues aux hiboux, a d'autres rapaces et a
comme manifestations
des
considerees
sons sont
de produire ces
capables
entites
systemes
divers
rapports entre les
examine
Cet les
malveiUants. article
d'esprits
perceptifs e
des cnteres
analyse I'association
de ou apparait po et
classification
rapports
concernant
les
de questions
ainsi
conceptuels formant leur base. traite
II
de classification
systemes
autres
ethnozoologique et les
taxinomie
entre
la
animales.
impUquant
des categories
group
of
language are a
Malayo-Polynesian
Central
The
Nage, speakers of a
m
the
of
who central
the
reside P-"-t
and stock raisers
about culHvators
50,000
con-
hngmstic research
and
Ethnographic
eastern Indonesian island of Flores.'
g™".c
^as.c or
some
Nage possess SD<ty
ducted by author indicates that
the
which
majonty of refer
the
birds
terms for
and Raven 1973)
Breedlove,
Berlin,
(cf.
subsume "^"^^^."^™/^"^,'^
less
Only few of these
a
to ornithological species.
^v.den e revea
Other
bL
owls.
denotes
po,
One onomatopoeic
Nage name,
the
on owls. Yet this
focused
more inclusive class
an term with a
association of this
FORTH
Vol. No,
18, 2
190
owing
ofpo an ethno-ornithological taxon, to
complicates the status as
association
phenomenal but
Nage only birds various
term designates not
the fact that the
than owls and
other
nocturnal sounds. These sounds are also credited to birds to
an mystical set of entities that
things other than birds, thus defining essentially
Things other than
produce sounds designated as po.
'can po' {ngala po), that
is,
horns
Nage making sounds include the trophy of sac-
birds that describe as these
wood
At
buffalo and certain manufactured items of hehu (Cassia fistula).
rificial
from malevolent
same Nage sounds emanate ultimately
the time, believe that the
hence and sounds implicates a classification of
spirits; their classification of birds
spiritual beings.
po and
The aim of the present exercise to disengage the several referents of
is
perceptual
the classificatory domains in which they participate; to determine their
As
may
and conceptual bases; and to consider how these things be connected.
all
nature of folK
relates to birds, the essay bears on continuing debates about the
it
how
these are
classifications of natural kinds, and particularly the issue of far
ot
grounded features
in universal factors of perception and cognition relating to
morphology Hunn Atran 1990;
and
manifest behavior Bulmer 1976;
1974;
(e.g.,
Hunn
Berlin opposed
1992), as to culturally specific considerations of utility (e.g.,
some-
Hunn
1982; Randall and 1984; Ellen Proponents of the former position,
1993).
view of
times advance
identified as a form of "intcllectualism," tend to a
modern tax-
ethnobiological scientific
classification as fundamentally similar to
m
onomy
By forms
contrast, their opponents stress the variety of classificatory
which
Some
intcllectualists
folk categories denoting
natural kinds can
participate.
allow biological
for the existence of special purpose wherein folk
classifications
non-per-
and
taxa are ordered
according
particular
to criteria that are culturally
such
ceptual Hunn consider
(e.g., Berlin 1992; same authors
1977:47). Yet the
tha
orderings
as separate from and
secondary purpose classifications,
general
to
o
taxonomic
schemes grounded discontinuities
is,
in the perception of natural
morphology perceptual
and among
behavior. Visual most prominent
traits are
which taxa.
factors
biological
intellectualists discern in the construction of folk
Even
in the case vocalizations
of
birds, auditory hires—
fea their characteristic
natural
tend be
to assigned a secondary place definitions of
in the analysis of local
kinds and tendency
for purposes
of determining although this
perceptual
salience,
ono-
has
recently been who that
countered by suggest
and
Berlin
O'Neill
(1981),
matopoeic names
ethnoornithologica
typically form
a high proportion of the
Fortn
nomenclature
of small-scale and (see also
technologically simple societies
^
^
1996a:103). ^
Uses Nage intellec-
of the word the
po, one meaning which support
of 'owl',
is m
an
tualist position
insofar shown participate
as the term can be
to
in
domains
ethnoornithological
semantic
classification quite from other
distinct
which moreove
the category
involved evidence
is (see Forth Available
1996a).
vi-
indicates indeed
that and
this
classification based primarily on perceptual,
is
share
po
sual, Such word
criteria.
is the case despite the onomatopoeic quality the
with numerous con-
Nage other
other
bird names, and that in
in spite of the fact
presen
po
texts
refers and the
directly way,
exclusively to types of sounds. In this
con
study
illuminates the
the part played by and percepts in
visual non-visual
'
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
Winter 1998 191
by
struction of ethnozoological taxa, in part contrasting the significance of differ-
ent sorts of sensory data in different cultural and linguistic domains. Simply to
po among Nage however, would moaning.
locate other bird taxa, distort total
its
For in addition to operating as a classifier of both birds and sounds, the term de-
fines (though does not precisely name) a symbolic or spiritual category of
it
subsumes
^o-sounding Being partly ornithological (insofar as bird taxa
things.
it
included in Nage ethnoomithological classification) and partly non-ornithologi-
subsumes category connects the
cal (since also material objects), this third
it
and compose conceptual unity tran-
avifaunal auditory referents of ;^o so as to a
domains.
scending boundaries distinguishable
the of
THE TERMS
BIRD
two
pound terms Table Although distinguished from non-omithologicai uses
(see
1).
terms nevertheless
by the optional inclusion of one of three modifiers, the bird
minimally
what Nage an ethnoomithological taxon
designate indivisible
for
is
po denotes category
labelled as po and glossable as 'owl', hi the sense of 'owl', a
ana
which included a
subsumed by a covert grouping of 'birds' in turn is in iva,
Intermediate
Nage term with the general meaning of 'animal' (see Forth 1995).^
between and one may discern a "covert complex" (Berlin, Boster,
'bird' 'owl' (po),
which might be glossed
urmamed
and intermediate taxon,
O'Neill 1981:99-100), or
as 'night birds'.
Nage thought, 'night birds' exists quite
Whatever
the status of the latter in
unnamed, com-
although
from more circumscribed, also
seoaratelv a far clearlv
—
TABLE po
Terms
incorporating
1
.
Terms
denoting owls:
(a)
Po koba vine po
Po kua po'
'eagle
Po po'
tadu 'horn(ed)
Terms denoting nocturnal sounds:
(b)
Po polo 'witch po'
po'
Po (malevolent free spirit)
hapu 'hapu
horn po'
Po tadu bhada 'buffalo
sounds
Pokeo
that fceo
';;o
sounds 'whistling ;?o'
Po 'po that uci',
uci
po'
sounds 'hissing
Po
'po that ci',
ci
Po 'volcano po'
lobo
(Bahasa
Indonesian
on standard
Nage words based
Note on Orthography: Transcription of is
T^^/^^"^^^^'''^"^;^
English.
pronounced roughly as in
Indonesia). Most consonants are
and /d/. The /c/ (as
with /&/
phonemically
/bh/ and /dh/ implosives contrasting
are
The
AU pure
vowels
are
/chin/.
English
pronounced as in
and
e.g. in uci cec. Table 2) is
he
while /e/ represents
pure vowel),
with
but a
English
/!/ long "ail,"
is a (see cece; cf.
'e'
words
beginning of
and sometimes at the
Table
schwa between consonants bele teka, 2)
(e.g.
words
monosybal cece,
(e.g.
position or in lie
ema, and a long in the final
(e.g. 'father'), 'e'
du Table
piko
a, 2).
with /'/ (see
indicated
je, Table Glottal stops are
2).
FORTH
Vol. No.
18, 2
192
—
TABLE mentioned
Birds
2,
orthography see Table
1)
Regarded Capable Producing po Sounds
(A) Birds as of
Strigiformes:
po{= po koba, po Eared owls, Otus spp. (probably including the Flores Scops-Owl,
and
kua, po tadu) 0. Moluccan Scops-Owl, O. magicus; Wallace's
alfredi;
Scops-Owl, O. sylvicola) and the Barn Owl, Ti/to alba
Brown Hawk-Owl,
Ninox
je scutulata
Falconiformes:
bele teka Large falcons: The Peregrine Falcon, Fako peregrinus or the
Australian Hobby, Fako
longipennis
A
iki (or iki titi) small falcon: probably the Moluccan Kestrel, Fako moliiccensis
j^ta Brahminy
Kite, Haliastur Indus
wok
jatajawa named
hawks
Larger or goshawks: Accipiter spp. (Also iva)
kua kua meze)
{= Eagles, including the Changeable Hawk-Eagle, Spizaetus cirrhatus
and
perhaps
BonelH's Eagle, Hwraactusfasciatus
A
^^^^ hawk Chinese
small goshawk, perhaps the
or Accipiter spp.,
Goshawk,
_^_^ A, sokcnsis, or Besra, A. virgatus
Other:
Wh
anapetijata
*»
r
w
** Following
nomenclature employed by white-headed Indo-
several authors for a fully
member
nesian
Lonchura
of the genus pcH
Lonchura, have ana jata as
previously given
I
maja now
(Forth
1996a:105). This appears Contcs and Bishop (1997:499; Plate 64),
incorrect.
who
name
use
the "Pale-headed Munia Wallacean
as Lonchura
pallida, as does who name "White
Verheijen employs
English
(1963), the
Munia
Witch
cece
D. densiis;
Wallacean
,
Coates and
Bishop
1997:409)
ha
Large-billed Crow,
Corvus
macrorhynchiis
hega hea
Another
species
of Corvus, smaller than
C.
,
probably
endemic
the Crow,
Flores C./7
Bishop
1997:415)
^"^ ^^
Common Koel (see
Apparently
a reference to the hega hea or the
noctur-
below, regarding named after a
toe ou), alternatively
nal one
call of of these birds
Witch
leha
Savannah
Nightjar, Caprimulgus
affi
pikodu'a A
quail
(»
night
toe ou
Probably Common scolopace<^'
a reference Lmiynannjs
to the Koel,
nocturnal
otherwise named
muta resembles a
me, ou"
"toe
C3ll of this bird (MacKinnon
1991:173)
tute pela
but its
Pied
Bush-chat, such,
Saxicola caprata (not a night bird as
nocturnal
calling regarded an omen.)
is as
JOURNAL OF ETHN01310L0GY
193
Winter 1998
prey Forth 1996a)
diurnal birds of (sec
from
shown by obtained ten
most the evidence of free recall
This clearly lists,
is
informants
which were
who names with they
females, were asked to give the of all birds
While birds thev knew,
listine
more
names usually four or in a cluster (see
—
and nocturnal birds
whereas Strigiformes other
beginning,
Table 2) right at the
named much Only one Nage 'owls' (po) in close
of ten listed
they generally later.
were
owls and other night birds
names Falconiformes. In
proximity of fact,
to
named
and were only in respc^ise lo
overlooked later
often in free recall,
initially
When
talking
prompts "Do you know any birds that are active at night?").
(e.g.,
Nage separate
way not i^ily
about birds, therefore,
general
(and thinking) in a
diurnal raptors as the
tend the
from they also to treat
Falconiformes Strigiformes,
—
laxon
prototype of the unlabel k-d life-form
most
un-
mostly coinciding with a series of
kinds,
(Other highly salient bird
of
'bird'.
intermediate
taxon.
life-form
owls peripheral to this
birds, are clearly
prey important, for as
daytime from nighttime birds of is I
This separation of
m
understood mostly a verbal
kind discourse po,
of
and other things
birds
of
defines a class
>;^hilitips.
What
and diurnal raptors.
nocturnal
unequi\
mverted.
context, the relation is
other
peripheral, in this
including owls, are
birds,
more
contextual
crucial to this
do belong
not
night birds that
who grouped owls with other
provided
recall lists
Con-
sounds
produce
;;o
believed to
things
category of
to the mystical or spiritual
informants
diurnal
{mona include the
// do not po" po)
Nocturnal
Table
and piko du'a (see
koa
ka,
M,
annah
Nightj
Naee as birds).
classify
ifications,
more
Falcon.formes a re
that
indicates
as
insofar
it
ethnoornithological classification,
and
particu-
features,
behavioral
by virtue of visible,
separated from Strigiformes
by
same oken
By
the
during the day.
seen flying
they are
larly the fact that
construction ^^
from day birds, in their
separating night birds ^;^':
.'^^g^^^'"^^^f
sigmficance to a bird s
do not attach
Nage evidently
kinds
tion of avifaSnal
_,-.^
sounds
produce
supposed
ability to ;;o
,^.s Histed in
,,
svnonymous terms
three
the
each case s
po hi
and kua.
po
tadu,
:oba,
means
As koha
substantive.
understood as a
vme Nage mis as an di.ixo.^x. .- -.>-
explain
plant,
'hUro.r^„nfM^A)\
Ued r^on'
, Po
nL ^e dayUme ^«W
J,e during ,
vines
on forest .
or
recognized
some owls are
homs'. or
'ears',
name
FORTH
Vol. No.
194 18, 2
between owls and kua although conceivably other
eagles {kua, or nteze), similari-
between the two bird kinds might play a part as well.
ties
important to stress that these three modifiers refer not to different species
It is
what Nage Although
of owls, but rather to features of regard as a single kind.
Nage
owl
there appear to be three or four species present in territory, including
Owls
both eared owls (Strigidae; mostly of the genus Otus) and Barn (Tytonidae),^
Nage
deny with quite remarkable consistency that the three terms distinguish three
owl them names same
distinct kinds, describing instead as alternative for the bird
which on While Nage aware
focus different physical or behavioral are
features.'^
that not all owls possess 'horns', some explain these as possibly a sexual charac-
— —
teristic speculating that only the males are horned rather than as a trait
marking a separate owl kind. The synonymy of the three names further indi-
is
by who
cated the remark of one man, referred to owls as po kua ('eagle po') but
immediately added
that these are recognized, and distinguished from eagles {kua),
by
their
'horns'..^
The
term for po an onomatopoeic name, nocturnal vo-
'owl', replicating a
is
Nage
calization that identify one number sounds characteristically
as of a of
produced by
owls. Owls are counted as one of several birds Nage describe as
own
"saying
their name." Following onomatopoeia,
Jespersen's definition of
strict
po
can
further be being
characterized as an word (which) designates the
"...echoic
produces As
that sound"
the
and O' 1981:239). is
(1921:399; cited in Berlin Neill
often
the case with such names po further
English "crow" and "cuckoo"),
(cf.,
refers to the sound
or Nage sounds so classi-
itself, rather, in the of
case, to a series
and
fied, to the act of producing sound
the or sounds.
As
noted, however, Nage produc-
claim that not only owls (po) are capable of
ing sounds
they
raptorial
classify number
as po, since they consider of other
a
and
birds, even one
With
certain
material
objects, as capable of doing so as well.
AH
exception,
other of
birds prey
credited with
this ability are diurnal birds of
these
are
separately named,
and none name incorporating
designated with
a
is
the lexeme Among
po.^ hawks,
these are Brahminy and small
eagles, the Kite, large
and two
kinds po-
of falcon. The one as a
non-raptorial bird sometimes classified
sounder
the White-headed Munia',
is
Munia, ana 'Brahminy Kite
called petijata, or
named
so
because
plumage white-headed
its closely resembles rusty-red
that of the
Brahmmy
Kite The produce ;^o
{jata). inclusion among
of this bird kinds that
little
sounds
provides
one morphological
indication and
of the
significance of visual,
m
criteria defining the otherwise up further
auditory matter take
category, a
I
below. munia
It is similarly noteworthy
some whether the
that informants doubted
—
can
really produce po
sounds, crite-
adducing visual
another
— small thus
its size
rion
as the reason
for
their sceptism.
Curiously, some and
Nage
were
bird,
also unsure whether another raptorial
moreover
a local
strigiform, from
is able "to po. This the which, judging
is je,
m
descriptions,
Brown
the Hawk-Owl bird
is
[Ninox The status of this
scutulata).
relahon
am-
to the category somewhat
of things
that manifest po sounds thus
is
biguous. most
Nevertheless, was
the when
fact that mentioned recall
je, in free
otten
listed with po context
provides
further
evidence classificatory
that, in this
mght
ttie birds
are grouped (morphology
primarily on
the basis of visual criteria
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
195
Winter 1998
common
membership
and observable behavior) rather than their in the auditorially
may
be
conceived mystical category/ The ;7o-soimding birds, as they cnlled, to-
Table
gether with provisional scientific identifications, are listed in 2.
Nage do not normally speak of raptorial birds other than owls as 'kinds
Since
po'^ when used as a substantive po does not unambiguously designate a class
of
At same hmc, things
sounds. the
all
emit
N
What
more,
by any lexeme. for
single
is
tied
concept
named denoting Strigiformes, are
vo,
pitome
owls
Nage only have seen
named claim to
Pertinent here the fact that
class. is
while
do
The other birds can so as well,
making sounds. idea that
actually the
grounded cxpe-
not well in
therefore
maintained with considerable conviction,
is
man
taf.
one
with
than Strigiformes are,
other
;70-sounding birds
reputed
Insofar as
prototype
the
owls nevertheless
are
exception, diurnal raptors, the fact that
all
mversion
accords with the
unlabeled
points another peculiarity of the class. It
to
daytime are
whereby creatures of the
normal pattern
mentioned above, of the
just
marked.
and
are atypical
and unmarked, while night creatures
considered
typical
The
uigiu ^icat^^^.
more tnan are y^..,
and tamiiiar
often seen therefore tar
be understood as con-
can
inversion
however, the
1979:67). In the present case,
of entities
classification
values in the
over visual
primacy auditory
firming the of
linked
SOUNDS
VO
THE
The
series
aesignatesounasnearaatnignu^ce icjuicx,«.^w,v., ^'u\
j
.
i.*^,
whereas the lat^r
However,
names denote birds.
that
identical to the set of three
is
category
ethnoornithological
synonymously a single
to
distinguish
ty
kmds
with
pa-sounding birds
// no systematic matching of types of
to po," there
is
oipo
sounds.^
encountered
AUof
theposounasareregarut;uci=.]^wiLtx..v.«^,f^
- j
-r-^^n,,
5P«.frfy'°
more fr»
-po
po refer
and
bap,.
Two polo
near habitaSom. of these
modf
.a rneans
the
Po(o, first
beings.
kinds of spiritual X
sounds
manifest different
that
operate "''''''/^'•"
and person believed to
'witch' refers to a ^%^,
!
s .tfers to
Although
night.
human means, at P'''"^^'^J"^^^^^_
by mysKcal tJTically
victims
d^stm
w.tches are
force,
spiritual
malevolent
human
type being well as to a
of as
Polocan^
hence
grounds;
spiritual
humans on specificaUy
guished from
other
*e
connechon fa^'
s
Also relevant in th.s - *^
heated as a kind of spiriuial being.
- lorm
and birds as a
sounds
both
to
Nage po referring
sometimes speak of
1993a).
Forth
witch (see
of a
assumed bv wa. maleficent spirit,
the the
FORTH
Vol. No.
18, 2
196
The term bapu, another modifier of po, denotes varieties of malevolent au-
Polo and hapu
with uninhabited
tochthonous associated places. are
free spirits
some
Nage because hapn
cosmology, part
very closely related concepts in in spir-
powers Forth Nevertheless,
are regarded as the source of a witch's (see 1998).
its
which Accordingly, po sounds
the spiritual entities to the terms refer are distinct.
by
identified with each, though equally inauspicious, are distinguished different
auditory qualities. Soimds identified as po polo ('witch po') include an uneven
number heard coming from
Another
of or 'weak' manifestation a call
'soft' calls. is
the ground at night, just in front of a house or beneath a raised house floor, indi-
cating that a witch extremely angry someone living in the house. Such an
at
is
measures taken
event is taken to foreshadow certain disaster unless ritual are to
ward
off the witch's wrath.
sound
number. Thus a po
An
imminent informant
theft.
omen
group, while five times means that the bad news for 'other people'. Although
is
Keo
Nage and
consistent with the auspicious and both
inauspicious significance
odd and
attach even numbers notion ap-
to respectively Forth 1993b), this
(see
uneven
h Nage an
comprising
the representation of wo polo as
The
women
Sounds
classed as po are not invariably interpreted as omens. In fact, they are
heard mostly
so often night
at that they acquire determinate mystical significance
situationally, example when repeatedly,
for or
they are heard unusually close by,
when
or they or
occur signs
in conjunction with inauspicious
other sorts of
po
unfavourable known
phenomenon as
circumstances.
Describing
the auditory
one Nage man sounds
uci, and
suggested po uci
whereas combination
that, a of
(which heard
describe sounds
below) po
just
1 indicate the presence of a witch,
alone might be nothing more More than not,
than often
the nocturnal
cry of a bird.
however, Nage
inauspi-
po
identify sounds
potentially
as portents that are at least
What
witch
cious. is more, they usually them presence of a
take to indicate the
even
{polo), prototypical
to the extent po
that polo can be characterized as the
variety of po
sounds.
all
a
In contrast po Nage po') as
to polo, describe po hapu ('malevolent free spirit
loud,
penetrating of long/
cry
that carries often taking the form of a series
far,
drawn-out
or continuous reference
hoots. po bapu as a
Occasionally, recorded
I
not simply accord
sound
to a but in
directly to a hapu usage that fully
spirit, a is
With
gener-
a close
connection between po sounds and malevolent spiritual forces
ally Sometimes Nage /'O
hapu called
further oipo
distinguish
a particular variant
tadu water
bhada,
Buffalo horn
This sacrificial
po'. refers to a representation of
wlucn
buffalo
as embodiments
hapu,
of mountain-dwelling as
also classified
spirits,
contmue
be
to identified with (Forth 198^;-
the trophy horns slaughtered buffalo
of
Nage
'pop^
describe
quiet
this buffalo horn po or
'puff
as a noise a
soft, faint like
When
„„^o
such a snnnH icK^^.-^ - £„...! _i i,. ,. ... j r.f itsblooa
, ,
is
horns
in order
to avert misfortune
illness or other
Nage reg
horns have not been properly cared for.
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
197
Winter 1998
horns
On sound was more pro-
the other hand, one informant explained that the likely
-_- l*tl
_«^ i«« ..__a____J
Tt^
.«. * —
. • horns are stored. This._ ^» . A.
o
b-
greement
Nage one
say "can po." Nevertheless,
marginal to the set of entities that
any
grouping,
them from unlabeled
on ground simply exclude the
cannot
this
between nocturnal and diurnal birds in
more than one can distinguish sharply
context.
this
—
sound com-
oipo hapu the
In contrast to the buffalo horn po, the other sort
—
demanding
hapu
mon
or unmarked variety often Interpreted as a sign that a is
is
A
human reciprocate favors bestowed by the spirit. particularly fa-
that a client
Ebu Forth W8);
mous spirit of this sort inhabits a large boulder called 'Egu (sec 1
Nage
po Ebu
sometimes specified as 'Egu. fur-
hence auditory manifestation
is
its
po and more particularly po hapu, with the hcbu {Ca^'^ia
sounds,
ther associate
Should
hapu
powerful
hardwood possessing an especially spirit.
a tree
fistula),
be
occupants arc to
such the likcl)'
anyone build a house or field hut close to a tree,
connection the use of
bothered by po sounds. Also relevant in this is
constantly
wooden
statuary
posts
wood {pco),
hehu construction of forked sacrificial
in the
ceremo-
of special
{posa lapu),
{ana deo), and the principal post, or 'hearth post'
items of ritual
foregoing are
waja). All of the
nial buildings, or 'cult houses' (sa'o
by
anger
express their
properly can similarly
importance which, not treated
if
way
po
of sounds.
u
wood andj buff-
hehu
common of
of objects
association
Also illuminating the
hapu use
the
category
po and the spiritual is
horns with auditory category
the
falo
wooden
addition,
In
buffalo.
of forked hehu posts {peo) for tethering sacrificial
which
buildings in
houses,
and house hebu are exclusive to cult
statues posts of
po bapu
sound
of
the
Not therefore,
surprisingly,
trophy horns found.
are also
bapu
displeasure of a
the
house thought to reflect
heard repeatedly near a cult is
—
component or aspect oi the otn-
negative
represented as a
context
spirit in this -
having
owners
house
by
caused the
erwise 'house {ga'e sa'o)
tutelary spirit'
les
commentators
connection
the
Nevertheless,
such house.
a
construct
of a cult
guardian
spirit
with the
identify
Iso
germane
equally
in this setting.
The vo sounds
association of
h""^'
trophy
However, "either
owls.
reference to
'horn(ed) po", as a specific P^^^j2:^^"l°f
any
with
caLd
po associated
sour,ds are
b'ap..
and
po sounds,
hebu
horns, the tree, all
intricate
connectin
r;^
^^\,:;:^^r.s
^^^r^-^^^i;^^
ibirdrs meTeiief
large, -.">:"S
or a
Lobo Brahminy Kite ijata)
assume .^"^"^
the guise of a ^^f ^'"f
whom "^ " *!
they
human
when victims, ^^'
jazoa) searching for
m
^.^"^'-"^'^f
'h'S
pattern
general
form the
contrast to
of buffalo In -'r'afrap
spirit
d.umal raptoorrss
taxon (the
bird
particular
linH /r. ,„H„.H iHenHfied with a
l,r ..,.,>
,-.
FORTH
Vol. No.
18, 2
198
appears
case
Yet in this significant
specifically or generically, as jata). it
classified,
which
manifestation not auditory but visual, a contrast to I return later.
that the is
Nage recognize two other types po
po and po of
addition polo hapii,
In to
po onomato-
po keo and po ucl In these instances the modifiers of are
sounds:
names
phenomena rather than the of spirits. Each
auditory
poeic references to
Even
po
kind sound can accordingly be designated simply as keo or uci. so,
of
both malevolent
and po regarded manifestations of spirits
keo uci are equally as
reproduced
and witches Po keo describes a harsh cry as "keo, keo,"
[bapu) (polo).
Nage
Unlike other po sounds, consider this a partly
or as "ko, ko, ko, ko, ko, keo."
po
auspicious omen. Heard the night before the annual hunt {to'a lako), keo
in
on following
indicates that wild pigs, or other large game, will be killed the
—
Although mostly regarded simple augury and a positive one at
day.^° as a
—
that a link between po keo and bapu spirits nevertheless discernible in the
is
m
well
belief that spirits of hehu trees can manifest themselves as wild pigs, as as
game This
owners animals. latter
the idea that nature spirits generally are the of
why sound sometimes regarded as auspi-
belief also helps explain the keo
is
Although may does so in a
harmful
cious. manifest
potentially free spirits,
it
it
way humans wish appro-
that reveals the presence which to
of their livestock,
The hunting for
priate. cry of keo at other times can reveal a witch (polo) out
human with
po sounds,
victims, another notion connecting po keo, like other
sound dur-
spiritual malevolence. keo
In this regard, the auspiciousness of the
ing the annual hunt might be on this single
further attributed to the fact that,
—
human awake until
occasion,
hunters staying
sleeping outside the wild,
in
late into the night, and attacking and not wild then their live-
killing, spirits,
if
—
stock themselves
resemble man-hunting
witches.
The ominous noctur-
other major
category incorporating po and referring to
nal sounds po Though Nage speculate
is net. uci refers to a high-pitched whistle,
sound may means.
that the be produced by wing than by vocal
a bird's rather
with
Placed paired
after po, uci can be construed term
modifier or as a
either as a
—
duahstic
the former, the two words with a
combination and accordance
in
in
—
more
pattern of nomenclature in a
widespread Nage referring
in (Forth 1996b)
way
general second inter-
to inauspicious nochirnal sounds. As accords with the
more
pretation,
uci sometimes vocalizations
is heard combination with
in
distin-
specifically usually
classified
as po, and
that the hoots other softer calls
is,
guished po
bapu
as po
or
polo.
an
That sounds thatpo
the
sometimes suggests
occur in succession of course
^
uci derive from hearing
same
the one Nage reported
bird. In instance, several
hear
sound was
uci
repeated
This
three times followed by double cry of po.
a
a
counted
close to the grave man who was
of a had and
died ten days previously,
tn^
one not
of
several Whether or
indications that he had been by
killed a witch.
sounds tbajgi^
occur
in succession, same birds
uci
is attributed to exactly the
voice more close
to other po Some y
sounds. sound
local interpretations link the
with most otte
diurnal
raptors Brahminy mentioned
(the and
Kite eagles being
vie
in
this connection) in
than with may seem curious
owls, an
association
that
of
the coupling excKi'^^
of the uci sound with po and though not
the especial,
whem
linkmg ;
po
of with owls. One man, be sure
not
for example, said he could