Traditional Architecture in Vanuatu.

ARCHITECTURE
IN
VANUATU
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Traditional Architecture in
Vanuatu
Traditional Architecture in
Vanuatu
Christian Coiffier
University of the South Pacific
1988
Copyright s Christian Coiffier 1988
ISBN 982-02-0047-4
Published by the Institute of Pacific Studies
and the Vanuatu Extension Centre of the
University of the South Pacific
No royalties are paid on this book.
Translation by Veronica Arjun, Pat Hereniko
Graphics by the author
Photographs by courtesy of the Museum fur Volkerkunde, Basel, Switzerland
Typeset by City Typesetters, Suva
Text set in Megaron 10/1 Vk
Printed by Star Printery Ltd., Suva.
Map of Vanuatu
vii
Acknowledgements
viii
Introduction
ix
1 ISLANDS OF THE EXTREME NORTH
Torres archipelago
Banks archipelago
Ureparapara
Vanua-Lava
Ravena and Mota
Motlav
Gaua
Merlav
1
1
5
7
9
14
14
19
23
2
25
25
28
33
44
47
ISLANDS OF THE NORTH
Maewo
Ambae
Santo
Malo
Pentecost
3. ISLANDS OF THE CENTRE
Ambrym
The drums of Ambrym
Malakula
The great slit drums of Malakula (Big Nambas region)
Vao
The drum orchestra of Vao
Atchin, Wala, Rano and Uripiv
The mall Nambas of southern Malakula
South West Bay region
Tomman
63
63
74
78
89
97
103
103
104
110
116
Paama, Lopevi and Epi
Shepherd archipelago
Emae, Makira and Mataso
Tongariki
Buninga and Ewose
Tongoa
Efate
121
124
124
126
129
129
135
4 ISLANDS OF THE SOUTH
The Tafea Group
Erromango
Tanna
Aniwa and Futuna
Anatom
141
141
141
142
149
151
5. CONCLUSION
152
Appendix A
156
Appendix B
158
Appendix C
159
Notes
161
Bibliography
167
Table of illustrations
173
Index
181
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I express my sincere thanks to the many people who facilitated
my research at the time of my stay in Vanuatu during November and
December 1979; first and foremost to the Ni-Vanuatu residents of
various villages on Santo, Malakula, Vao, Efate and Tanna who kindly
gave their time to answering my questions, as did also R. Elziére, the
Michoutouchkine-Pilioko Foundation staff, P. Gardissat, R. Gely, H.
Goron, K. Huffman, T. Kalsrap and H. Tailhade. My thanks go equally
to K. Henker for translating the text into the German language, and to
V. Arjun for the translation into the English language.
Introduction
This introduction to the traditional architecture of Vanuatu is
aimed particularly at young people — at those of the younger
generation who will have to take the responsibility for choosing
between different ways of development in the different regions of the
archipelago. We hope that the text, photographs and drawings will
help them to have a better understanding of the diversity of the
technological aspects chosen by their forefathers. As in the majority
of cultures in the world, these men, throughout the centuries, have
evolved new techniques and tried out different materials in order to
improve their standard of living. They knew how to create a social
environment more or less in accord with the natural environment but
the modernism imported during recent decades has often disrupted
this equilibrium. The innovations which have come from the West are
often now used as a model, without having been sufficiently adapted
to each local situation. And it is rare that account is taken of errors
committed previously in or by the West.
It is common in the Pacific to compare tradition (custom) with
modern ways. But what does custom in Vanuatu represent?
A building is said to be ‘traditional’ when its design reflects
knowledge exclusive to a local culture and when the economic
relationships formed by the need for materials remain within one
area.
As in other Pacific islands, village architecture in Vanuatu has
undergone great changes in the last century, both in the spatial
organisation of the different buildings and in the designs, techniques
of construction and use of materials. This study does not cover the
urban areas of Luganville on the island of Espiritu Santo, or Port-Vila
on the island of Efaté.
The variety in the types of dwellings, which used to reflect the
different origins of the inhabitants of the numerous islands of the
country, is disappearing with the growth of a general standardisation.
Colonisation and the introduction of Christianity have brought new
types of design which reflect a different style of life.
In Vanuatu, as in the majority of Melanesian islands, the social
organisation used to revolve around small autonomous family groups,
who had different relationships with their neighbours near and far.
Some of these groups specialised in different aspects of construction.
So each hamlet displayed local variations which reflected either the
geographical location of the site, or the past history of the group
concerned.
Occasionally, to fix important historical moments in the peoples’
memories, the elders marked out their territory with durable objects
— carved stones, different plants, etc. This remains the evidence of a
past which we still have to discover by studying both myths and
archaeology. 1
Because local tradition was not written down before the 19th
century, we are left, while waiting for the findings of archaeological
research, with only the writings and drawings of the first European
navigators to tell us more about the old styles of architecture.
The study of the artefacts held in museums in the West could
assist the historical research into dwellings, but this study must be
undertaken in conjunction with the collection of information at the
site, as soon as possible, before the demise of those who have that
information.
We now know that certain drawings and sculptures, which were
thought to be decorative and ornamental, had, in fact, a significant
function in matters of hierarchy and family.
Analysis of architectural styles and old tools used for con­
struction should allow a better understanding of construction tech­
niques. But the wide dispersal of the collections and the confusion of
classification increase the problems of research. Among the
thousands of varied objects of uncertain origin scattered in museums
in big cities throughout the world, many of the descriptions are
whimsical. The ‘hut poles’ (bird-like roof timber), 'carved poles’, ‘slit
drums standing or lying’, ‘grade sculptures', ‘megaliths’, etc. are part
of one and the same architectural entity which it is now difficult to
piece together. Too often, sale to travellers and collectors has divided
objects from the same ceremonial house between the four corners of
the world, which makes a detailed study of the ancient cultural sites
of the country very difficult.
The earliest information we have about the style of living in
Vanuatu comes from the journals of the first European sailors, but
these are often very fragmented. You have to wait until the beginning
of the 20th century before finding relatively precise descriptions and
photographs.
James Cook wrote about his landing at Port Sandwich, south­
west Malakula on 21st July 1774: “At the edge of the wood there were
several houses and plantations.... These houses resembled those of
other islands, they were rather low, and covered with palm-thatch.
Some were walled round by boards and the entrance to these was by
it a square hole at one end, which at this time was shut up, and they
were unwillingly to open it to let us look inside. There were about six
houses and some small plantations of root-crops, protected by reed
fences as on the Friendly Islands A good many fine yams were
piled up upon sticks or a kind of raised platform ” 2
Bougainville notes in his diary, on 23rd May 1768, a landing on
Leper island: 3 "One comes across many tracks cut through the bush
and open spaces enclosed by stakes 3 feet high. Are these entrench­
ments, or simply the limits of different territories? We have not seen
any dwellings apart from 5 or 6 little huts which could only be entered
by sliding on one’s belly.... On many occasions we heard the harsh
noise of a type of drum coming from the depths of the bush near the
top of the mountain."' 1
These two accounts must be looked at in the context of the time
when they were written, but they nevertheless give us a description of
village life which is not too different from that which was known in
many regions of the country at the beginning of the 19th century.
Contact with European travellers greatly affected the traditional
dwellings with the introduction of new materials (nails, iron), new
tools (metal axes) and new techniques (carpentry, influenced by boat
builders). But the diseases imported by these travellers caused
serious epidemics which considerably reduced the population in the
19th century.
In Vanuatu, there are two distinct types of social structure, which
means that the organisation of the villages is very different. In the
south, there is a system of hereditary titles and chiefdoms, and in the
north grade hierarchies.
From the geographical point of view, there is no great difference
between the islands of the north and south, even though they are
spread over 700 km. The climate variations are slight, but there are
noticeable differences in the botanical heritage of each island. Only
Malakula and Santo are sufficiently large and mountainous to have
varied climatic zones. Here, there is a noticeable difference between
the coastal villages, whose economy is based on coconuts and those
of the mountain bush whose economy is based exclusively on
clearing and cultivating the land. 5
Vanuatu is situated along an active volcanic line which causes
frequent earthquakes, and, in addition, the country lies in the path of
tropical cyclones which regularly devastate certain islands. These
two phenomena become dominant factors when one looks at the
problems of architecture in the country.
There are two main urban centres in Vanuatu: Port-Vila (the
capital) on the island of Efaté, and Luganville on the island of Espiritu
Santo. In the majority of the large islands, there are some big villages
which have grown, as people have moved from previously dispersed
hamlets.
The word ‘village' is hardly appropriate to describe the few
houses grouped around the two most important places: the dance
area — nasara — often filled with drums: ating ating and the large
men’s meeting-house — the nakamat. This general arrangement can
have numerous different variations, for instance, the most important
building in a hamlet may be the house of a man of high rank. In fact,
the spatial organisation reflects the separation of the sexes and the
local social hierarchy.
The population of hamlets is usually quite low, that is, about a few
dozen people. Groups of houses sometimes stand on stone platforms
amid sacred plants (crotons, cordylines and dracaenas). Hamlets are
surrounded by gardens and fenced in to keep out the pigs and
prevent them from destroying the plantations.
Most buildings in Vanuatu are built at ground level 6 and are quite
low which means a considerable reduction in interior vertical space.
The interior is sometimes subdivided by wooden partitions to
separate the sexes (West Santo, Vao, Aoba) 7 or the family from
outsiders. When there are no partitions, hearths demarcate the
different areas for each person.
Ground floors are usually rectangular in shape (at least twice as
long as they are wide) sometimes with circular gables (Santo,
Malekula, Shepherd). From three to five rows of lengthwise posts
usually make up the framework. The roofing has two parts sloping
down to the ground. The gables are often closed, having only one or
two doors.
Building Materials
Speiser maintains 8 that caves did not serve as permanent housing
but only as a refuge in time of war or for travellers in search of shelter.
On the other hand, in Vao there were dwellings built in the shelter of
rocks.
But coral or volcanic stone was often used to enclose family (Vao,
Atchin) or funeral areas (Aoba) or to build platforms where wooden
structures were erected.
On Vanua-Lava certain houses had proper sub-foundation walls
of stone. On numerous islands monoliths, menhirs and stone tables
mark former cultural and funeral sites. Thus the place is dotted with
lithic remains of ancient or recent settlements — leaving a bright
future for archaeological research in this country. 9
Vegetable fibres make up the most commonly used building
materials in Vanuatu which is not surprising in this land of great
forests. A great deal of vegetable matter is used; various woods for
making framework posts, bamboo being the preferred material for
roofs — the most important part of a house in the tropics — for the
first function of roofing is that of a very large umbrella! Leaves from
the sago palm (especially in the northern part of the archipelago),
coconut palm, pandanus and sugar-cane, fashioned into compact
tiles are placed one over the other to give an even surface over which
rainwater can easily flow.
Smoke from permanently burning fires inside these buildings
permeates the roofing and dries it out. It coats the loft and hardens
the wood so preventing vermin from getting into the thatch. The role
of smoke is therefore of primary importance to the efficient weather­
ing of the house. On the other hand, the smoke-filled atmosphere that
characterises some houses is not very healthy for the respiratory
tracts of their occupants, except where adequate and permanent
ventilation exists. Hence the importance of the positioning of
buildings and the location of villages, having regard to the prevailing
winds, the sea, or the altitude of a site (on a mountain or in a valley).
From a scientific analysis of each type of habitation, conclusions
can be drawn about their strengths and weaknesses. Comparison of
the various designs of the different types of dwellings in neigh­
bouring communities will pinpoint the diverse solutions that have
been found by each community to overcome identical problems.
Taking into account various guidelines, it is sometimes possible to
remedy certain defects without entirely destroying the general effect.
Building
In Vanuatu, the building of a house, whether for family or
community, is a communal effort requiring the agreement of the
whole or part of the village community. Work is divided up according
to sex, age, and social standing. Each type of building corresponds to
particular skills and a new building means a particularly big effort on
the part of the community.
In conclusion, we would say that there are four distinct types of
habitation in the Vanuatu Archipelago.
The Northern Islands type (Torres, Banks, Aoba, Vao)
The Central "
”
(Santo, Malakula, Ambrym, Pentecost)
The Southern ”
" (Polynesian influence)
Combination types (combinations of the three previous types,
often with various influences during the last 50 years). 10
We shall study them one by one, island by island, without
however being in a position to deal with the different dwellings of the
Archipelago in their entirety. That would be a considerable task quite
outside the scope of this document. We shall however quote long
passages and extracts from articles or from old books. We have
chosen to reproduce them in their entirety rather than summarize
them, for the interest of these texts lies mainly in the wealth of
significant detail they give about a way of life in a now almost bygone
era.
In quotations from various authors, we have retained their way of
spelling indigenous words.
Islands of the Extreme North
The Torres Islands
(after Luis Vaez de Torres, a companion of
Quieros)
This group is made up of five islands (Hiu, Metorna, Tehua, Lo
Toga), one of which is uninhabited (Metorna). Their 325 inhabitants
live on 98 sq. km. of the settled volcanic terrain. Over 500 km. from
the capital, this archipelago still remains isolated because of lack of
communications. Christianity, which deeply affected family life, also
changed the traditional organisation of the villages.
Father W J Durand who lived on Torres Island at the beginning of
this century, had this to say' 1:
Villages were formerly triangular in shape, the gemel or men's club­
house making up the apex, the women’s and children's house, the
n'ema, being along the base, the space between being the dancing
area. Family homes were placed closely side by side and overlooked
the dance area. The Torres houses were fairly similar to those of the
Banks Islands, the latter being of a rather superior design. The
pillars were made up of two main posts at either end, which
supported the roofing beam, with one or two intermediary posts
inside the house. Shorter posts on the sides supported the stringpiece beams on which the base of the rafters rested.
The ridge-pole and the string-pieces were made of long narrow
banyan roots, and the rafters from tree trunks — the narrow part
making up the roof edging. Trunks used for posts were placed
upright. Four or five bamboos were placed horizontally over the
rafters on either side of the ridge-pole. Overhead, small rafters of
very solid wood were tied to the ridge-pole at their thinnest end.
Each part of the roofing frames was tied together with strips of bark
prepared by the women. Thatch was made from the leaves of the
smallest of the sago-palms, their foliage being folded on a reed and
pinned together to form tiles. These tiles were prepared and left to
dry in piles. Scaffolding was erected inside the house.
HIOU
Gavigamana
TEGOUA
9
Lounaragi
LINOUA
LO
Kourouretapo
TOGA
Map of the Torres Archipelago (from map I.G.N. 1976 1/500 000).
The men would bind the tiles to the rafters from the base upwards.
The ridge was the weakest point in the Torres Island dwellings
because it was covered only with sheafs of wide grass placed on a
bamboo frame horizontally cut and kept in place by heavy branches.
Once the roof was complete the walls would be made. These were of
split bamboo fixed crosswise on to slim stakes.
A low, narrow door was to be found at each end of the house and
in front of the house there would often be an enclosure of rough
pillars to prevent pigs from entering.
The owner would provide two feasts during construction. On
completion of the thatching he would give the workmen yams in
coconut milk. Before putting up the walls the future tenants would
bring young coconuts and eat them inside the unfinished building.
The most important festivities, however, were held when the house
was finished. The hearths were surrounded by stones and the men of
the family would sleep in the new house. The following day yam
pounded into a paste called togov was prepared; that day was known
as kwon togtogov. The whole family, both men and women, could then
sleep in their new home. A week after kwon togtogov fish would be
caught, brought to the village and eaten.
Compared with dwelling houses the gemel was the most
important place in the village. If there was a large male population in
the village there could be two gemels built side by side. A gemel was
very similar in appearance to a home, but much longer and open only
in front. In Loh a gemel would have two doors, with a raised threshold
to keep out the pigs, and sometimes a low fence similar to those in
front of family homes. The left-hand door was made for entering and
leaving by, whereas the one on the right was reserved for ceremonies
— such as a body being brought in to its final resting place. Water for
making kava was also brought in through this door. In the village of
Hiu the gemel had only one door and the men were most careful not
to sit on the doorstep for it was here that a corpse would be placed
during funeral rites. The walls of the gemel were made of undressed
planks, and the gables of split bamboo, some of which were cut into
various patterns, pointed or crescent-shaped, each of these shapes
having a meaning linked to the spirits and were therefore sacred.
Inside the gemel the earth was dug out below the level of the
ground. The trenches thus made proved very useful when the village
was attacked. The interior set-up was connected with the organis­
ation of Hukwa society, similar to that of the Suoue people of the
Banks Islands and comprised the whole of the adult male population.
The floor was divided into several compartments by bamboos (pitlit)
placed horizontally along the ground. Each compartment belonged
area for men of
normal entrance
inferior rank
area for men of high rank
skulls of the
ancestors
lower
enclosure
(see Fig. 101)
ceremonial entrance
fireplaces
bamboo containing water for
the Kava
Fig. 2 Plan of the interior of a Torres Islands gemel
Fig. 3 Family dwellings in the village of Vipaka, Torres, 1906 (from a photo
by Beattie, in Vanuatu, 1980, Institute of Pacific Studies, pp. 38-9).
to one of the social strata. The one belonging to the lowest rank was
near the outside. If a man was too poor to buy himself even the lowest
rank he was given a place beside the door. At the other end of the
gemel, after the place reserved for those of high rank, were placed the
skulls of those men who, during their lifetime, had attained the
highest grade and who, by their death, had attained the ultimate
degree.
As well as these crosswise divisions in the gemel, there was an alley
going from one end to the other, made by the two parallel lines of the
great bamboo reservoirs containing water to be used for making
kava. Each one rested on a fork-shaped base, the side with the
opening leading towards the interior (towards the ancestors).
Each compartment had one or two hearths (holes surrounded by
stones) on which the men cooked their food. There were also
bamboo shelves suspended two metres above the ground on which
the occupants put their arms or tools. Other objects were hung on
the framework of the building, or placed inside the thatch. Above the
sleeping places could be seen a stripped stick of over a metre long,
notched at regular intervals. Every tenth notch was longer than the
others which allowed the dates of funeral feasts to be worked out.
On the small rafters just below the ridge-pole there were usually a
few sticks, two or three metres long, burnt and blackened by smoke:
these were the records of the longest yams which were kept in this
way for friendly rivalry.
In front of the door of the gemel there was a drum called chinchin
which was beaten with the fists. It was sounded at the times of
festivities connected with the Hugwa society.
F. Speiser gives us only a little information about the Torres
Islands. He cites Coote: 12
The houses are simply semicircular arches, built upon the ground.
Speiser also cites Coombe13 on the subject of both a photograph of a
house on the island of Tegua and a description very similar to that by
W.J. Durrad.’ 4
The Banks Islands
(named after Joseph Banks)
These are made up of six main islands and a dozen smaller
islands and islets covering 722 sq. km. (Ureparapara, Motlav, Vanualava, Mota, Santa-Maria and Merlav).
With the exception of the coral reefs of Rowa, these elevated
islands are volcanic. They have a scattered population of about 5000
(1979) deriving their living from the cultivation of taro, yams,
Lehali
Leqaranle
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Vatrata
Levetiboso
Wasaka
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MOTA
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PAKE A
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VANUALAVA
Masol
Limbot
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Onétar
Tolab
?SANTA MARIA
Lēvolvo1
' MERIG
Makéon Deuriv
Lekwel
Tasmat^^ Auta
MERLAV
Fig. 4 Map of the Banks Archipelago (from map I.G.N. 1976 1/500 000).
bananas, and breadfruit, together with the rearing of pigs and fishing.
The economy of the remainder of the country depends on the sale of
copra, but each island has a special reputation for the production of
certain things'5 .
Housing has greatly changed since the beginning of the century
but unfortunately there are only a few old photographs in existence
to allow a more detailed study. However, the architecture of this part
of Vanuatu was by far the most interesting in the region, combining
mineral and vegetable matter in their building materials. Stone was
used to build proper walls, 16 using very varied methods of con­
struction and, within the local ecosystem, very ingenious in concept.
This contradicts Codrington’s statement: "The typical Melanesian
house requires very little description: a roof of bamboo bent over a
ridge-pole, which is supported by two main posts, very low side walls,
and the ends filled in with bamboo screens." 17
We shall therefore study the housing of each of these islands and
identify the characteristics of each one.
The Island of Ureparapara
The most northerly of the Banks Islands is formed by
cone with a subsided and partly sunken crater, and is full
Covering an area of 36 sq. km. it has a population of 236
the three villages of Lehali, Leqaranle and Lehalrop. The
has decreased since the arrival of the Europeans:
a volcanic
of ravines.
comprising
population
Originally the men’s club-houses were scattered along the whole
length of the coast and on higher ground than today A popu­
lation of about 500 people, spread over a dozen gemel would appear
to be a realistic estimate and an acceptable picture of the traditional
situation.
Today people live mainly on the coast, villages are to be found on
the coastal hillsides at an altitude of between two and fifteen metres.'8
Codrington has it that custom dictated that three or four families
would occupy a single house. A few years later Speiser clearly states:
“In Ureparapara there are curved houses on stone bases as in VanuaLava. They are at least 10 metres by 4 metres and 3 metres high. They
rest on three rows of posts, one in the middle and two on either side.
A rounded door of plaited bamboo opens out on the gable end.
The homes of men of rank are smaller and built on lower bases
than the ordinary houses. But these different buildings may be found
on sites very close together.”
On one of Speiser’s plans one can make out two gemels side by
side facing the dance square which is surrounded by family homes
Fig. 5. Family houses at Ureparapara.
Fig. 6. Diagrammatic representation
of roof construction of a sleeping
house.
^
Fig. 7 Another type of dwelling at
Ureparapara.
m&3B>
a
T&V*
is *
■I
-
y■
L1
Fig. 8. Plan of a village on Ureparapara.
gamal
facing two ‘privileged’ directions — either in the same direction as the
gemels (for eight of them) or straight opposite (for the other nine).
These family homes had either a cradle-shaped or a half barrelled­
shaped roof, sometimes similar to certain types of Polynesian
houses.19
The Island of Vanua-Lava
The establishment of traditional habitations was for the most part
closely linked to the contours of the land and the quality of the soil.
Spread right around the island the preferred sites for the villages
were the plateaux and the low slopes. Because of the heavy rainfall
and poor soil of the higher altitudes, the people who left the low-lying
coastal marshes had to settle on slopes or terraces at an altitude of
between 50 and 400 metres.
All traditions, related by word of mouth about the origin of Banks
Island culture, are centred in the island of Vanua-Lava.
It is the largest island in the Banks Archipelago (342 sq. km.) with
a population of over 900 (1979) divided up into six large villages:
Vatrata, Levetiboso, Wasaga, Mosina, Quanlap and Kerepeta, a great
number of whose inhabitants have emigrated to the island of Santo
and who now live in the Mango quarter of Luganville.
Formerly houses were built on stone terraces. Ravenga in VanuaLava is situated on a ten metre high embarkment.20 "Huts, of a low
and mean appearance, are thatched with wild sugar-cane and
banana leaves and have extremely small entrances... large building,
the club house, 73 ft. in length by ten ft. in width, divided into seven
compartments.21
Speiser’s photographs show us two of the men’s meeting-houses
with posts carved in very different ways but showing the same
concept of framework.
If we compare Speiser’s plans with those of Vienne we see that
the family homes on the old plan appear relatively close together
around the two gamals situated in the centre of stone platforms. Most
of these houses are parallel with the gamal. In a recent plan, the
middle of the village is taken up by a gamal, a church (placed at the
perpendicular to this gamal) and the cooperative. As in Speiser’s plan,
the family houses are spread all around. They are more numerous
and farther away but have the same layout, with most of the buildings
placed parallel to the gamal. Each dwelling now has its kitchen
situated at the back towards the bush and on the women’s side.
Fig. 9 View of Mota (from R.H. Codrington, 1972, p. 15).
Fig. 10 Cross-section and plan of a house with stone foundation.
Fig. 11 Statue or post indicating rank, Vanua Lava (from F. Speiser, 1923, pi.
100) (3).
Fig. 12 House of a man of high rank (from F. Speiser, 1923, pi. 17 (4)).
I
Fig. 13 Men’s house with stone wall
(from F. Speiser, 1923, pi. 104 (5)).
Fig. 14 House built on a lava-block
foundation,
Vanua-Lava
(from
E.
Aubert de la Rue) 2"
Fig. 15 Interior of a men's house,
Vanua-Lava, showing area reserved for
men of high rank (from F. Speiser,
1923, pi. 18 (5)).
lf%
a. old men's houses
b house of man of
high rank
&$>
Fig. 16 Plan of a village, Vanua-Lava
(from F. Speiser, 1923, pl. II (2)).
I is
11 1 1 1 E3 sa
Ē3
0 m
cooperative EE3 EH
%
EE
m
S game/ jjjS
church
m
EE
EH
@
sl
E.w'd can
££3 ^
%
01
iKvÜij family house
ffli kitchen
Fig. 17 Simplified plan of a present-day village, Vanua-Lava (from B.
Vienne, 1984, p. 141).
The islet of Ravena
This islet is situated on the east coast of Vanua-Lava opposite
Qanlap. “Formerly, Ravena was populated and had close relations
with the Motlav district.” 25
The Island of Mota (Sugarloaf Island)
This circular island has the appearance of a hat. It is formed from
a volcanic cone surrounded by raised coral reefs.
Coconut plantations and subsistence crops are of great importance
on Mota. The population lives on the elevated reef platform and the
villages and hamlets are distributed all around the island. It is
interesting to note that housing on Mota has kept to its original
pre-European locality which becomes apparent when one compares
the map of the district of Mota drawn by Codrington in 1891 with
one giving the present day positions of the villages. However, the
survey has established that main village sites change approximately
every 30-40 years because of the subsidence of the land and allied
phenomena caused by prolonged inhabitation.
At present the island has a population of over 400 inhabitants (1979)
in a total area of 9.5 sq. km.
Housing is very similar to that of the neighbouring islands of
Vanua-Lava and Motlav. There are three villages on Mota — St
Andrew, St Mathew and St Paul.
The Island of Motlav (Motalava) (formerly known as Valu or Ile de
la Salle)
The island covers 35.1 sq. km. with over 1000 inhabitants (1979).
“On Motlav, land occupation was directly affected by its contours
and the fertility of the soil, and evidence of the return of inhabitants to
their former dwelling places bears out this theory. Originally, villages
were scattered right around the island and on its coastline as well as
on the islet of Rah.
Nowadays the position is very different and the whole of the
Motlav population, with the exception of the small village of Valuwa,
is concentrated in five large villages surrounded by a few satellite
hamlets," 25 Gerenigmen, Var, Taglag, Qeremagda and Rah.
In 1924 Speiser wrote:
Vanua Lava, Mota lava and Mota form a cultural region. Different
villages are fairly similar and established on the coasts as in Gaua.
Walls surround villages and fields. At the side of the small dance
square stand the men's houses which always appear to be in use.
Opposite, on the other side of the dance square, is the chief's house
and at its side and behind it houses spread out in a haphazard
fashion^6
On Mota and Motalava dwellings were the same size as those of
Vanua Lava.27
Description of a village (vanua)
The layout of houses (ima or neum in Motlav) in relationship to
the gamal (negamelon Motlav) and its dance square (tine sava or
napmo lak/ak) is fairly loose, forming a compact village or a central
nucleus surrounded by satellite hamlets. Villages are often establish­
ed on gentle slopes, allowing water to run away and avoiding too
much subsidence. The gamal is always situated on top of a slope.
Villages were sometimes surrounded by a small wall or fence — the
enclosure is still visible on the Telmitig site.
If the village {vanua) surrounded by gardens is opposite the forest
(mat) the gamal, the men’s public club house and seat of the suqe,
(hierarchy of ranks) erect a small construction in a cleared part of the
forest, the salagoro. Like the gamal, this is forbidden to women and the
uninitiated, and serves as a meeting place and for the ceremonial
preparation of the initiated for the tamate rites.
Certain plants denote what is forbidden, magic protection or tabu
(crotons, cordylines, cycads, banyans, etc).
The Banks Island house, ima, is rectangular in shape —measuring approximately eight to ten metres long, five to six metres
wide and two to three metres high, with a floor of beaten earth.
Nowadays construction on a cement base or coral bed is becoming
commonplace. The casing of the house, its framework and its roofing
ridge are made of hard forest timber reputed to be imperishable. The
walls are made of split and plaited bamboo. Another technique is also
currently widespread, the walls being made of small reeds planted in
the floor and bound together. The roof has two sides inclined at an
angle of about 30 or 40 degrees. It is made of sago-palm leaf 'tiles’
partially overlapping each other. They are supported by a bamboo
casing fixed to the hardwood rafters. There are twenty to thirty lateral
bamboos each side, at intervals of 30-40 cms. for four or five,
arranged lengthwise. The ‘tiles' are placed from the base upwards,
the space between being on an average of 15-25 cms. which, for the
covering, gives a thickness of two to three double leaves. To ensure
that it is watertight and sufficiently durable — its life span is five or six
years on an average — the ideal spacing is the distance between the
intersection of the thumb and the hand and the fingertips. On the
inside the tiles are bound to be bamboos and on the outside are held
in place by three parallel reeds running from the base of the slope
with one at the top, close to the ridge pole. The central ^ein of the
lamina is taken out and then bent two thirds of its length around two
small reeds; it is kept tight by the vein which is stuck into each lamina
forming a ‘seam'. A tile measures about 1.20m. * 0.70m. The roofing is
made watertight by a set of tiles plaited two by two and kept in place
by binding onto the upper rafter. The bindings used are made from
different varieties of forest creepers which are also used in basketmaking, or from strings of plaited coconut fibre.
At the front of the house, and sometimes at the back as well, the
overhang of the roof formed a kind of porch. Traditionally, the roof
almost touched the ground, the height of the walls rarely being more
than 50-60cm. Today the walls are decidedly higher and, even along
traditional lines, houses tend to imitate the proportions of European
models. 28
The front and back gable ends of the house have a door the
height of a man and placed in the middle, whereas traditionally they
were not in the centre.
The interior space, divided into two, is more functional. Lengthwise,
the house is separated into a ‘dormitory area’ and 'kitchen area’. The
occupants sleep at right angles on the widest part of a line between
the two doors. Supplies are stored and cooking is done on the other
side.
Corresponding to this lengthwise separation, there is a horizontal
'boundary' dividing the 'masculine' and the ‘feminine’ part of the
house, each having its own door. The men’s door faces the gamal
and the dance square, the women’s faces the bush. After death the
body of the deceased will repose lengthwise — in the opposite
direction to the sleeping position.
At the intersection of these lines demarcating the interior of the
house is the qaranis, the hearth used for ceremonial cooking, the
centre stone of which (the nevet rono), -constitutes an essential
symbolic element of the home.
The domestic house, insofar as individual private and feminine
space is concerned, is different from the gamal which is communal,
public and masculine. As far as the building goes the gamal, the
communal house for the men of the village, is built along the same
lines as the domestic house. It differs from it in length When a
member of the community acquires a higher rank in the suqe, a
corresponding space is added to the gamal. When the holder of the
highest rank dies the corresponding end of the gamal is left to rot
to irrigated
land
to the gardens,
x
interior dry stone wal
pigs' grazing area
tano tapu (cycas sp.)
smooth stone \
paving . <$x
S
houses ĒUsU
■ E23
WME ga^eh
rockycliff ® ®
' •.
wona
^
ffin. /mT\ vTrrrm /TmTrtV
i coastline
//
^female place of ' male place of
relaxation "
'relaxation y
Fig. 18 Simplified plan of the old village of Gamelvava (from B. Vienne, 1984,
p. 139).
*V
* X xVi.
salagoro
f'
np taboo signs
banyan
magic
protection : soloi
fano rono
v
, fano rono , *
houses
\
,
* X
«tone enclosure *' ^
\yX
I
J
tine sara g“od>^ j"
kitchen
■
sacred plants
f wona
gardens
bush
fano fapu
Fig. 19 Plan of a village, Motlav (from B. Vienne, 1984, p. 137).
(cycas sp.)
intersection of the thumb and the hand and the fingertips. On the
inside the tiles are bound to be bamboos and on the outside are held
in place by three parallel reeds running from the base of the slope
with one at the top, close to the ridge pole. The central vein of the
lamina is taken out and then bent two thirds of its length around two
small reeds; it is kept tight by the vein which is stuck into each lamina
forming a 'seam’. A tile measures about 1.20m. x 0.70m. The roofing is
made watertight by a set of tiles plaited two by two and kept in place
by binding onto the upper rafter. The bindings used are made from
different varieties of forest creepers which are also used in basketmaking, or from strings of plaited coconut fibre.
At the front of the house, and sometimes at the back as well, the
overhang of the roof formed a kind of porch. Traditionally, the roof
almost touched the ground, the height of the walls rarely being more
than 50-60cm. Today the walls are decidedly higher and, even along
traditional lines, houses tend to imitate the proportions of European
models. 28
The front and back gable ends of the house have a door the
height of a man and placed in the middle, whereas traditionally they
were not in the centre.
The interior space, divided into two, is more functional. Lengthwise,
the house is separated into a ‘dormitory area’ and ‘kitchen area'. The
occupants sleep at right angles on the widest part of a line between
the two doors. Supplies are stored and cooking is done on the other
side.
Corresponding to this lengthwise separation, there is a horizontal
'boundary' dividing the 'masculine' and the 'feminine' part of the
house, each having its own door. The men’s door faces the gamal
and the dance square, the women’s faces the bush. After death the
body of the deceased will repose lengthwise — in the opposite
direction to the sleeping position.
At the intersection of these lines demarcating the interior of the
house is the qaranis, the hearth used for ceremonial cooking, the
centre stone of which (the nevet rono),-constitutes an essential
symbolic element of the home.
The domestic house, insofar as individual private and feminine
space is concerned, is different from the gamal which is communal,
public and masculine. As far as the building goes the gamal, the
communal house for the men of the village, is built along the same
lines as the domestic house. It differs from it in length When a
member of the community acquires a higher rank in the suqe, a
corresponding space is added to the gamal. When the holder of the
highest rank dies the corresponding end of the gamal is left to rot
to irrigated
land
to the gardens
, —^ x
interior dry stone wal
z
pigs' grazing area
tano tapu (cycas sp.)
smooth stone
■S
paving
■:v
houses
■
lîÉi . '
tyh rockycliff
SUSügamel ^
i' M
13 S3
-,v^ ■ • . :
• !JTn /TTÏÏN vTrrrm mrrnXV. A
coastline
female place of _male place of
rejaxation^^^^relaxation
J
Fig. 18 Simplified plan of the old village of Gamelvava (from B. Vienne, 1984,
p. 139).
\\ < * /- ^ x
^ X x\\ sa/annrn ^
l\ v ta^00 s '9ns
! banyan
magic
protection : soloi
^
tano rono X
fano rono
houses -
..
\
* y "X
stone enclosure * ^
gamal
tine sara e*
kitchen -■<*
1
sacred plants
wona
] gardens
(cycas sp.)
fano tapu
xv
^
.
*- •
x
Fig. 19 Plan of a village, Motlav (from B. Vienne, 1984, p. 137).
v
Fig. 20 Gamal of the village of Ara (from a photo by H. Nevermann, 1933, p.
149).
Fig. 21 Ancestral sculpture near a men s house (from a photo by Beattie, in
Dr Hans Nevermann Masken und Geheimbunde in Melanesian,
1933, p. 158).
until someone eventually acquires the rank again. Thus the gamal is
divided up into crosswise compartments according to the actual
hierarchy of the village and the interior arrangement reflects the
hierarchy of ranks. Each compartment, separated by semi-partitions
of reeds, tintinav, lengths of wood or upright stones, includes its own
qaranis, thus constituting a ‘small house'. It is customary in the
Banks Islands to commemorate a meal that celebrated a certain
event by placing mammal bones, fishbones, or the shells of
crustaceans in the tiles and roof joists —
In certain parts of the Banks Islands it was customary to build a
special gamal for the holder of a very high rank in the hierarchy,
particularly in Gaua and for the ranks beyond nemel.29
The Island of Gaua or Santa-Maria
(sometimes called Lakon)
This island, which is a volcano of about 800 metres in height (Mt
Garet), with an area of 338 sq. km., is the largest of the Banks Islands.
Lake Létas lies within the crater.
It was formerly the most populated island (3000 people at the end
of the last century). Now, the majority of its 766 inhabitants (1979)
live in the two main villages of Losolava and Lemanna.
The small island of Merig, situated to the east towards Merlav, is
known as 'Gaua's small child’, and also as the island of Saint Clarel.
In the frontispiece of his work The Melanesians’ 30 Codrington
has left us an interesting engraving called ‘Stone building at Gaua’, in
which can be seen the different types of roofing with two straight
wedge-shaped pieces (to the left) or in cradle form (to the.right). No
door can be discerned which leads us to the conclusion that the
building is viewed from the back of the men’s house (family homes
having an entrance at each end) and is a sacred area since one can
make out a stone platform on which is a plant, a stone table, and a
row of monoliths standing between coconut palms. (This engraving
should be compared with the layout of the dance square drawn by F.
Speiser who collected a great deal of information and interesting
etchings.)31
On Gaua near to the sea we find Losalava; a few huts stand alone,
others are hidden by trees.32
Plate 89 shows us three types of Gaua architecture. In the first
photograph we can make out through the fronds a gamal on a stone
platform and a fence, also in stone. The shape of this gamal is very
close to the outline of a family house. 33 This is confirmed by Speiser:
■I
Fig. 23 Plan of a dance area,
Gaua (from F. Speiser,1923, pi.
91 (12)).
Fig, 24 Tattoo designs, similar
to those found at the entrance
of men’s houses (from F. Speiser,
1923, pi. 42).
1 Ai- /A "V
/'. O'! >/-UC(kr?Â
■/ /< I// '■!///!tf. jflBSSji
Fig. 25 House gable, Gaua (from F.
Speiser, 1923, pl. 12*(4)).
Fig. 26 Ancestral house, Gaua (from F. Speiser, 1923, pi. 89 (3)).
Fig. 27 House of a man of high rank in theSuqe heirarchy (from F. Speiser,
1923, pi. 89 (4)).
The ordinary people’s homes are the same as those of the tribal
chiefs; they are also built on stone ledges and have gable walls of
bamboo.34
In the third photograph we see the house of a high-ranking ancestor,
with anthropomorphous pillars carved in trunks of tree-ferns. Two
small sections are decorated with paintings in geometrical patterns.
On the front of the ornamental facade are carvings of tree roots in the
shape of birds. This kind of building can be compared with those in
Vao.
Photograph No 4 show a family home of a high-ranking man of
the Suqe hierarchy; he could not, in fact, stay in homes of men of
lesser rank. The building was quite large (over 4 metres high) and
with a highly decorated front. The carved posts and paintings, and
the scale of the roof, evoke the various pigs that the occupant must
have donated to obtain this rank.
Thus a whole hierarchy of buildings existed which represented
the social diversity of the village: gamal, ancestors’ house, house of a
man of rank, family home, cooking house, etc.
Family homes did not have doors that closed. Speiser tells of
having seen, in front of a house, two mollusc shells hanging side by
side above the entrance which acted as bells when somebody
entered. The roof jutted out from the gable end, allowing firewood to
be stored underneath or providing shelter for people to sit under and
chat.
There were kilometres of small stone walls all over the island and
the men’s meeting houses were situated on stone platforms, a metre
in height. The men did not live in them for they had other houses on
lower bases.
The Island Of Merlav (Mere-lava in the language of Mota,
meaning ‘big child')
This is the most populated island in the archipelago. Situated to the
south-east, it constitutes the limit of culture and civilization. Merlav
also has connections with Maewo, where part of its population hails
from. Various records also show links with the north-east of Santo
and east of Aoba.35
Speiser says that he did not set foot on this island and refers to
Coome to provide us with information about it.
The houses were built on terraces fairly close to the fields. Villages
and fields were quite large and enclosed by stone walls, the height of
a man. Beside the dance square were several men's houses, only one
of which seemed to be used. Opposite this dance square was the
chief’s house with the family homes on either side. They were often
scattered in small groups but they were also villages —36
But since the beginning of this century the Merlav population, like
that of Merig, has become Christian and architecture has changed.
In Merlav one can still see today a remarkable lay-out of villages,
arranged on mid-slope. The houses are supported by piles.37
Fig. 28 House and gamal, Merlav (from a photo by H. Nevermann32).
The Islands of the North
The island of Mae wo
(called Ile Aurore (Dawn Island) by
Bougainville)
The island stretched some fifty kilometres in length but, on an
average, is only five kilometres wide. The first contact with Europeans
proved fatal for its people, its coastal population being practically
exterminated by disease. At present it has over a thousand in­
habitants speaking three different dialects.
However, on the west coast of Maewo, remains and place names
indicate numerous villages that have disappeared. Abandoned sites
where homes once stood, old banyans planted around the dance
square (nassarah) and heaps of stones arranged in lines, and former
fences for defence or for collective piggeries can still be seen
through the vegetation,39
The island of Maewo today has really only three real 'bushman'
villages — Ngota, Saramawata and Qwotiavogoli.40
At the beginning of this century Speiser 41 noted two regions — a
mountainous part in the south and northern part formed by a coral
plateau. In this northern part houses were built directly on the ground
as in Vao, and the walls were made of bamboo fencing. In the south of
the island, the houses were built on coral block terraces. The men’s
houses were very similar indeed to those of certain regions of Santo
Island, with a double-sloping roof and no walls at the side. The gables
were well made of bamboo slats and pandanus leaves. A tall wide
door was the only opening to the house and always opened out at the
gable ends. A number of decorative plants could be seen around
these houses.
Women could not enter the man’s house. It also appeared to have
a loft.
It is still possible to find these kinds of dwellings in certain
a men’s house
d house of man of high rank
Fig. 29 Plan of a village in north
Maewo (from F. Speiser, 1923, pl. II
(3&4)).
Fig. 30
Maewo.
Plan of a village in south
Fig. 31 Use of land in a traditional village, Sarata mawata, central Maewo
(from J. Bonnemaison, 1974, p. 179).
1 - living area
2 - area for raising pigs
3 - bush and main gardens
fence enclosing pig grazing area
4r
(hana)
small enclosed gardens
i i-t- irrigated areas
protective wall (litou)
.' i'vitv unenclosed areas of dry cultivation
■fttH'Jr)
fjtvU/tjt
Fig. 32 Family house with stone foundation, Maewo (from F. Speiser, 1923,
pl. 17 (2)).
Fig. 33 Monolith on a grave at Maewo (from Speiser, pl. 80 (6)).
villages. "The nakamal corresponds to a small hamlet of about thirty
to forty people living in a clearly defined area. In the true sense of the
word the nakamal merely means 'the house of men’ and is a fairly long
building whose different compartments symbolize the main divisions
in rank or status. Its size and the beauty of its ornamentation reflect
the political importance of the group or, more exactly, the prestige
and the extent of the powers of its main chief. 42
In the plan drawn up by J. Bonnemaison we find that the layout is
the same as that described and drawn up by Speiser fifty years
previously.43
In the plan of a village in north Maewo, a central square with two
access paths can be seen. The nakamal and the various family homes
are surrounded by fences. In most of these enclosures there are two
buildings, the family house and the kitchen, placed at right angles to
or parallel with the nakamal.
The plan of the layout of a hamlet in southern Maewo reminds us
that this is a mountainous region. Buildings are constructed on earth
and stone platforms and kept in place on the sloping side by a wall of
coral blocks. The nakamal is situated in the same direction but
separated from the other buildings (family houses) —the latter being
grouped together in threes on each of the four platforms. An
enclosure or hillock of round stones has a stake or a drum within it
and is situated between the nakamal and the other habitations.
The house in south Maewo shown in photographs 2, plate 17, is
astonishing similar to a nakamal on the island of Vao that we visited in
1979, both in its shape and use of various materials (see Fig. 115).
The Island of Ambae or Aoba
(Bougainville dubbed it 'Island of Lepers’)
The island is dominated by two crater lakes (Manaro Kessa and
Manaro Voui). Most of the 7800 inhabitants live in the villages on the
west coast, the others scattered round the periphery of this 420 sq.
km. island.
Bougainville has left us this description of the island of Ambae:
Its north-west coast is of sheer highland at least 12 leagues long and
completely wooded. No huts at all could be seen, only a great deal of
smoke rising from the middle of the woods from the seashore to the
summit of the mountains.
It would appear, however, that he noticed only one particular kind of
house when he wrote:
We did not see any other houses except for five or six small huts that
Fig. 34 Plan of a hamlet, Ambae
(from F. Speiser, 1923, pl. 10 (7)).
a men’s house
Fig. 35 Plan of a hamlet,
(trom Speiser, pl. 10 (8)).
Ambae
d house of man of high rank
^ coconut plantations
^ cocoa plantations
traditional food
gardens
i taro
-ZÛ area of pig grazing
^ breeding pens
:
dense bush
■Ct Villages
,***** large enclosed areas
(hara) now abandoned
Fig. 36 Use of land in Lolossari region, Ambae (from J. Bonnemaison,1974,
p. 262).
Fig. 37 House with stone platform (from Speiser, pl. 17 (1))
Fig. 38 House in south-west Ambae (from Speiser, pl. 13 (5)).
Fig. 39 House of a man of very high rank, Ambae (from Speiser, pl. 14 (4)).
Fig. 40 House in west Ambae (from a photo by E. Aubert de la Rue, 1945 pi
XVII).
could only be entered by dragging oneself along on the stomach.4''
Speiser specifies: “Apparently Bougainville saw only small shelter
huts on the beach.45
At the beginning of this century, in the south-western region of the
island, houses were built two by two on terraces of volcanic stone.
Enclosures were separated by stone walls or sometimes by wooden
fences. There were also outhouses serving as kitchens or store
rooms. All village buildings were close to the dance square. The
men’s clubhouses were open to women, and these, too, were built
beside the dance square and were mostly used for cooking purposes.
They were 15 metres long, 10 metres wide and 5 metres high, with a
roof of two different sized sides, the wider one touching the ground
and the other forming a porch at shoulder height. Young men could
sleep there as well as the newly initiated. The latter were separated by
a partition of palm leaves. Drums (boga) were also kept on the men’s
house.
High ranking men lived in houses cut off from the village which
were more carefully constructed and more ornate. They had a single
very low opening at the gable end and on either side were stakes
hung with pig jaws and large shells which were in an enclosure made
of blocks of volcanic rock, where tombs, altars and various plants
(crotons) were also to be found.
Family homes were 10m. x 5m. * 3 metres high with a two sided
roof, a fairly high door and a bamboo threshold of about half a metre.
Each family group had a menstruation hut for the women. These were
miniature houses 2.50m. * 1.50m. * 1.50m. in height, with a very low
opening.
In the north-east of the island were the real men’s houses,
forbidden to women. These buildings were close to the dance
squares outside the village.
More recently, J. Bonnemaison made a study of Ambae society.
He tells us that the population was divided into taoule (bush-man)
occupying the centre of the island and the elao (salt waterman)
established beside the sea who were sailors and in control of interisland contacts. There must also have been a third category assuring
contact between the two previously named groups.
However in these two worlds with a frequently antagonistic outlook,
the organisation of village space followed a practically identical
pattern.
The long, low dwellings with bamboo walls and a roof covering of
Nantogora (sago palm) leaves are scattered in small groups around
the nakamal. The dance square (nassarah) the ground flattened by
the feet of dancers, is situated in an extension of the nakamal close
by a banyan tree with its thick branches providing shade conducive
to the debates and gossip of the day. This space was formerly
encircled by high, protective fences (litou) made of wooden posts
and bamboo over two metres high, embedded in a row of raised
stones.46
There is an interesting article by P. O’Reilly on the tomb of
Taremulimuli. 47 Funerary buildings are part of architecture and we
should not ignore them. On a cliff facing the sea, near Nagire, there is
an enclosure:
It was an almost perfect rectangle demarcated by fairly flat raised
stones of different thicknesses, most of them barely 40-50 cms. from
the ground. Other higher ones were as tall, if not taller, than a man.
They were roughly aligned and placed a short distance from each
other (about 1m.-0.25m.). The sides of the rectangle were 21 and 36
metres respectively.
In the middle of this rectangle was a second enclosure 17 metres long
by 2.80m. wide (max) in the shape of a boat without an end turned
towards the sea, a “stone cut in the shape of an extremely tilted
trihedral pyramid.” 48
A cycad (na mele), the classic flora for sepulchres and places of
sacrifice, backed on to this enclosure.
The Island of Santo
This is the largest of the Vanuatu Islands and is very mountainous
in the west and little developed. Numerous plantations and stockfarming areas were created on the east coast during the colonial
period. With an area of 3965 sq. km., it has on average only one
inhabitant per square kilometre, making it one of the least populated
islands of Vanuatu.
Speiser gave us this information at the beginning of the century 49 :
Above 600m. there was no village, habitation being between the
heights of 150m. and 300m. The layout of villages was quite con-,
fused, they were divided up into different groupings of family
dwellings, with poor roads linking various hamlets. At the edge of
the different villages were hermit homes. The dead were buried in
their own house which was subsequently abandoned.
In the centre of Santo, villages were neater. The village of Bele was
laid out around a rectangular dancing-green, with the gable-ended
openings of the dwellings facing it. Both women's and men's houses
were in a row fairly close together but without any particular order,
alongside a long road from which smaller tracks lead into the forest.
i/*.
t11
•<:
Vn
\
.• j • .ri
Fig. 41 Longitudinal view and cross-section of a house in north-west
Santo (from Speiser, pi. 12 (1&6)).
Fig. 42 Storehouse in north-west
Santo (from Speiser, pi. 12 (9)).
Fig 43 Sculpted columns of a men’s
house in north-west Santo (from
Speiser, pi. 12 (9a)).
Fig. 44 Village plan, north-west Santo (from Speiser, 1923, pi. 10 (2)).
Fig. 45 Village plan, north-east Santo (from Speiser, pi. 10 (1)).
Fig. 46 Cross-section of a dwelling
in north-east Santo (from Speiser, pi.
12 (5)).
Fig.
47
Men’s
Port-Orly
(from
house,
Speiser,
pi. 12 (10)|.
Fig. 48 Diagram of
construction of fence
in north-east Santo
(from Speiser pi. 12
(11 &12 ».
nmmmm
Fig. 49 The construction of a roof
(from Speiser, pi. 14 (6)).
Fig. 50 Village plan, central Santo (from Speiser, pi. 10(5)).
women’s entrance
women
stone
men
strangers
simple
fireplace
men's entrance
Fig. 51 Schematic representation of
a family house in Tsrapae, central
Santo (personal communication from
H. Goron).
woodstore
Fig. 52 Plan and cross-section of a
village house at Butmas (from J.
Guiart, 1959, p. 27).
Tïptt 1 f/fU/Ayîfi
if, iy.ii .1 wi\ MUi i/flii JM ll
T|l«W‘r(lAk^vV
IXVII
fkVHM
«U
W\AUL|U-i-ti|
g; sī 3;
AWpXiywTf^m ^ s.yAuXti.‘.I -, "--rA/5ei ' if 4
I/.^VCWlV1iv< v, i_ ^
Fig. 53 Plan of a house in south-west Santo
(from Speiser, pi. 12 (1)).
Fig. 54 Dwellings in south­
west Santo (from Speiser, pi.
13 (D).
V
•■ TJ
Fig. 55 House at Vuinavanga, south-east Santo (from photo by C. Coiffier).
Fig. 56 Men’s house north­
west Santo (see Fig. 43) (from
Speiser, pi. 13 (2)).
Fig. 57 Men's house, west Santo (from a photo by
Thilenius).
Fig. 58 Interior
Speiser, pi. 13 (6)).
of
a
men’s
house,
west
Santo
(from
drums
large banyan
Nagamal
cycas and other 'magical' plants
dance area
Fig. 59 Ceremonial area of a village in south-east Santo (from C. Coiffier,
1982, p. 170).
Fig 60 Men's house, south-east Santo (from a photo by C. Coiffier)
Fig. 61 Dwelling in
south-east
Santo
(from a photo by C.
Coiffier).
C ji■1 v-|l
yfpi I 'M').IVwav
'U11 ki ,vV,«
Uv«.-•
Vi
Fig. 62 Longitudinal
view and plan of house
in central Santo (from
Speiser, pi. 12 (14).
>cvvu
Uvii IWr'M
l\
I - - ' V r M 1,
I 11111/\
\ i xv L’!-v
fj - ?
Fig. 63 Dwelling at
Fwimatal
(from
a
photo by J. Guiart,
1953, p. 129).
Fig. 64 Dwelling at
Vuinavanga (from a
photo by C. Coiffier).
Numerous fences could be seen but when the population was much
larger, the houses were built even closer together within enclosures.
Some villages were divided into two parts because of problems
within the clans.
On their return from Australia where they had been employed on
Queensland plantations, certain high ranking men influenced the
construction of new villages.
In the northern part of the islands there were special buildings for
storing vegetables and fruit. There were small houses in the gardens
for conjugal encounters. In this region houses were often built on a
stone base and in the mountainous districts the men’s houses were
sometimes built on piles. But in other places, men and women slept in
the same building which was divided in two by a wooden beam.
There were neither tree houses nor troglodytes, although certain
cliffs were used for habitation in time of war.
Curiously enough, in the south of the island, T-shaped houses
were found.
In Sakaos, in the village of Nejets (Port-Orly), the men’s meeting
house, Robo, is a building with two sloping roofs down to the ground
— the walls cannot therefore be seen from the outside. The posts
were embedded with root-ends upwards, with some of these roots
being kept to be occasionally used as hooks. Some posts were made
up of several spliced bamboos. The importance of a house was
judged by the number of posts used in its construction. According to
the men, the central pillars of the house were phallic symbols.
The length of the men's house denoted its owner’s rank, it could
therefore be lengthened but not widened. The largest house in Nejets
was 56m. long, i.e. eight posts with a seven metre space between
each.
A man of rank made it his business to have his own house
different from the men’s house and several of his wives, with their
children, could live there together, the most senior wife supervising
the younger ones' behaviour. The owner was not obliged to take on
the responsibility for outsiders, even though his house was bigger
than the others and also included a storehouse. These buildings were
sometimes within an enclosure.
Speiser has also left us three plans of different regions of the
island.50 These villages looked larger than those in other islands. The
north-west site included a long square, parallel to the sea or to the
river, but the village itself was between two rivers. A large house was
situated beside it with six drums (status symbols?) in front of the two
buildings. There were 29 houses mostly parallel with the nagamal,
nine only being situated at right angles.
At the centre of the island is a site on which a village is built on
two right angled axes (sic) with the nagamal and enclosed dancesquare in the centre, 31 dwellings at the garden end parallel to the
dance-square (a certain number of which were inside an enclosure
and, on the other side, at right angles to the nagamal, 26 houses in
groups of three: these are more scattered and, for the most part,
fenced in.
The third site, in the north-east (Island of Sakao) shows a more
scattered village, with various roads linking the habitations with the
small dance-square, and the nagamal placed parallel with the chief's
house (both next to an enclosed area and opposite a former nagamal).
Twenty-four family dwellings were situated all around with 13 en­
closures of different sizes. Although we are not in possession of
sufficient details to draw conclusions about the spatial arrangement
of villages on the island of Santo, it is however possible to find
similarities there with other islands of the archipelago.
Today two distinct regions must be recognised in the human
geography. Without exception, European and Christian indigenous
homes are confined to the shallow, coastal strip (Nalovi,
Narango).... An uninhabited area, overrun by tropical rain forest
and with coralline sub-soil in the north and to the south and east,
separates the coastal groups from those of the interior. These latter
are scattered in sparsely populated hamlets along or on the brow of
the ridges or midway up the summits, thus ranging their inhabitants
at an altitude of between 400 and 122 metres. A census in central
Santo showed a total of 158 groups and out of this figure only 32...
have a population of over twenty inhabitants.
A Christian village, predominantly Presbyterian in Espiritu Santo, is
made up of a grassy square surrounded by huts, often elevated, with
floor and partition walls of prefabricated bamboo which is split and
then plaited into wide strips, with a roof covered in nalangora (sago)
(metroxylon) leaves, often complete with verandah on one of the
sides.51
Bush hamlets have a few huts, squeezed close together for lack of
space, with just enough room in the centre or in front of one of them
— but more to one side — for dancing in a tightly packed group.
Often the site for the hut, and even the dance square, have had to be
cut out of the mountain-side.
H. Goron has supplied us with plans of mountain houses which he
had occasion to visit. The latter were divided into three parts with two
entrances: one entrance for the men and outsiders opening on to a
hall separated from the rest of the house by a wooden partition;
another at the opposite gable end for the women. The private family
area was itself separated through the middle, not clearly defined,
between the men and the women, with a hearth or fire place for each
of the sexes. These villages (like that of Tsrapae) are difficult of
access; they experience only three or four days of sunshine a year
and the nights there are very cold. The inhabitants usually sleep
around hearths of white-hot stones.52
J. Guiart also gives us a plan and two descriptions of a house in
the village of Butmas where leaning roof-supporting posts can be
seen, as in Speiser’s photograph.53
The traditional hut, rectangular in shape is essentially made up of a
double-sided roof placed on two very low walls. At each end, two
vertical partitions, each with an opening about the height of a man,
one at the front for the men, the other facing the bush and gardens,
for the women. These doors are either blocked up at night with a
large amount of ferns or closed with a door made from a single block
of wood____
The main characteristic of the framework of the hut is the sloping of
each side of the roof, which ensures the solidity of the whole during
violent cyclonic winds. Both roof and walls are covered with material
obtained from the sago palm (natangora) lined, where necessary in
places most exposed to the cold night breezes coming down from
the summits, with a thick outer layer of reed leaves. In some cases
this precaution may go so far as to mean that there is a second roof,
independent of the first. The hut is large in size; one can easily stand
up in it, except in those built on the hillcrests dominating La Ora,
where shortage of space has resulted in smaller dwellings. In Upper
Waylapa and Upper Navaka, the front of the house, i.e. the men's
side, is embellished with a small verandah used for storing dry tree
trunks later to be cut up for firewood.
In 1979, we were able to see various buildings, similar to those
described by Speiser and J. Guiart, in the villages of Vuinavaga and
Vanafo. In the latter village, grouping together inhabitants from
different places in the mountains, there were various constructions
representative of their regions of origin. A very interesting nagamal
was also there together with a cook-house, a square for the sacrific­
ing of pigs (planted with cycads, namele) and a dance-square with a
set of drums beside an enormous banyan tree.
The Island of Malo
Lying to the extreme south of the island of Santo, Malo formerly
assured a link of cultural transition between the west of the island of
Ambae, the south of Santo, and the north of Malakula, through the
islands of Atchin and Vao.54
Fig. 65 Village plan, north Malo (from Speiser, pi. 10 (3)).
a. men's house d. house of man of high rank
Fig. 66 Dwelling in north Malo (froma photo by Speiser, pi. 16 (5).
Fig. 67 Reed fence, north Malo
(from a photo by Speiser, pi. 14 (2)).
50
400 kms,
Maewo
Aoba
Santo
Malo
Pentecost
Malakula
Ambrym
Fig. 68 Cultural areas and patterns of interaction in north-east Vanuatu
(from J. Bonnemaison, 1974, p. 188).
As in the southern part of the island of Santo, large villages no
longer exist, but Speiser writes about his having found a number of
walls (in the north of the island) which surrounded family enclosures
The number of women in a family was related to the number of
houses in a hamlet. The great size of the dance squares would lead us
to suppose that formerly villages must have been much bigger. 55
On Malo houses were made only of a roof with two pitches. The
men’s houses were built beside the dance squares, the gable ends
turned towards the square. They were 10m. * 3m. * 2m. (in height)
but some could be as much as 50 feet in length. Bamboo was the
basic material for framework and fencing.
F. Speiser gives the plan56 of a site in the north of the island that is
reminiscent of certain sites in Malakula. The nakamal is beside the
house of a man of rank and is connected with an enclosed area in the
middle of the dance square. Family homes are spread around this
nakamal in no particular order and a group of three buildings is
completely surrounded by a wall as is an isolated house.
Homes were often surrounded by a cane fence, 2m. high, to
protect them from pigs.
Outsiders did not have the right to enter the enclosures and had
to remain outside to sleep, like dogs and pigs, in sheds outside the
hamlet.
On certain occasions (death, etc), an entire house could be
moved to another site, this is why village paths were so wide.57
Pentecost Island
(its original name was Hat Ragha)
This is a very long and mountainous island (over 60 sq. km.)
rising to over 947m.
At the beginning of the century, at the time of the arrival of the first
missionaries, the people of the centre of the island, i.e. a regional
assembly of 4000-5000 inhabitants, had only about five or six men of
very high ranking" status having reached the ultimate degree of
lélébutane (a name given locally to the system of ranks). These chiefs
held the title of Tanmonok (the end of the earth) and Mariak (that
which is beyond). Although the political and cultural context has
considerably changed, the number of high ranks has remained at
present essentially the same as during traditional times Their
entire life was spent continually wandering about,... this perpetual
mobility was a privilege of their rank, at the same time affirming and
verifying their p o w e r . . t h e y "no longer had a house of their own In
their original village".58
Villages cling to the steep slopes of the interior chain... at the
southern tip of the island, the village of Bunlap today represents a
true “customary enclave".
To their neighbours, the people of Bunlap are not only the custodians
of custom but also the ‘boss bilong custom', the masters of custom.
The village stretches on both sides from a central road running
along a steep slope dominated by the main nakamal and two levelled
dance squares, surrounded by a stone wall. The traditional huts are
low, with walls of bamboo or split reeds and covered with leaves,
going down almost to the ground. They cling along the length of the
fault-line on minute man-made terraces.
In Bunlap, the social set-up of the village is founded on a rank
hierarchy, namangui in Bichelamar. There is no hereditary chief, but
throughout their whole life men pass from rank to rank. Those
reaching the highest levels in the system hold power and political
prestige.59
When the boys are between three and five years old they are
circumcised with bamboo knives. The boys then go to live in the
men’s huts and return to the women’s place only after the healing of
their penis, about two months later. On this occasion a great feast is
organised with dancing and the offering of taro and yams.60
The three nakamal huts in the village are on ground raised and
supported by a low stone wall. In former times, after having killed a
man and brought him back to a nakamal, the weapons used to kill him
had to be left in front of the nakamal, the spirit of the dead, being in
those parts, might have attacked if the weapons were not present.
In certain villages in the south of the island there is a special rite
called the Go! jump which demands the building of a wooden tower of
complicated design. This rite is carried out at the time of the maturing
of yams in April or May and the men perform this jump to ensure that
the next harvest will be a good one. In the village of Bunlap the
meaning of this jump is explained by a legend. A young girl had had
enough of being abused by her companion, Tamalie, and would not
give herself to him. Several times she tried to flee, but without
success. One day she thought up a device to get rid of him once and
for all. Once again she fled, pursued by Tamalie and she climbed high
into a banyan tree. When she was about to be caught by her pursuer,
she threw herself into the void and landed unhurt, for she had taken
the precaution of tying two strong creepers around her ankles. In his
blind haste the unfortunate Tamalie threw himself after her but was
crushed into the ground and died.
From that day, every five years — and nowadays every year —
youths from different villages in the south commemorate the tragic
death of their ancestor. It is also an initiation ceremony, since newly
a = nakamal
Fig. 69 Partial schematic representation ofthe village of Bunlap, Pentecost
(from a photo by K. Muller, 1971, p. 72).
Fig. 70 Mén working at the
construction of a house-frame at
Bunlap (from a photo by Muller, p. 74).
Fig.71 Men securing the roof beams
with pandanus leaves, Bunlap (from a
photo by Muller, p. 74).
L
Fig. 72
30 metre high wooden tower used for the Gol land-dive, Bunlap
(from a photo in Les Iles du Pacifique, Paris, 1980, p. 170).
Fig. 73 Men working on the base of
the tower.*1®
Fig. 74
platform.50
Detail of the divi
Fig. 75 Various stages of the land-dive (from photos by Muller, p. 68&71 and
J.J. Syllebranque ‘Saut du Gol : la fete des Nambas’, reported in 30
Jours no 6, July 1982, pp. 31,33,35,37,38,39).
Fig. 76 House on a hillside, Bunlap (from a photo by Muller, 1970, p. 802).
Fig. 77 House of a man of high rank, Pentecost (from a photo by H.
Nevermann, 1933).
circumcised youths are admitted to the men’s community after
having carried out this jump.
Gol means human body in the language of South Pentecost.
Formerly, the men used to leap from the highest branches of a
banyan tree; then they built the towers that we know today. In the
beginning their construction was very demanding for a great deal of
time was needed to cut the trees with stone axes. Now, with modern
equipment, it takes two weeks.
Firstly, a construction site has to be chosen, it should not be too
far from the village and material should be available there. The most
important factor is to find a slope that is neither too steep nor too
slight. Too steep a slope would make construction work difficult; too
slight would increase the risk at the time of the jump. A flat place,
near the'tower, is needed for the dancers.
As a central support, the tower has a standing tree (koro) with its
top cut off which will -serve as a foundation for a dozen tree trunks
(12-25m.) arranged and planted around it. Sometimes more than
fifteen men are needed to drag just one of these trunks. The man who
fells the koro is called the Tower Master and he will later have the
privilege of jumping last from the highest platform. The framework of
the tower is therefore a square mass 3.50 metres wide and 25 metres
high. The trunks are hoisted'with the help of creepers and this is a
communal effort. Several taboos have to be respected: women may
not go near the building site and the men engaged in the building
must abstain from all sexual relations from the start of the building
until the end of the ceremony.63
Other tree trunks are attached to the end of the foundation props,
acting as vertical supports... up to a height of sixteen metres from
the ground the tower is rectangular in shape; higher up it curves
backwards. When a very heavy trunk has to be lifted up the men help
each other by singing with great gusto. When the framework of the
tower is complete an armat or spirit comes to make its abode in it — it
is the spirit of Tamalie, the man who was killed, according to the
legend.
The tower is divided into twelve levels, each one corresponding
to a part of the body.. ,53 from the ankle to the head via the thighs,
stomach, breast, etc... the top of the tower is called the top of the
skull.
Platforms from which the men will jump are attached to these
different levels — fifty-three platforms in all.64
Once the scaffolding is complete the platform is built qn the ground,
then it is put in place at the desired height so that it juts out by a
metre from the tower. It is supported underneath by three slender
branches which, by breaking at the end of the jump, will serve to
lessen the impact.65
Each man who is to jump makes his own platform and chooses the
creepers that he will tie to his ankles; at this time of the year the
creepers have just enough sap to be sufficiently elastic. The wood
and creepers used in the building are often wrapped in banana leaves
to carefully conserve their elasticity. Not a single nail is used, only a
network of creepers over 7 km. in length and hundreds of tree trunks
and branches. The towers can be as high as 15-30 metres. If the
Parisians have their Eiffel Tower, the inhabitants of Pentecost have
their Gol tower.
Having knotted the ends of the creepers to their ankles, “each
man who is to jump chooses the level from which he will jump and, if
he wishes, he may jump several times over. The final preparations for
the ceremony consist of clearing the ground where they will land. All
stumps are removed and the earth softened to a depth of 20 cm.”66
At the time of the jump, a difference of a few centimetres out of
every 30 metres of the longest creepers is most important.
Having first thrown down a few croton leaves, the men who jump
will throw themselves into the void from the knees, stomach or
shoulders of the tower (the different levels of the tower being named
after parts of the body) to the accompaniment of encouragement
from all the men and women of the village.
If it should happen that the tower leans over it will be carefully
fixed to surrounding trees and stumps.
In living memory only one fatal accident is recorded. In 1974,
John Tabi was fatally injured in the presence of Queen Elizabeth of
England and Prince Philip. The subsequent yam harvest was affected
and the people of Bunlap naturally put it down to cause and effect.
On the east coast of the island of Malakula, in Onua, the same
dive was one of the elements in the taking of rank ritual. 67 ritual67
Interior of men's house, Vanua Lava, Banks Group. Stones separate the eating
areas of men of different social ranks.
Living houses, Ureparapara Island, Banks Group.
Women’s sacred house, Gaua island, Banks Group.
Ancestral house, Gaua Island, Banks Group.
Village house, Maewo.
Family and cooking houses, Ambae.
Men's house (note horizontal wooden slit drums on right inside), Nabuturiki, north
Ambae.
Bwatnabne village, north Pentecost.
Family house, Talamako, Big Bay Santo.
60 THE ISLANDS OF THE CENTRE
Men’s sacred house on dancing ground, west Ambrym
Sleeping house under construction, Ambrym.
Village houses (one on right under construction), south Malakula.
Men’s houses, Bushman's Bay, east coast central Malakula.
-U- >■.
Women's and children's living houses, north Malakula.
The Islands of the Centre
The Island of Ambrym
(The Black Island)
With a population of 6000 inhabitants in an area of 665 sq. km.,
the island of Ambrym is dominated by two still active volcanoes,
Marum and Ben bow. The main villages are Port Vila, Graig Cove,
Ranon, Olal, Tavék, Lonworo, NopiJ and Fanbeur. Its forest is less
dense than on other islands such as Mallicolo.
F. Speiser gives us a plan of a site where two nagamals are
situated at the ends of a village square and at right angles to one
another. There are seventeen houses on one side of the square,
eleven of them at right angles, three parallel to it and two on the slant.
In the middle of the square are two homes of men of rank,
completely surrounded by stone and vegetable fibre fences. On the
opposite side are dwellings facing these homes, with an enclosed
area planted with vegetation. But there is no provision for a drumbeating site.
The island of Ambrym is famous throughout the world for its
drums with vertical slits and for its tree-fern carvings.
There is no shortage of old photographs (F. Speiser 1904,
J. Guiart 1949) enabling us to imagine the various artefacts, seen in
museums, transposed into their local context amidst various tropical
plants.
We should compare two of Speiser’s photograph63: in one of them
we see a men’s meeting house and in the other the house of a man of
rank — both of them are surrounded by an enclosure with raised
stones, wooden fences and ritual plants, dracaenas (nangani).
Other shots show us huge drums, over five metres high, and an
ancient carving depicting the jaws of sacrificed pigs and stone altars
for the sacrifice, burial grounds surrounded by fences, an important
man’s house situated under breadfruit trees in an enclosure of
wooden stares, and sheds of sheltering certain tree-fern carvings.69
Fig. 78 Village plan, Ambrym (from Speiser, pi. 10 (10)).
a. men's house
b. house of man of high rank
Fig. 79 Men's house, Ambrym (from Speiser, pi. 16 (1)).
,X.r
The Islands of the Centre 65
Fig. 80 Men's house, Ambrym (from Speiser, pi. 17 (3)).
Fig. 81 Men’s house with drums,tree fern statue and sculpture representing
stylised pig's jaws (from Speiser, pi. 97 (3)).
Fig. 82 Drums and statue at Bounlou village, 1871 (from N.N. MikloukhoMaclay, in S.A. Tokarev and S.R. Tolstov, Narody Avstralii i Okeanii,
Moscow, 1956, p. 491).
Fig. 83 Men’s house, Ambrym (from a photo by Aubert de la Rue, Musee de
l'Homme).
Fig. 84 Drum beside a naghamal at
Neha, north Ambrym (from J. Guiart,
Nouvelles - Hebrides, p. 17).
Fig. 85 Mel
in Neha village, north
Ambrym (from J. Guiart, Dec. 1951, pi.
I (2)).
Fig. 06 House with bamboo walls, Ambrym (from Aubert de
la Rue, 1945, pl. XVIII (A)).
Fig. 87 Family house,
S.P. Tolstov, 1956, p. 415).
Ambrym (from S.A. Tokarev and
F i g . 8 8 F a m i l y h o u s e , Ambrym (from Ph. Diole, 1976,
p. 20654).
J. Guiart brought back a great deal of information from the
northern part of the island.
“Northern Ambrym includes about forty villages scattered beside
the sea and in the interior. Whatever religion a village may belong to,
nothing can regulate the arrangement of homes. Generally they are
scattered more or less around a square of bare earth, their entrances
facing the centre. Two rows of huts are sometimes seen, the inhabited
ones and those used for storing yams behind them; huts are not
arranged in a complete circle but simply in a very wide semi-circle,
opening onto a slope. As a general rule, pagan villages are built more
or less along these lines, varying according to the amount of land
available to them. Very close to groups of ordinary homes are one or
more dance-squares, each having drums standing on the ground,
one of which has a monumental carved head. There is also a
communal hut for the men. In Christian villages houses are arranged
on either side of the intersection made by the coastal road from
Rannon to Olal, or along the way leading up towards the interior.
These hamlets are grouped around an influential person. The village
is a political unit under the sole authority of the Mage dignitaries. The
means of administration is the council of elders, or rather of the
leading citizens — people having already passed the first ranks of
Mage70 .
The Men’s House:
On Ambrym this house is called mel, and rises in a corner of the
dance square; its design is similar to that of personal homes but
better cared for and more symmetrical, with great use being made of
the ornamental possibilities offered by the material with which it is
constructed. A few old men can almost always be seen sleeping
there. Entry is forbidden to women and, in theory, to uncircumcised
boys The back of the men’s house, always turfed, is sacred,
mokon, and strictly respected. Except when councils are in progress
the mél is frequented only by people of middle or'lower rank who, if
there are a sufficient number, will iise one of the inside fireplaces for
cooking purposes. The interior of the mél has neither a ritual lay-out
nor priority of place.71
"In the less numerous higher ranks, dignitaries are obliged to live
more apart’’ and if “the village square is open to all its inhabitants...
the mel is always located on private property despite its being a
men’s communal house. The dance square belongs to a dignitary
who has had it made or who has inherited it from his father. The
upright drums are also his own property for he himself has paid the
carver to make them, but they resound as much for the glory of the
village as for his own".
Fig. 89 Sculptures of rank, carved from tree-fern stumps
A. from Speiser, pi. 100 (1)
B. Rank Mage ne gulgul, Neha village
(from Guiart, 1951, pl. II (4)).
C. from M. Garanger, Encyclopédie Universalis,
Vol. pl. II (3).
D. from a photo by C. Coiffier
E. Rank Mage Lon Bui, Fanla,
north Ambrym (from Guiert,
1970, p. 41)
F. from a photo by C. Coiffier
Table of the heirarchy of North Ambrym
TITLE
RANK
57
MONUMENT
1. Fangtasum
Neanl
Naming of a particular fireplace.
2. Mwel
Mwel
A cycas palm (mwel) planted at the edge
of the dance area.
3. Wer, Bwerang
Wer
Smooth stone erected and painted
in black.
4. Sagran,
Tangor
Sagran
Low tree-fern sculpture, with human
face, placed under a platform.
5. Liun
Liun
Smooth stone erected and painted in red
encircled by black.
Gulgul
Smooth stone painted red and black and
placed on a mound
Gulgul
Small sculpture with human face,
without platform.
7. Wurwur
Wurwur
Tall treefern sculpture, with human face
and animal body, beneath a platform.
0. Simok
Naim
Smooth stone erected and painted half­
white.
9. Hiwir
Naim
Large male sculpture with folded arms,
set on a platform.
6. Gulgul
a) Gulgul wer
b) Gulgul
bwerang
10. Wei ne
mweleun
Mweleun
11 .Mage Ion
bul
Mweleun
Pit covered by a roof with a single slope,
containing two sculptures, one male, one
female.
A2.Loghbaro
Loghbaro
Rectangular stone platform with a
smooth stone at one end.
13. Mai
Mai
The same platform with model of a large
house with root supported by curved
treefern posts and the roof ridge
terminating in the image of a falcon.
Smooth erect stone, half black, half red.
coconut shoot
symbolising the value
of the pigs to be sacrificed
coconut
Fig. 90 Vertical view and
cross-section of a platform built
around a statue of rank m a g e n e
urur (wurwur).
single or — *
■* •
^,____ barrier round
double reeds
rHH fir a Luan
with Iheir leaves, ’ "
U4.1U •
enclosure
forming a screen * * *
) \ \v '!', I , ,
Fig. 91. Man on platform with
axe in one hand and pig-club in
the other.
The Islands o f the Centre 7 3
-------- V ----- :
------- —r—— —
—
Fig. 92 Rank-taking ceremony in an Ambrym village (from a photo by Ch. Gourguechon, L'Archipel
des Tabous, Paris, 1974, p. 224).
In addition to the division of the sexes there is a highly hierarchical
organisation which is defined by a certain number of ranks that a
man must successively acquire throughout his life, paid for with pigs
and various gifts. Monuments represent the different ranks of status:
the planting of a cycad (mél) or the erection of a flat stone painted
black (wer luverau ) etc.
In the division of labour men will fell trees, make fern carvings, build
houses and bamboo partitions, while the women will plait coconut
leaves for interior walls or roots for houses.
There are rituals, most of which are concealed from women and
children and are therefore called by the generic term luan (forbidden,
secret). For each ritual a men’s house is built, this time called melkôn
(kon = sacred), surrounded by a high fence and to which no one
uninitiated to this particular ritual has access.72
These rituals can be compared to those of the Banks Islands Tamate
society. During funeral rites:
The deceased was buried in the ranhar, with leaf-decorated reeds
planted on his tomb. Similarly, the now closed up and abandoned
hut was decorated with reeds, lilenlen, limlar, mweleun, mwel, leaves
and shells mounted on hard wood (libalbal).
There is no double grave and the deceased’s skull has never been
subjected to any particular treatment. Formerly, the bodies of
important dignitaries were left to rot inside the hut.73
Tree-fern carvings
These are thought to be a shelter into which an ancestor will
come to make his abode. They are made at the time of ceremonies
marking the taking of rank and are marked by the sacrifice of pigs
and very important exchanges. They are erected at the entrance to
villages on the square where the ceremonies take place. They may
also be set up in pairs in gardens to ensure the fertility of the
plantation.
These tree-fern carvings were often coloured: “The red, called
weyang, used to embellish patterns painted on the face... is not
made on the spot but imported from the island of Epi The green
mineral dye called ye, or the blue, called ling, was imported from
Pentecost on the other side of the strait separating northern Ambrym
from the neighbouring island.74
Ambrym Drums
In this catalogue of the architecture of Vanuatu, a place must be
given to the description and making of its great drums. By reason of
their imposing size and position beside the dancing squares, they are
Fig. 93 Head of a large slit-drum on Ambrym (from a
photo by Coios, in Marcelle Crepy, Revelations
sur I’Oceanie, Planete, no 5, June/Aug. 1980, p.
125).
Fig. 94 Ambrym slit-drum (from a photo in ‘Beautes du y
Monde’, Larousse, 18 Aug. 1980, p. 125).
\
Fig. 95 Two views of the detail on the head of an Ambrym drum at the Musee
de l'Homme, Paris (from a museum photo, in J. Guiart, Dec. 1956, pi.
XIII).
inseparable
region.
from
the
architectural
design
of
the
villages
of
Wooden drums standing upright in the ground have similar names in
north Malakula (nambul tingling) and north Ambrym (atingting).
In north Ambrym where both the dance-square and the drum are
personal property, there is no ritual for marking its erection except
that of paying the carver with pigs and the interminable game of
sounding it for more than a day and a night so as to remove the
drum’s over-new resonance. In former times a hen would have been
sacrificed and its blood would have been poured into the slit in the
instrument.75
The patterns: A complete face surmounted the arms with a triple row
of notches (watur) on the side, extended backwards by spirals joined
edge to edge, a second face, called nana carved on the nape of the
neck.
Process of its making and erection, according to John Manu:
A suitable breadfruit tree (autocarpus altitus) must be chosen, felled,
the bark stripped and brought to the dance-square. Songs in the
local language are sung while this work is in progress. The tree trunk
is surrounded by a curtain of coconut palm trees and protected by a
rustic roof.
Now the carver enters the scene. With a rarar leaf he traces a
greenish mark to delineate the space for eyes; then he carves the
face: two lozenge- or almond-shaped eyes, a nose bulging at the
base and split down the side of narrow nostrils — an ample naso­
labial area at the bottom of which is a simple groove for a mouth.
Then a hen is killed in the carver's honour. He covers the completed
carving with coconut leaves, then marks the place of the slit running
lengthwise which everyone will come to hollow out with adzes — no
use is made of fire. All drums of the same kind have the same length
of slit (tute) which takes its size from an older drum. First they hollow
out the right side, then the left, but not too deeply or else the sound
will be impaired. A day for its erection is fixed.
The drum (atingting) is erected, a young boy climbs onto the
shoulders of the drummer and bathes the face with the milk of a
green coconut to which has been added the juice of a leaf crushed
between the hands.
A man recognised as being a good drummer then beats the drum
(emtu'e), always to the right, with a mallet of young wood. Each time
he stops the assistants shout yu.yu in chorus. In the evening a fire is
lit at the foot of the new drum; they take it in turns to beat it and so it
goes on for a day and the following night and for a week, if
necessary, until the players feel the wood offers them no more
resistance.
this
The owner then assembles all the participants for a meal. He kills a
valuable pig (called burmao) for them The carver is paid with a
‘tusked’ pig (lewur).
Beside the large carved drums there usually stands a smaller drum, a
simple hollowed-out cylinder.76
P. Diolé gives us a more recent picture of these famous drums'
They are particularly numerous and impressive in Ambrym. Some of
them looked really old to me, in beautiful shining wood. Although
they are all alike and made to a traditional design, a number of
variations can be discovered. Sometimes, underneath the face, tiny
hands are carved at the end of very short arms.77
Island of Malakula
This is the second largest island of the archipelago, with a
population of 1600 in an area of 2043 sq. km. On the north-east it is
surrounded by various small islands which are important in inter­
island trading — Vao, Atchin, Wala and Rano. On the south-east must
be added the Meskelynes Islands and the small island of Tomman to
the south-west. The main island is very mountainous (Mt Penot
879m.) broken across with narrow valleys. The centre is practically
uninhabited. Let us first take a look at the northern part of this large
island.
Here again we refer to information published by J. Guiart:
The human geography of the region proves to be strangely
independent of water sources. On the dry plateau, villages are often
more than two hours’ walking distance from the nearest spring. Each
village is situated at the head of a valley. A succession of habitations
along the same valley is never encountered.
The topographical arrangement of the region is extremely con­
fusing. A muddy path follows fences of plaited reeds the height of a
man. On the other side individual yards can be seen where one or
two huts are surrounded by a similar fence with a single, narrow, low
opening. Each village is made up of one of several groups of homes
interconnected by paths used mostly by women. These hamlets are
usually laid out in a semi-circle within which there is an area
exclusively reserved for the men: two independent parts can be
made out — the dance-square (vet/amel) with its raised wooden
drums and rows of upright stones embedded in the bush, and
another square encircled by a high fence and surrounded by great
clan huts {name!) arranged more or less in a circle.78
There are scarcely more than half a dozen of these great huts
(name!) to a village. They have a name, that of the tribe — or they
Fig. 96 Family house, Amok village (from photo by K. Muller, 1972, p. 00).
Fig. 97 Part of Amok village (from a photo by Muller, 'Taboos and Magic rule
Namba lives', National Geographic, Vol. 141, no. 1, Jan. 1972, p. 80).
may even have two with the same name belonging to one tribe, when
the latter is in the process of sharing. It has a roof with two sections
resting on the ground, the gables blocked by a leaf wall, but the
upper part under the ridge carving, Ponarat (see below) is open to let
smoke escape from the fireplaces.
The interior is divided in different places with bamboo beds
surrounded by thick staves, near the door is a place for preparing
and drinking kava, fireplaces and, at the back of the hut, fiat stones
on which the skulls of the most recent dead are placed.
The building of a namal is an important matter and related clans are
called upon to collaborate. The work is organised two days at a time.
The main elements needed for the framework have to be gathered
. together under the supervision of an elder who gives directions as to
the number and size.
The transport to the village of the bamboo, cut by the people of the
village of the clan responsible for the building, is assured by the men
of another village in exchange for a yam cake (lap-lap) served
without meat, and a kava session.
Then there remains the provision of creepers to be used for ties. To
define the proportions of the building, two small walls are first
erected on the side; these are made of a few bamboos overlapped
and fixed against short posts. Next comes the placing of the strong
centre posts with the main joists running up to meet at the top of the
former, supported on the ground and guided by the small bamboo
wall. Eight or ten bamboos, previously carved at one end, each with
a different pattern, are fixed lengthwise onto the joists, a tree-fern
carving (the ponarat) will be put on the tip of the ridgepiece beam
above the entrance.79
The ponarat: ridgepiece carving from a tree-fern root80: The ridge­
piece timbers of the naghamal finish at their back extremity in a
carving cut in wood or the stumps of the tree-fern. Their main motif
is always a human face, but on the other side there is the represent­
ation of an animal which might be a dog, lizard or a fish.
On completion the ponarat is installed without any particular ritual,
its carver having made it in exchange for a pig of moderate value; the
only restriction being that it cannot be taken to the site of the hut by
men other than those having attended more than one circumcision.
The carver is in fact an obligatory member of one of the clans
providing both circumcision surgeons (namél a mayak) and human
victims offered to the conqueror in the unfortunate case of hostilities
and whose members may not take part in any of the dances or rites
connected with the rank-taking hierarchy.81
The installation over, and before eating, they take part in a double
kava session; after everyone has drunk, part of the first brew — which
v
Fig. 98 Various Ponarats
from the photographs of:
a.
L. Joubert, Ozeanische
Totenbeschworung, Frank
furt am Main, 1965, p. 27
h. Photographic collection of
C. Coiffier
c. The reverse of b.
d. L. Joubert, op.cit., p. 26.
e. Art of Oceania, Africa, and
and the Americas from the
Museum of Primitive Art,
The Metropolitan Museum
of Art, 1969, p. 41.
f. L. Joubert, in Sculpture
monumentale de NouveileGuinee et des Nouvelles Hebrides, 1961, p. 17.
g. ibid, p. 19.
h. ibid, p. 24.
i. Arts primitifs dans les
ateliers d'artistes, Paris,
1967, p. 155.
j. F. Drilhon, Le peuple
inconnu, Paris, 1955, p.
169,
k. L. Joubert, op. cit. 1961, p.
28.
J. ibid, p. 25.
m. L'art et les sociétés primi­
tives a travers le monde,
Paris, 1963, p. 177.
n. M. Vaux, ‘Sculpture de
faîtage, en racine de
fougere, de Mallicolo',
Journal de la Société des
Oceanistes, Vol. VIII, no. 8,
Dec. 1952, pl. IX.
o. S. Fukumoto, Melanesian
Art, Tokyo, 1976, p. 68.
p. Ph. Diole, Les oublies du
Pacifique, Flammarion,
1976, p. 176.
l\
&
*
k
Fig. 99 Ponarat positioned at the
roof ridge of a men's house (from a
photo by J. Bucher, Sculpture
monumentale d’Oceanie, Paris, 1961,
p. 45.
Fig.100
House
frame
under
construction in north Malakula (from a
photo
by E. Guidoni,
Primitive
Architecture, New York, 1978, p. 133).
Fig. 101
Interior of a nameI at Amok,
north Malakula (from a photo by F.
Drilhon, Le peuple inconnu, Paris,
1955, p. 85).
was prepared in a limited quantity — is poured as a libation to the
dead at the foot of the first post close to where the entrance is to be
After the meal, clan members provided pigs of different value
according to the prestige they wish to acquire or which it is necessary
to maintain; the slaughtered animals are distributed to the people of
the other clans who came to help The lower jaws of these pigs
will be kept, together with their tusks, and put up outside, one on
each horizontal bamboo.
Next, bamboos are placed, the number of which mark the rows of
covering materials to be prepared One man works outside,
perched on the framework, three others on the inside pass him the
coverings and sew them with flexible rattan. The covering of palmleaves, bent and pinned onto a reed, is placed very closely together.
This covering, which is over 50 cms. thick, is said to be bullet-proof.
As usual, the people of the clan provide the workers with food and
kava.
The clan owners reserve to themselves the covering of the top
and that of the back part of the hut which is without any opening. The
top is covered with wide leaves held in place by logs.
After the lighting of the first fire for drying out the floor of the
interior, a witch-doctor (pêla/varat) comes to chase away any germs
liable to be in the hut. Holding in his hand a bunch of nir grass and
strong-smelling leaves (crotons?) (ro ne/tama) and striking the
interior partitions, he sings under his breath and then casts the leaves
into the fire where they crackle and produce thick smoke; he will then
hang up wild kava leaves on the inside, and, for five days, only the two
men who feed the fire may enter the still open hut. At the end of this
time, the witch-doctor takes a leaf of native cabbage and gives some
of it to all present, who chew it and spit it out. This lifts the prohibition
— at least for all those who have eaten cabbage or sugarcane. Five
more days will have to pass before men, having eaten food containing
salted water, will be allowed to enter. To lift the latter prohibition, the
witch-doctor will take a handful of leaves from a bamboo containing
salt water, and each person will receive a piece to chew and spit out.
Once the floor is well dried out they prepare the fireplace for the
oven, lap-lap, the wash-basin, and the fireproof stones which will be
brought from afar.
The inauguration of the oven is done by roasting a long yam on
the stones; the yam is brought along whole without having been
detached from its vine which has been carefully unravelled. Served
on a dish of coconut leaves, this yam will be eaten at an informal
gathering of the elders, without its having been peeled or grated. The
vine will be hooked onto the joists on the inside of the hut and the
Fig.102 Village plan, central Malakula (from Speiser, pi. 10 (9)).
an abandoned
village,
closed off
a NameI
-t— gate in the fence
to Tenmaru
Fig. 103 y^9e plan of Lexan, north Malakula (from J. Guiart, Dec. 1952, p.
Fig. 104 Front view of a nameI at Lexan (namel eya), north Malakula.
Fig. 105 Namel, central Malakula.
Nuvuffl'but
Fig. 106 Schematic perspective view
of a house frame, north-west Malakula
(from A.B. Deacon, Malekula:
a
vanishing
people
in
the
New
Hebrides, G. Routledge and Sons
Ltd., London, 1934, p. 34.
-Nuguīnbgumb
Fig. 107 Garden fence at Lexan,
north-west Malakula (from J. Guiart,
Dec. 1952, pl. VI).
plaited dish hung from one of the centre posts. After the consumption!
of kava, the inauguration of the oven gives rise to a first great feast of
lap-lap garnished with a pig. In the course of the following thirty days
a lap-lap will be prepared every evening, to which everyone is
welcome. Only after this period will the clan members worry about
closing the front of the hut. All that is left for them to do is to thank
those who thatched the house with a present of a few pigs of little
value and ‘currency’ mats, until such time as they themselves will
have occasion to offer the same service.
The namel will become truly sacred, in a manner of speaking, only
in the process of its being used as a place of burial; the dried skulls
placed at the back will supply the occasion for prayers and libations
to the dead.
By its construction and ornamentations, the namel proclaims the
clan’s prestige. It is the men’s meeting-house for drinking kava,
feasting or chatting about one thing or another; or for more important
talks. It is a place of cultural value where the dead are buried towards
the back and the skulls, stripped of flesh, are placed on flat stones.
Strangely enough ritual is individual, even for prayer meetings inside
the namel, each one addressing himself to the most recent of his
dead. Finally, to a certain extent by the strength of its construction, it
offers the necessary protection to sleep in relative safety. A clan
without a namel is unthinkable.62
Politically, the village hardly takes shape except through its
chiefly system. This is not defined by habitation grouped around the
area, but by virtue of the “square" surrounded by the great huts
(a/vèr, ndë/ndale): this square is a communal one for a certain
number of clans. In the north and east it is the dance-square that
determines the local group. On the 'Big-Nambas’ plateau this square
or vetlamel corresponds to a great chiefly system; there is only one for
several villages.
Chiefly fences are made from reeds broken off at the base but not
cut; in the process of plaiting the tip can be bent towards the top part
of the fence, the loops symbolising in a general way the pigs already
killed by the chief and those to come.83
“The fences of intertwined reeds surrounding the homes and
demarcating property, form kinds of alley-ways offering protection
from wild pigs and concealing the insides of enclosures from the view
of passers-by. Their lay-out has been studied in terms of the relation­
ship between different members of a family.
Food-safes are made of intertwined reeds in the same way as the
fences.This food storehouse is made in 48 hours.”84
If one compares Speiser's plan No 4, Plate 10, with that of
Fig. 108 Two men of the Big Nambas beating drums on the occasion of the
killing of a pig, Amok (from K. Muller, Jan. 1972, p. 79).
Fig. 109 Dance area with large slit-drums, Batarmul, north Malakula (from
J. Guiart, 1970, p. 15).
Toghvanu
(Tolamp)
Pete-Hul
r Peter-lhi
l Venu
Singon
Norohure
east coast of
___ ■_.
Malakula
xX„|U//|j%
Atchin
"~f
Emil-Lep
Emil-Marur
Emil-Parav
Senhar
Pweter-Tsuts
Olep
Rurvar
r Ama (Awul)
.L . [Mel-Nator (Tungenewit)
w fPwelut
I Lohwor (Sanaliw)
Rano
'x—/ ^ /
TV*
'4 «
f
f\/r.v
4
s. vyÿy\i$-
• .J,
w
Nor sup
Uripiv Emil Periv
Bwot N’bauru
\
Lauwi
X Uri
^
Fig. 110 Map of the islands of north-east Malakula (from Speiser, p. 28).
Tevuri
Ngaim-Ngalu
Bwot Nambwe
Wilawi
J. Guiart, certain similarities are to be found: houses laid out in a star
formation around a dance square. In Speiser’s map we can see a
man’s house backing onto an enclosure surrounded by fences and
three women's houses facing this enclosure. Behind the men’s house,
seven family houses facing the same way as the former and two other
family homes at right angles. On Guiart’s plan, five nagama/surround
the dance square, three of these are enclosed and two other family
homes, also fenced in, make up three hamlets visible from the village
of Léxan.
The plan of the site (No 9, Plate 10) given by Speiser is one of the
only ones, among all the other plans of the northern islands, which
does not present a layout in which various buildings are centred in
one spot. On the other hand we find semi-detached nagamal in pairs
with their backs to an enclosure, two pairs of women’s houses,85 the
house of a man of rank, five family dwellings placed parallel side by
side and a beating site for three drums surrounded by stones.
The Great Slit Drums of Malakula (Big Nambas Region)
Among the Big Nambas there are also drums with human faces. I
saw only two of them on the Amok square.66
Among the Big Nambas the Namengi festivities are connected with
the erection of a drum on the dance square. J Guiart writes, “The
drum is called Khèmao after the wood from which it is made, its
hollow, nélénekhmai (the stomach of the drum) and its slit
mbwenekhmao (the mouth of the drum). First of all the base of the
chosen tree trunk is burned, the tree not being felled until it has dried
out on the spot for about a year. The felling is done by a chief,
assisted by men who must be his elders in rank, after having again
burned the base of the tree to facilitate the work of the adze.
Once the tree is felled, they remove the branches, then it is rolled
along until it rests on thick logs, lastly it is hidden under a heap of
leaves and grass. Next they go to see the carver, a member of one of
the clans called nensbalian of lower rank — the one who knows how
to carve the trunk since he knows the spell ensuring its success. The
chief’s role ends there.
The carver and his helpers come to see the trunk, turning it this
way and that to find the side most suited to the hollowing out of the
opening.
The ghamal was the central house in the village and was built in
connection with the Maki system. It was the largest house in the
place. The village of Peter-ihi had two dance-squares by the name of
Etine and Norolu. These squares were called vanu. The drum-beating
sites on these squares were in front of a small stone wall under an
enormous banyan tree. The general name for drum throughout the
island was na-mbe and the band was made up of drums placed
horizontally in the ground; the largest was called tinan or more simply
‘the mother'. The slimmest and smallest one was called tarine and
another quite small one was called gheluvghe. If a sufficient number
of men was available and enough pigs killed, a fourth type of drum
was erected, called petur. The horizontal drums, placed directly on
the ground are of two kinds; the larger one called ru-rurghen and a set
of smaller, portable ones called sarune. The drumsticks used for
beating all these drums are called masan.
The construction of a ghamal (after J.W. Layard):
Each village has only one ghamal; the one erected in Pete-hul was
called Ber hangawul with reference to the ten central pillars which
supported this building, 25 metres long by seven metres wide and
about five metres high. It was built on the raised side of the dance
square and did not seem to be facing any particular direction insofar
as the former ghamal's position was concerned. The central pillars
were called na-mber(u) (post) or more precisely ber tur (upright post).
The ridgepole was called wombat and was extended at each side by
the carving of a falcon, with spread wings (Naba). The rear pediment
of the house was called bughute and the closed front part no-ghon
ne-him, the side of the house on which the bird carving rested — on
an extra post — simbe na-mbal (the seat of the falcon) in alignment
with the centre posts. Placed parallel on either side of these lines
were a similar number of lateral posts (bermele) also made from very
hard wood and supporting the wall-plate70 beams [wobu) which
were clad in cycad leaves (ro met). From the ridgepole to the ground a
certain number of bamboo rafters (na-ras) were held in place by other
bamboos parallel to the wall-plate (kara-kara).
The thatch was made with a quantity of palm-leaf tiles (ni-at)
which were made by the women, and fixed on canes called ne-limbe
rarah.
A bamboo wall, her-ghor, was fixed on the sides of the building
against the lateral posts. In front of the house was a triangular space
with a bamboo fence, called hu rti-ar (the birth enclosure) since this
place was reserved for confinements. It also contained a large
dolmen reserved for sacrifices at high and low Maki ceremonies.
Another dolmen, vet simbesimbe (sitting stone) was in front of the rear
side of the building.
A Maki for the building of a ghamal is called maki ne-him; it is
divided into two parts: the building and consecration of the building
Fig. 112 A ceremonial site (after J. Layard, 1942), at the village of Pete-hul,
with drums and stone monuments.
falcon sculpture (nambai)
roof beam
central post
(wombat)
bamboo rafters (na-ras)
(na-mber or ber-tur)
palm-thatch
bamboo panels
(kara-kara)
(ni-at)
wooden panel (wobu)
lower walls of bamboo
small side post
( ber-mete)
'
posterior section of the ghamal
(bughute or
bughto ne-him)
' raised ground'
open front of the building (ne-ghen, ne-him)
bamboo partition (huni-ar)
k
bamboo wall
(her-ghor)
(vet simbe-simbe)
curved section of bamboo
wall (embere)
post supporting the
falcon (simbe na-mbal)
dolmen
(vet simbe-simbe)
Fig, 113 Vertical section and plan of a ghamal of Pete-hul called Ber
hangawul (lit. ten central posts’) (from J. Layard, 1942, p. 441).
Fig. 115 Gable-end of a ghamal,Mao, 1979 (from a photo by C.Coiffier, 1979).
Fig. 116 Cérémonial site at Port-Sandwich at the beginning of the twentieth
century (from a photo collection of J. Fivel, in C. Maurel, L’exotisme
colonial, R. Laffont, 1980, p. 33).
special pigs’ tusks laid upon a stone table
3 circles
3 circles
of pigs’ tusks
of pigs’tusks
100 tusks on the upper side
100 pigs' tusks on the lower side
platform
3 figures
3 figures
with birds'
heads
with
birds’ heads
shell of a canoe
balance
Fig. 117 Multi-coloured carved support post for a bird figure, forming one
end of a roof beam, Vao. (from a photo by P. O'Reilly, Dec. 1949, pi.
V).
©
©
E
a ghamal
Fig. 118 Village plan of Pete-hul, with part of the villages of Togh-vanu and
Peter-lhi, Vao (from Speiser, pi. 10 (6)).
• \ Peter - Ihi
mens
path
TOGH - VANÜ
La-mbot-na-ninge TO LAMP
idrums i_^ dance area of Togh-vanu
.. -"'r Z:'VCC'*'"i "
h?:;:: :-. . ; dance area ofr
Talamp
a
men’s path
-----women's path
La-mbet-ra
PETE - HUL
I /|:«
a - ghamal
road divided,
in two sections
house of ?: '\v dance area of
initiation ? • -.7 .L - Pete-Hui
::
300 pieds
a ghamal
Fig, 119 Plan of the twin villages of Pete-hul and Togh-vanu, Vao (from
J.Layard, 1942, map IV, p. 69).
Fig. 111 Bird figurehead for canoe prow (from a photo by Coiffier, 1979).
Fig. 120 Upper section of a vertical drum from Venu, Vao. Two pig jaws are
hung on the drum (from J. Layard, p. 347).
and the erection and consecration of the two dolmens placed at the
ends.
The place to be hollowed out is marked calculated on the length
of a large-sized man. The correct measurement is taken with a
creeper fixed in the axis of the trunk tapping it at each end to mark
the tip of what will be the slit; in the meantime the bark of the tree is
scraped off with a shell, thus leaving a mark upon the wood. Work can
then begin on the hollowing out of the trunk, which is roughed-out
here and there. But before proceeding the trunk must again be
covered with leaves and the carvers must go to the chief to get from
him a hen, a yam'and a kava root (malëkh).
The day the hollowing-out is finished, they carve the eyes, metokhmao, with their inter-communicating cavities.
The drum is pulled along to its site beside the dance-square
where it is erected in the hole prepared for it by pushing it up from
behind.87
"During the wars in ancient times the enemy dead were denied
the rites which were their due; they were hung by the foot by a
creeper or plaited rope put through the eyes of the drum; corpses
were left to rot before the bones were thrown away in the bush.’’86
The Island of Vao
This is several leagues off the north-east coast of the island of
Malakula. Compared with its area it is very densely populated (with
many hundreds of inhabitants) many of whom, keep gardens on the
large island opposite.
J.W. Layard has left an excellent study of the lay-out of this
island. He depicted two main divisions, the upper part facing
Malakula comprising two villages, Pete-hul and Togh-vanu and the
lower part, facing the ocean, comprising two pairs of villages, Peterihi and Venu, Singon and Norohure.89
The different dance-squares of the villages are aligned in a north­
west, south-east direction in the centre of the island. All around could
be seen a whole network of small stone walls demarcating family
plots of land and sometimes made higher with bamboo fences or
plaited cane.
The island of Vao's rank-taking hierarchy was called na Maki.
“The Maki cycle is divided into three stages. The first is marked by
erecting a drum; the second by a sacrificial stone altar leaning on an
upright stone, flanked in front by a human-shaped wooden pole, each
of which supports the bird-shaped ridgepole; and the third stage by
the building of the same monument added to a stone platform, the
Fig. 121 Drum orchestra, Vao (from a photo in Nouvelle-Caledonie,
Nouvenes-neDnaes, Wallis and Futuna, L'Agence de la France
d’Outre Mer, Paris, 1953, p. 65).
Fig.122 Drum orchestra, Vao (from a photo in Nouvelle-Caledonie,
Nouvelles-Hebrides, Wallis and Futuna, l’Agence de la France
d’Outre Mer, Paris, 1953, p. 65).
U
c/iA/v
/
.
' 'I '
V/
Fig. 124 Graveyard with wooden sculpture and stone platforms, Atchin).
r—
Fig. 125 Grave-sites and drum orchestra, Atchin.
Fig. 126 Framework for a funeral monument (from a sketch by H.
Tailhade, 1979.
latter thus being the concrete symbol of the highest order, although it
is less ornate. It is there that the most precious pigs will be sacri­
ficed.” 9”
Across the island one could make out men's paths crossing the
dance-squares and women's roads studiously avoiding them. The
dance squares were edged with quantities of stone monuments and
planted with great trees which afforded shade.
The ghamal was the central house in the village and its con­
struction was connected with the institution of the Maki. It was by far
the largest building. The village of Peter-ihi had two dance areas
(vanu): Etine and Norulu. The rows of drums stood below an
enormous banyan tree, in front of a low stone wall.
J. Layard offers a satisfying explanation of the symbolism of the
stone table. It was intended to represent a grotto on the road to the
land of death, home of the bisexual spirit, Lehevhev, guardian of the
way, who would devour the dead person en route to the volcano of
Ambrym if he could not offer the compensation of a pig, whose loin
must be buried with the dead person’s corpse. Through the sacrifice
of a pig of great valve, whose hind feet had been placed upon the
stone table, the incumbent of a new rank identifies himself with the
guardian of the road of death, thus placing himself above the
communities of the dead and the living alike.
The construction of a ghamal (from U. Layard): Each village has
one ghamal. That erected a Pete-hul was called Ber hangawul, in
reference to the ten central posts (na-mberu). Supporting its 25m
length, 7m width and 5m height. It was constructed upon the raised
side of the dance area. The roofbeam (worn bat) was extended at
each end by the model of a falcon with wings extended (nabal). The
anterior of the building was called bughute and the closed anterior
naghon ne-hina; the front of the building, where the bird sailpture
rests upon a secondary post, simbe na-mbal (the falcon’s seat) is in
alignment with the central posts. On either side of this line are
planted a similar number of parallel secondary posts (ber mele), also
made of very hard wood. From the roof the ground, bamboo rafters
are held in place (kara-kara). The thatched roof is of palm tree (ni-at),
made by the women, and fixed upon a base of reeds (ne-limbe rardh).
At the sides of the building, against the lateral posts, a bamboo wall is
fixed (her-ghor). In front of the building is a triangular area, formed by
a bamboo fence (hu ni-ar) and called the birth area, far this enclosed
area is reserved for child-birth (see Fig. 113).
A maki, consecrated upon construction of the ghamal is known
as maki ne-him. It has two parts: the construction and consecration of
the building; and the erection of consecration of two dolmens placed
at each end. At the felling and transporting of the central posts there
is dancing (velal), accompanied by the distribution of food (masean).
The type of tree used is called na-tor. Sacrifices and feasting takes
place upon the felling of the first of these trees. Each post has an
‘owner’, who is responsible for the sacrifices and food distribution at
the erection of that post. Similar rituals attend the construction of the
dolmens and large stones associated with high and law maki. When
all the posts are in place, they are consecrated en masse and the
drums are used to call the community together to the dance area
where an orator says a few words to honour the new building.
After an interval of several years, during which food, pigs, yams,
etc. are stored up, the erection of the central front post can take
place, followed by different rites. Finally, a male pig (meltek) is
sacrificed or the ghamal by one or two men of rank {na-humbe se). The
ghamal then acquires a rank comparable to that of these men, thus
becoming taboo to women. 92
Many museums have examples of small posts, around Zm high,
from small stone altars associated with great manoliths, usually
having an anthropomorphic carved wooden post supporting a large
bird sculpture. Father O’Reilly grant the following description of such
a post, kept at the Museum of African and Oceanic Art in Paris: "the
sculpted part of the post measured Zm 15 from head to foot. The
breadth of the shoulders was 35cms. It was carved in hardwood and
represented a standing man, arms folded across his body. The figure
supported, in a hollow in the wood above his head, a bird in flight with
a wingspan of around 3m 40.” 93 The bird was made from two roots of
a stump of metalbal wood, enough for the farming of the two wings and
the head, gathered at Pete-hul, on the upper side of the dance area.
The body of the bird served to shelterthe figure below, which rested on
a stone table. 94
The two plans of Speiser and Layard, though drawn at different
periods, correspond in the main details: the general organisation of
the village, the dance area, placement of the drums and of the ghamal.
However, Speiser represented only one section of the villages of Vao,
28 houses in one direction and 23 in the other 95 on the two main axes.
Both authors have left a legacy of photos: the men’s house, the dance
area with its different drums, paths bordered by low stone walls and
bamboo enclosures, altars of sacrifice, rows of monoliths, etc.
In 1979, in spite of the installation of the mission and the school,
the sites described by Speiser and Layard have not radically changed,
although O’Reilly says 96 : "Vao still cleans its pathways, but there are
scarcely any drums remaining other than half-rotted old specimens.”
I found many aspects of village organisation, however, much the
same as they were 50 years ago (see fig. 123).
The drum orchestra of Vao
The erecting and consecration of the big drums (ba-mbe) is an
essential part of the institution of maki. Composition of a Vao drum
orchestra includes:
Verticle drums, with a human face carved about the slit, which are
beaten with a single baton — the mother drum (tunoin) is the largest; a
thinner, smaller drum is called tarine-, another smaller drum is the
gheluvghe; if there are sufficient men available for the work and for
killing the pigs, there will be yet another ‘baby’ drum of the 'mother'
(petur).
Horizontal drums, not carved and used with two batons — a large
horizontal drum on the ground (ru-rurghen)-, and a certain number of
small portable drums (solrune).
All batons are called masan. The solid part of the drum between the
end of the slit and the top of the drum is called the pet vatu (the head
of the stone), and is carved with a human face representing an
ancestor97 .
The Island of Atchin
On this island we find a fairly similar distribution of population in
a double exogamous village, Ruruar, the two twin sides of which are
named Pweter-tsuts and Olep on the higher side. On the lower side
there are two double villages each making up an exogamous 76 unit,
Emil-lep and Emil-marur, Emil-parav and Senhar.
‘‘The men’s houses of Atchin differed from those of Vao in that
they had a few side walls and a few front-sloping roofs, while the front
gable end walls were reduced to as low as 1.50 metres. There stood
the statues of ancestors and were areas for use in bad weather.” 98
Various photographs taken by the same author show us a dance
place with stone platforms, standing wooden drums, porches,
ceremonial poles, and designs of sacrificial altars made of carved
posts supporting a ridgepole extended by a carving of a bird with
outspread wings, with slender rafters criss-crossing overhead and
supporting small-leaf roofing. This type of altar design must have
been exported to Vao".
The Island of Wala
The population was divided into simple exogamous units, with
two separate villages on the upper side, Pwetlut and Lohwor. There
were four villages in the lower one, Ama and Awul, Tungenewit and
Mel-nator.
The Isle of Rano
It is possible that there was a good deal of contact between this
island and Wala: "Wala men marry Rano women and Rano men marry
Wala women.”76
Speiser’s photographs show us a statue, over three metres high,
with a face taking up over half of it and a drum such as those of Vao
but with the carving of a human form above the head (see Fig: 127).
The Isle of Uripiv
There were three villages on one side, Emil periv, Bwot n’bauru
and Lauwi, and four on the other side, Tevuri, Ngaim-ngala, Bwot
nambwe and Wilawi, the first two making an exogamous pair.100
The Small Nambas of Southern Malakula
They are even more isolated than the Big Nambas villages
previously studied and it is very difficult to gain access to them
without a guide.
“They are cut off by flooding from the coastal regions during the
wet season from December to May The Mbotgote 101 numbering
approximately 150 are spread over three villages and a few hamlets in
the south of the central region of the island. Each village includes a
men's hut and family habitations very reminiscent of buildings in
other regions of the central archipelago of the New Hebrides. A
sloping roof of palm leaves over a wooden framework is reinforced
with material made from fern stalks and, during the hurricane season,
by the pulpy stalks of banana plants and palm fronds. The huts are
distinguished by their rounded front and rear side, the rear part often
being reserved for pigs "
"The Small Nambas villages are composed of a ceremonial
square, bunsar, a men's meeting house complex, amel, and a few
family huts. These houses are 25 to 30 feet long by 15 to 18 feet wide.
They are thatched with natangora leaves plaited over reeds so as to
form plaques which are placed on the roof like tiles.
The inside has only one section, a single entrance, 4 feet high, 3
feet wide on the front side. There are two fireplaces, one for the
women’s cooking and one for the men’s. The amel or men’s house is
inside an enclosure on the ceremonial square; at the entrance two
long stems of forest cane show that it is an area forbidden to the
uninitiated."102
“All gardens have solid wooden fences to keep out the greedy
pigs, domestic or wild_____
The Nimangi is a hierarchical society within which, through
certain rites, a man never ceases to rise, thereby gaining prestige and
importance.
The size and grandeur of funeral rites are dependent upon the
rank held during life in the Nimangi hierarchy by every man or
woman ’’
"The body of the deceased is carried on mats and covers and
placed in one of the family huts, with the head turned towards the
wall and the feet towards the centre. The body is next put on the
funeral stretcher covered with leaves, then placed on the rafters
under the roof. It spends a month overhead in the community hut.”
The deceased will ‘re-appear’ at the last funeral ceremony in the
form of a vegetable fibre effigy (in his likeness), the rambaramb,63
"Having been borne along, by a man of equivalent status to the
deceased, to the matanhal, where the path reaches the limit of the
village, the rambaramb leaves the naghamal where it was made, to
remain there by the drums, hanging vertically under a wooden
Fig. 129 Men's houses, south Malakula (from Speiser, pi. 15 (2&3))
Fig. 130 Interior of the house of the former chief Tambwebalimbank,
Mbotgote de Lendombwey village, south Malakula (from photo by
Muller, 1973, p. 12).
b)
d)
Fig. 131 Tree-fern roof sculptures,
Dirak village, south Malakula (from
photos by L. Joubert). Dimensions
are:
a. 1 m 56 b. 1 m 93 c. 1 m 55 d. 1 m 20 e.
(front) and ’f. (back), 1m 75 (a.b.d.e/f
from
Sculpture
monumentale
de
Nouvelle-Guinee et des NouvellosHebrides, Ed. Jeanne Bucher, Paris,
1961, pp. 32-35; c. from G. Schlocker,
Ozeanische Totenbeschworung, 1965,
p. 28).
Fig.
132
Lendombwey
villager
carrying Tambweba11mbank’s
rhambaramb.
Construction
of
the
effigy: its base, as for other items of
local art, is a wooden frame covered by
a reddish clay and secured with vines.
The arms and legs are of bamboo, the
body of tree-fern. The skull of the
deceased forms the head. In moulding
the shape, the various parts are stuffed
so that they resemble the deceased as
closely as possible. Specially treated
cloth is pasted on the skull for "hair”
and smeared with clay. Pigs' tusks are
placed around the forearms, recalling
the number of pigs killed by the
deceased during the course of his
progress to a position of high status. A
rhambaramb of very high rank, such as
this example, has secondary heads,
small faces positioned on each side of
the neck. (K. Muller, 1976, p. 120).
Fig. 1 3 3 Men's house, south Malakula
iÆ2#
taidng^f
very
Speiser,
ranKerem'
high
re'atin9
to
the
°f
S^soThTailrr
1 9 2 3 , pi. 1 0 0 (2))
(
™
framework decorated with leaves and flowers. The men, in mourning
and covered with ashes, then exchange pigs of low value with the son
of the deceased, marking the end of their mourning.
After that the effigy will be placed in the naghamal. No rite will be
attached to this, nor will it occasion excessive respect.”103
South West Bay Region
J.W. Layard singles out three districts speaking different dialects:
Mewun, Seniang and Wilemp (Ewut). Each village has its na-amel,
men’s house, in which the skulls of the high ranking dead are kept. In
front of this house is a circular space, liw-an-ant, with a group of split
drums in the middle.
In this area numerous circles of stones are to be found —
sometimes with cycads planted in the centres of the circles.104
The Seniang region, whose inhabitants are today Christian, are
concentrated on the coast of the Bay of Suroit. They were formerly
spread over a number of hamlets linked by systems of related local
groups, each claiming the same hamlet of origin where the main altar,
if not the only altar, was situated — the altar of the clan to which the
inhabitants belonged. Each of these clans was linked to an animal or
vegetable species, most often an edible one and they avoided
touching, wounding or eating it as the case might be. 106
Deacon gives us a plan of the village of Seniang (with a few
photographs) situated in the south of South West Bay.106 He contrasts
the two terms, igah (profane) and ileo (sacred). This is the reason the
village is divided into two; on the one hand the location for homes
occupied especially by the women and children, and on the other, fhe
amel, the men's house containing certain sacred objects, and the
dance square, in the middle of which stand the split drums. A reed
fence naai seve (the wooden fence) separates this sacred part
reserved for the initiated men from the profane part reserved for
women.
The amel itself is divided up into as many compartments, called
Nimangki, as there are ranks in the graded status society.
Deacon compares it with the villages of Sarembal more to the
north of the island. Two long avenues flanked by upright stones (109
pairs on one side, 60 pairs on the other) open into a circular space,
60' in diameter, surrounded by 34 monoliths. In the middle of this
square stand three large split drums, the largest one of which is
called the mother drum. In the middle of these drums is a rectangular
stone platform (loghola) used by the drummers. On the edge of this
square is the na’amel separated from it by 17 upright stones inter­
linked by other stones which are lying on the ground. This sort of wall
Fig. 136 A drum orchestra at Mendu, south-west Malakula, 1950 (from J
Guiart, Oceanie, 1963, p. 115).
Fig. 139 A child of Mbogote beating
the drum (from a photo by S. Abell and
E.R. Sorenson, 1973, p. 36).
'|S
*ë
Oiiti
C)cj,<£> 1
'mils
Fig. 140 Village plan, south Malakula (from Speiser, 1923, pi. 10 (4)).
a.
men's house
Fig. 141 Young folk in front of a house in South West Bay (from B. Deacon
1934, pl. II (B)).
Fig. 142 Men's house and drums at Meriver, 1891 (from a photo of Archives
CCPV from 'Niu Hebridis Art Festivol’, Nius Leta, Dec. 1979, no. 3).
Fig. 143 Village plan, Seniang
a. men's house
Fl
a :-:
—
b. family houses
'W
c. reed fence
d. surrounding bush
*• JT"
e. the drums
Fig. 144 Drum orchestra
near a reed fence (naai
seve), Seniang, south-west
Malakula.
*
Nangurangurv*
Nevat j T'.
,
Z.
avenue of
109 pairs
of stones
/.
I■
'/' .
-
® Logholar . ‘ avenue of
•' •
,‘
' '
/.
,
V
60pairs
ofstones
\ V. '
-,
*■ . . ' •"
giant ban y an
Fig. 145 Dance area of Sarembal village, with stone sculpture
a. naamal
d. Newereh nen nambwilahai
b. S'nen nambwi laghai (main drum) • sculpted monoliths
c. Nitugun nen nambwi laghai
Fig. 146 Geometrical sand drawing, Senian
Fig. 147 Geometrical sand drawing, Mewun, South West Bay
(Figs. 146, 147 from Deacon, Vol. 64, pp. 1676 171).
is reminiscent of the wooden fence (naaV seve) of the village of
Seniang. It is here called nangurangu nev'at. Opposite, on the other
side of the square, is an enormous banyan tree and round about are
the dwellings built in rectangular formation where the women and
children sleep. They have a two-piece roofing of sago-palm leaves.
On one of its fronts there is a semi-circular porch where pigs are
enclosed and where people sometimes sit. Occasionally the back of
the house is apsidal instead of rectangular but this projection is an
integral part of the wall — not a porch or verandah. The entrance to
the house is through a rectangular door at the front.
To build a house, the men place three forked pillars aligned in the
ground with the ridgepole on the top. Measurements are taken with
the help of creepers. As for rafter making, B. Deacon relates an
interesting technique. Bamboos are cut at twice their useful length,
they are then placed on the ridge of the roof and a fire is lit
underneath. The heat causes the bamboos to split lengthways on
account of the moisture they contain. The split bamboos are placed
on the ground and a stick placed crosswise through them. Both
lengths of each bamboo are then bent until they are more or less
parallel and the whole thing is lifted up to the top of the house with a
stick.
Once the framework of the house is thus in place, the thatching
can be put on.
The construction of the amel is similar to that of the house except
for the additions of straight poles nsai huhu which crisscross at the tip
each side of the roofing above the thatch. A long piece of wood
parallel to the roof-ridge beam is placed on the uppermost part of the
poles: this is called navan temes (fruit).
The amel has all the appearance of a head; thus the front is known
as no on amel (the face of the amel), the door is the mouth, nimbongon
amel, the lower part of the roof on either side of the amel is the hair,
nindilghin na amel. There are two central posts placed at the front and
at the back of the amel, one, the one beside the door, is called numbou
morot (man post) and has a carved side at the top called ne on numbou
(the front of the post), the other one at the back is called numbou
milamo (woman post).
Deacon also relates that Mewun and the north-west region
houses are generally very similar to those of Seniang, though not as
tall.
In hierarchical societies the passing of one rank to another very
often entails the building of a fairly large monument — a dolmen, an
arrangement of upright stones, the planting of certain plants or trees,
the erection of posts carved out of wood or tree-ferns, various
shelters such as the Nitemes amel, a large building (amel) or the
decoration of a building already in existence (cf J. Guiart’s pictures of
the rank or status hierarchy in Bwenekhay, p. 57, and also of the
North Ambrym hierarchy, p.38).
Sand drawings
In this region a whole range of symbolic sand drawings were to
be found, such as on the island on Ambrym where this practice
continues to this day. The old men would practice this art, the
meaning of which still remains something of a mystery.
Success in this graphic exercise was a matter of great prestige to
the artist who would often give a commentary on his work. Certain
pictures could not be seen by the uninitiated.107
The artist would squat at his work, he would flatten the sand in
front of him with the back of his hand, and would then draw up a
network of parallel and perpendicular lines. He would next run his
finger between the different intersections of the lines until he had a
geometrical graphic.
The Island of Tomman
J. Guiart published various plates of the nagamal of this island in
the south of Malakula. They differed little from those of the South
West Bay region.108
Table of Bwenekhay Hierarchy (south-east Malakula)109
Grade
Title
Monument
A red flower, tarbon, planted in the
ground.
A mannequin modelled over a
vegetable-fibre framework, with red
arms and spread legs.
Complete human effigy, carved out of
tree-fern.
Idem
(This time the participants are covered
with red body paintings).
Three parallel, different sized carvings;
the largest including face and hands,
the others with face only.
Human reclining effigy.
Erect statue of hard wood.
Idem
Tree-fern statue placed under a roof.
1.
Khomvelip
Terlerbruas
2.
Sapdral
Varlau
3.
Lobwis
Rabon
4.
Balro
Khalung
5.
Nangov
Khabang
6.
7.
8.
9.
Taromb
Nater
Abwil
Mail
Khamar
Longlamb
Khamal-navur yar Balias
Fig. 148 Gable end olanaghamal atTomman, south Malakula (from a photo
in E. Guidoni, 1978, p. 134).
Fig. 149 Wooden sculpture
sumburan), with small
phallic figure, Tomman (from J. Guiart,
1963, p. 128).
(mwelBun
Fig. 150 Naghamàl in the dance
area, Tomman (from Guiart, 1970, p.
Fig. 151 Large men's house at Tomman (from Guiart, 1963, p. 121)
Fig. 152 Carved ancestral figures used as posts for a small house at Tomman
(from a photo in G. Schlocker, 1965, p. 21).
Fig. 153 Men's house at Bwinembar, South West Bay, Malakula, and detail
(from C. Van den Broek D'Obrenan, 1939).
Diagram of the framework of an amel.
a. the head of the post (noon n mbu)
b. the male post (numbu morot)
c. the entrance of the amel
d. naai huhu
e. the female post (numbu milamp)
f. navan femes
Fig. 155 Diagram of the gable of an amel, decorated
for the rituals of Nalawan Amel Sesmandur, Southwest
Bay (from Deacon, 1934, p. 409).
•
a. door
b. sesmandur
c. skulls over the sesmandur
d. carved faces
e. niselev, the eel
f. face representing the eel in the niselev's mouth
g. the niselev’s tongue
h. the leaf, mbwingmbwingamb
k. wooden posts, nitortor
Fig.
156
Outhouse
(amel nitemes) construc­
ted tor a ceremony of the
taking of rank Nevelvel of
Nimangki (from Deacon,
1934, p. 303).
a. femes
b. naai tewlang
e. havan mbatia
f. malandr plant
g. stones forming the
nonggob
Fig. 157 Three figures of Tar-henunggor stand before a tree encircled by
stones, South West Bay (from Layard, 1928, pi. XIV (3)).
Fig. 156 A cycas pa/m (nimweil), encircled by stones (from Layard, 1928, pi.
XV (4)).
10. Nangov na
rpweleum
11. Lakhbau
Mweleum
Khamat
12. Var Tibarap
Maur
13. LePotspots
Maur
14. Nitits madrur Khamat
Modelled skull fixed at the end of a
pole with a circle of flowers at the base.
Carved wooden pole with 20 human
effigies, placed diagonally and painted
red, over the mens’ great house.
Standing stone — an effigy of a man
placed beside a drum erected at the
same time.
Two hard wood statues placed inside
the house and surrounded by flowers.
Wooden statue placed inside the hut;
outside, the erection of a drum.
(Table after J. Guiart, page 129. Primitive Art & Society Paris 1963).
The Island of Paama
The island is of volcanic origin and has an area of 33 sq. km. It is a
few kilometres from the island of Ambrym and has no river. Its 3000
inhabitants are spread over five villages, Liro, Tahi, Taal Netan,
Wailep and Loulep, all of which are situated on the coast.
The Island of Lopevi
This is a volcano with a circumference of 1413 metres, sometimes
given to violent eruptions. Villages once established there have had
to be evacuated and the island is now uninhabited.
The Island of Epi
This is one of the largest islands in the archipelago with an area
of 445 sq. km., but one of the least populated.
In Lamen, family enclosures were separated by reed fences. The
dance squares were outside the villages, whereas the men’s houses
were built on the inside, as in Vao. Family homes in the northern
region resemble those of the Port Sandwich region on the island of
Malakula.110
As on the islands of Ambrym and Malakula, the drum-beating
areas were part of the dance square. But the faces represented on
these drums were smaller. As on Ambrym, there were also stone
tables and tree-fern carvings.1”
A few details concerning the numerous names and transcriptions
for the men’s house in the northern islands of the Vanuatu archi­
pelago (after J.W. Layard — “Stone Men of Malakula”, London, 1942,
P- 60).
Very often words are combined with the indefinite article, na. But
Ambrym
south of the
island of
Malakula
Paama
Lovepi
Epi
I Tongoa
c^>
Tongariki
Fig. 159 Map of part of the
isles of central Vanuatu
Fig. 160 Stone table for pig
sacrifices, with two tree-fern
Sculptures, at Lamen, Epi (from
Speiser, pi. 104 (4)).
Fig. 161 Drum orchestra,
Lamen (from Speiser, pi. 104
( 6)).
V - vx^,1 VjftPjffilj;
it would seem that the transcription of various names by different
travellers, missionaries and ethnologists was very varied and that the
same word was also spread over the islands, in a corrupted form,
through Bichelamar.
In the Torres Islands
In the Banks Islands
But in Motlav
On Aoba Island
On Santo Island
(St. Philip’s &
St James’ Bay)
(Nogugu)
they use the term: gamel (Rivers) or gemel
(Durrad)
: gamal (Codrington,
Rivers)
: nagmel (Vienne)
: gamali (Rivers)
: gamali (Rivers)
: na-gamal, na-gomali
(Deacon)
: Komal, Komali, Komel
(Rivers)
: mal (Tattevin)
(Nogugu & Epi)
fn the south of Raga
(Pornowol)
On Pentecost
On Ambrym
: nakamai (Muller)
: himel (Rivers) imel
(Deacon) mel (Guiart)
On Malakula
(Seniang)
(Lamhimbu)
Big Nambas)
: na-ame! (Deacon)
: (g) amal (Deacon)
: ghamal (Deacon)
naghamel (Guiart)
: ami! (Rivers)
: n’amal, n'amel (Rivers)
: amel (Muller)
: hamal (Deacon)
: gamali (Deacon)
(Port Sandwich)
(Aulua)
Small Nambas)
(Lagalag)
In the west of Epi
(Burumba)
The same term is also used to designate the dance-squarç (Malakula,
Ambrym).
On Malakula
Atchin
(Wala)
(Lambumbu
”
”•”
"
’’
"
” : amal, and lol-hamal
(initiation house
(Layard)
: n’amil (Layard)
" : na-amel (Deacon)
(Lagalag)
On Ambrym (Susol) ”
”
"
:hamit, i.e. the sacred
place of the clan
(Deacon)
" : hemel, when himel
means men’s house
(Rivers)
The Shepherd Islands
This group of islands is situated between the island of Epi in the
north and the island of Efate to the south. It covers 86 sq. km. and has
a population of about 5000.
About twenty generations ago, the Shepherd Islands (Tongoa,
Togariki, Buninga and Ewose) would have been but a single island
named Kuwae. The chiefly lines were mostly from Efate, the largest
island in this group and, situated to the south of the Shepherds only
a few of them would have come from the north. The names of these
chiefly clans are still known today as well as their canoes and the
succession stages leading them to Kuwae, passing through the
south of the archipelago, then through Efate where these travellers
would have settled for some time.112
These islands are situated in the path of tropical cyclones and are
sometimes devastated. Houses there had a special shape the better to
withstand the strength of the wind (cyclone hut). A certain number of
these buildings are still in existence.
The Island of Emae
Its population is spread over the villages of Makata, Sangava,
Sasake and Marae 113.
The Island of Makira or Makura
This islet, with excellent soil is very difficult of access. Its land
tenure and social structure have changed little by colonization, but
the various communities have all settled in a single village, which in
1958 had 249 inhabitants.
The Island of Mataso
This island is composed of two rocky islets connected by a strip
of sand. Formerly the population was spread over four villages —
Worokoto, Mata'as(o), Sawi(a) and Silimauri. Today the 134 in­
habitants (1958) all live in the only village of Na’asang.
Fig 162 Hurricane shelter at Mara, Emae (from B. Hebert, 1965, p 129’).
ififfrr *—
fÊë'iïmë
The island of Tongariki
Its name is Polynesian in origin. There are highlands, not easily
accessible, of over 100m. on an average. Its 460 inhabitants (1958)
live in the four villages: Erata, Lakilia, Lewaymwa and Tavia,
established on the plateau.
"The small island of Tongariki is the place where an almost
aristocratic system still functions to this day. In addition to his
individual name, given at birth, each adult male may later receive a
traditional title, with which goes the right to the use of certain parcels
of land scattered all over the island, without reference to the possible
limits of the four villages. Without obtaining the said title (i.e. of rank),
one would not be able to have land at one’s disposal, except in a
precarious sort of way, that is a revocable right, which is the case
today for many of the islanders.
Titles come under the authority of the holder of a title whose
standing is traditionally regarded as the highest — within a village.
Each village is comprised of several of these groups, or varea, whose
concrete existence was, in olden days, marked by the construction of
a men's communal house, also called varea.114
Thus "each varea is placed under the authority of a chief, having a
certain number of dignitaries at his disposal, forming a sort of court
around him, and a certain number of titles bestowed, or otherwise,
whose virtual existence defines the extension of that group 115.”
The design of the vareas and family homes is very similar to that
of Tongoa which we shall study hereunder in detail.
In olden days, groups of vertical drums stood on the varea
squares. “An original rite for the inauguration of the drum is the one
that we related in 1958, the regretted Makambo Matongo of
Lewaymwa, on the islet of Tongariki, former holder of the title Ti
Tongoa Mata.
At the inauguration ceremony, the spectators (neither woman nor
child being present) remain at a respectful distance, in front of the
drum which stands upright on the ground, its lips meeting on both
sides of the wide, circular openings both at the top and the bottom
Two masked men (namalau) come dancing in from the same direc­
tion, coming and going.
The fact that to this day the first drummer bears the title of atavi
tonga bears out the belief that it would be dangerous to touch the
drum before completing its inauguration rite. The atavi's function is
actually to protect the chief from all supernatural danger due to
contact with the world of ritual and the invisible. 116
a. /V
LCr~" 1
'V-' 'xA/-—-
-xmW>PSs\x
Fig. 164 Communal house (na kamal) at Erata village, Tangariki.
Fig. 165 Communal house at Lakilia, Tongariki
h-T
y
k-w ■ •?, *Ī.■!■..
x.
XU
Fig. 166 Dwelling (Via suma) at Erata (Figs 164,165,166, from
Hebert, pp. 128.18).
s LAIKA
Filakara
Kouroumanpe
Ralinga
Lamboukouti
TONGOA
Mangarisiou
Moeriou
^ EWOSE
LAIKATONGARIKI
& BUNINGA
Marae
Souioua
Makata
Sang' ha va
EMAE
^ MAKOURA
MATASO
Nasanga
Fig. 167 Map of the Shepherd Archipelago
The Island of Buninga
This is a circular island 2 km. to the south-west of Tongariki.
About a hundred inhabitants live there in the village of Munpohai.
The Island of Ewose
Situated to the south-west of the island of Tangoa, this island is
uninhabited.
The Island of Tongoa
This is the largest and most populated of the Shepherd Islands.
Its inhabitants (over 2000 in 1958) were spread over 14 villages of
differing sizes but more or less corresponding to former groups
around the vareas.
Linguistically the island can be divided into two areas — the Na
Makura language and the Na Kanamanga language.
Large meeting houses shaped like an upturned boat, are still built
in each village. This ribbed construction is obtained by placing posts
side by side, bent and crossed at their upper part to support the
ridgepole. The interior space is then mainly free for moving about. As
long as it is well maintained, the thickness of the thatch placed over
this framework is very effective protection against the intemperate
climate. The house also remains very cool during the heat and filters
out the excessive humidity. The interior is covered with artistically
woven mats. From his personal experience B. Hebert" 7 confirms the
opinion of P. Milne.118 “These houses are really comfortable and in
many aspects better than the new style European houses with walls.”
Houses were formerly grouped together to form hamlets but up
to the present we do not have any plans of their lay-out. These
hamlets were called Na Toko-Ana and were inhabited by extended
families. The different groupings were more or less linked together by
a network of land, history, war, religion, etc, despite the fact that they
were situated quite far apart.
The village sometimes bore the name of the men's great meeting
house, called varea in the Na kanamenga dialect and kamali in the Na
makura. The size of the house depended upon the size of the
population of the village, i.e. two or three times the size of a family
home (A/a Suma).
"But its opening is practically right along or almost the whole
length of the windward side and of one of the arched recesses. Being
very like an inverted boat of the Na Suma it is called Na Kamali Na Toka
(that is with lateral posts).
Fig. 168 Erect drums in front of the communal house at Lambukuti, Tongoa,
1871. (from a sketch by N.N. Mikloukho-Maclay, 1954).
But if its size demands a more solid structure, the ridgepole rests
on a row of central pillars, the hut is called Na Kamali Na Mangui(that
is with centre posts). In its greatest size the Toka become the rafters
of a great double sloping roof and are replaced by four rows of thick
pillars, the central ones forming a succession of high porticos; the
huge hut is then called Na Kamali Na Mangui Raru (that is with two
centre posts).
In this case its centre part is comparable to the great traditional
huts of the islands in the centre and north of the archipelago
(Malakula, Santo, Banks) but this building retains its main shape, the
rounded alcoves and the long, horizontal opening and the original
character of the traditional huts of the region119 .
When the population of a village is not large enough to build its
own meeting house, they can use the house of a related village or one
having a chief paramount to their own. Like everywhere else in
Melanesia, the construction of a communal building demands many
hands and a good framework.
A new building will be erected on the occasion of the nomination
of a new chief or the creation of a village. Lengthy preparations are
necessary for erecting a new Na kamali. The Munuae (clairvoyant or
soothsayer) may be consulted, the Atavi submit the construction site
for the approval of leading citizens, the Namataisau, the carpenters
responsible for the construction of the varea, canoes, drums and
weapons, choose the necessary trees for the building. They fell the
trees and after roughly trimming them, leave them on the spot.
The beginning of work should coincide with yam-planting time
for the largest yams will be saved for the inauguration ceremonies.
The construction
The land is cleaned and levelled, and heavy material is dragged to
the building site with the help of all the villagers to the accompani­
ment of traditional songs.
The main parts of the framework are supplied and put in place
according to their importance in the building, and according to the
order of precedence in the tribe. Thus, the highest ranking
dignitaries, the elders making up the Council, na malua, supply and
put the main pillars (na toka) in place; the second in rank, the
warriors and heralds, supply and set up the posts for the opening, na
hang; the third in rank, the guards of the chief’s house and gardens
the communal hut, etc., supply and place the lintels of the opening,
na kilikilik; those of lesser importance, including outsiders, supply
and place the roofing pieces, na kion; and finally the commoners
supply and put in place the slats, na nerot and the thatch, na kinisit, as
well as all the other material of secondary importance.
But it is all the assembled dignitaries who supply and place the
chief’s pillow, na iling, the top lintel of the opening, and the chief
himself who supplies and places the ridgepole, na tamboat. n0
The women help in gathering and carrying the material and preparing
the workmen’s meals, but they do not have the right to enter the na
kamali.
Each dignitary supervises the construction work between the toka
that he has supplied and the neighbouring toka, checking the
position of the parts and the strength of the joints.
Woods of various types are used, but generally the toka are of na
mparo, a kind of pandanus, the hang of na kumair; the kilikalik from na
tawo the makita tree (probably Parinari Laurina (Rosaceas); the
tamboat from na mbatao (breadfruit tree); the kion, the tafira and the
tamboat susum are made of na veno and the nerof are cut from the
bole of the na mpumpu, the arec tree.121
The entire building is covered with thick thatch. Sheathing Is tightly
plaited over the ridgepole and along the opening, the thatch is cut as
high as a man’s chest. This makes it difficult to reach the occupants
by throwing weapons in from outside, nor is rain able to penetrate the
building. Light can also be diffused into the building by this means.
At the end of the ridgepole there is a huge painted wooden bird
with outspread wings underneath which is a hole in the thatch, na
mata ni mala, (the sparrow-hawk’s eye). The bird is supposed to
symbolise the chief’s spirit watching over the village.
Tree-trunks used for the thick pillars can be as long as 8-10
metres and sunk 1-2 metres into the ground.
Kilometres of creepers and tons of reeds are used for building,
requiring dozens of workers. The preparation of food is taken care of
by the women for the duration of the work.
Thus, as in other places in Melanesia, the great meeting-house
represents its community’s unity and the power of its chiefs.
Names of the various parts of a Meeting-House122
Designation
b) Great centre pillars
b) Curved posts
c) Small pillars for the opening or
periphery of the building
d) Ridgepoles or long beams
e)
Small ridge-beams
f)
Small cross-girders
Na Makura
Dialects
Na Kanamenga
na mangui
na toka
na toka
na sagna
na hang
na su
na tamboat
na tamboat susum
na kafirankot
Fig. 170 Front view and plan of a family house (na suma) (from Hebert, p.
Fig. 171 Cross section of a na suma (Hebert, p.
14).
11).
r
J
j
Fig. 173 Cross-section and plan of a large communal house, Erata (from
sketches by Hebert, p. 15).
Fig. 174 View of the interior of the same building, Erata (from a photo by
Hebert, p. 20).
g)
h)
i)
j)
k)
1)
m)
n)
o)
P)
q)
r)
s)
t)
u)
Unaer-ridge girders
Over-ridge girders
Curved beams; open recess
Curved beams; closed recess
Lateral lintels
Upper lintel
Beam'supporting roofing material
Beam supporting roofing material
at the opening to the
meeting-house
Slats
Reed thatch
Plaited reed partition
Closed recess
Closed side
Open recess
Covered side, door
na tafira
na n’daleu
na kelekel
na n’dalidal
na kilikalik
na iling
na kion
na silatar
na nérof
na kinisila
na totokon
na mang
na mbwei
na traman
na katam
na sila
na sola
na rof
The Island of Efate
(In 1774 James Cook christened it Sandwich Island)
This is the third largest island in the archipelago with an area of
1000 sq. km. As Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu, is situated there, it is
also the most densely populated (17000 inhabitants in 1979).
Efate is surrounded by satellite islands — Retoka, Lelepa, Moso,
Nguna, Pwele and Mau. Most of the villages are spread along the
coast, the interior being almost uninhabited. Local communities are
scattered and few in number, and the most compact remaining
community is on the island of Mau (517 inhabitants in 1956).
However, compared with the people of the Shepherd Islands, more
to the north, whose buildings appear better maintained, certain
variations can be discerned in the social organisation of people in
the Efate region. Titles are not always similar to those found in the
Shepherd Islands.123
In 1882 Monin wrote:
There are better huts here than in the preceding islands, in groups of
four to five, separated from each other by circular fences made from
strong pieces of timber placed very close together and about two
metres high. There is no gate, but at one point they are lower in
height, although not low enough to be easily stepped over The
huts in each group belong to one family and are built with their main
side facing the crossroads in which their dead are buried.12'1
Roberjot is more precise:
Fig. 175 Hurricane shelter, Matarisu
village, Efate (from a photo by
Coiffier).
Fig. 176 Village plan, Saama, Efate
in 1979 (from a photo by Coiffier).
Fig. 177 Dwelling at Leleppa, Efate (from Speiser, pi. 18 (1))
Fig. 178 Hurricane shelter at Ifira, Fila Island (from a photo by Beattie, in
Vanuatu, 1980, p. 17).
A house, whose opening faces the central ground, which is
decorated with posts on which pigs’ jaws hang.125
Hagen relates
On Deception Islands, some of the poles supporting the roof are
roughly carved on their free end into the shape of a bird, an arrow,
an axe, an assegai, a human foot or a club.'26
Monin also writes that:
Huts are 3 x 8 metres and seem very low because they are dug half
into the ground and a tree-trunk makes up the threshold. The roof
projects from the walls, forming an outside corridor. The door is very
low. The interior is divided into three compartments, a middle one
and two sides ones — the middle being for domestic life.127
Goodenough128 gives the measurements as 10 feet by 34 feet, which
roughly corresponds to Erskine’s data on the size of a village
communal house which differed from an ordinary house, having one
side completely open. The usual shape was oblong with a rounded
roof, closed on one side and open on the other.
Except for the fireplace, the floors of these buildings are covered
with mats of plaited pandanus leaves.129
Speiser writes about encountering this kind of dwelling on the
islands of Lelepa — according to him, more like Polynesian houses.
In their writings, many travellers and missionaries visiting Efate in
the last century, testified to the existence of architecture very like that
still to be seen in the Shepherd Islands today.
On the islet of Fila
The huts are a little different from those of the Aneytum people in
that one enters by a long side opening instead of one at the end.
They are also larger than those of the latter people and have a better
appearance.130
In the Efate region of Port-Havannah...
The huts have a wooden framework covered with thatch. This thatch
is made of reeds, a kind of long grass, and plaited coconut leaves or
solely of reeds. The hut is usually shaped like an inverted boat, with
a single opening in the middle of the sides for an entrance.131
On Nguna, the village farea
look very like the hull of an inverted boat with its stern cut off, thus
leaving it completely open at the end, which is the main entrance of
the farea. In addition to this there is a long low opening on the
windward side extending from the open end to almost half the length
of a farea, the equivalent of an entrance to an ordinary house.103
B. Hebert confirms this,
The hurricane hut is nothing more nor less than the centre part of
the traditional hut bereft of its two recesses, which are replaced by
vertical partitions of reeds or boards into which doors and windows
are fitted.133
The Village of Matarisu
In the north-east of the island, between Onésua and Eikpé, lies
the village of Matarisu, whose community originated from the island
ofTongoa. Its site is partly surrounded by asmall coral-block wall on
the road and sea side.
Various types of buildings corresponding to old descriptions can
be seen there and thus the chief’s (Taripoamata) house has a closed in
recess at the rear: this building resembles the one in Speiser’s
photograph No 1, plate 18 (see Fig 177).134
Two other special types of houses can also be seen: oblong in
shape with their very low opening on their longer side and others with
ribbed or pointed roofing with two gables of split and plaited
bamboo. This latter type of construction is completely closed in with
only an opening with a wooden door at one of the gabled ends
allowing access. The thick thatch covering the various buildings is
made of reeds onto which whole coconut fronts have been fixed 135
This reed thatch is kept in place with the help of bourao fibre bands
and banyan roots, or with creepers over a framework of plaited
coconut leaves.
On one of its gabled ends, another type of house has a
rectangular projection entirely closed in by walls of woven coconut
fronds clamped in place by two lots of dense creepers and having a
small reed-covered roof.
The interiors of the buildings are very clean and the floors are
very often covered with woven pandanus leaf mats, except by the
fireplace.
There is a cycad (na mele) at the entrance to the village. No one
should ignore two crossed na mele leaves: it is the mark of a taboo!
And this is how they appear in the centre of a curved pig’s tusk, on
Vanuatu’s national flag.
Fig. 179 View of the village of Matarisu, with surrounding wall (from a photo
by Coiffier).
TT
I
Fig 180 Front vertical section and
plan of the house of chief Taripoamata,
Matarisu (from Coiffier).
Fig. 181 Back view of chief Taripoamata's house, Matarisu (from
photo by Coiffier).
The Islands of the South
The Tafea Group
The Island of Erromango
This island has an area of 975 km. and a population of 945
inhabitants (1978) and its name, in the language of the country,
means ‘it’s a man'. It was also known as the Sandalwood Islands in
the nineteenth century, when boats of all origins came to load their
holds with this fragrant wood, destined for China.
Erromango became famous in the west on account of a novel by
Pierre Benoit, the action of which takes place on this island, but little
useful information on the life of the islanders can be gleaned from it,
for it is typical of the colonial era, and as in many such tales of that
time, the island of Erromango and its inhabitants represent only a
background.
Of the village itself, nothing remained One would have had
really to know where the huts once stood to be able to make out their
traces in this accumulation of earth and rotting moss, beneath this
jumble of vegetation, denser perhaps in this spot than elsewhere as
if the earth had been made more fertile by the long accumulation of
domestic waste. On the other hand, the high ground, or place of
sacrifice, had remained intact. The centre of the square was taken up
by a banyan tree which supported — God knows by what diabolical
means — a stone of huge proportions, perched 8-10 metres high up
on the tree — this was the sacrifical altar. Fetishes were arranged
around this banyan tree and they alternated with the war drums cut
out of tree-trunk split with a fine ridge lengthwise. 136
These words form a vivid picture of a long abandoned village site,
with its cultural square, its banyan tree, stone altar, ancestral carvings
and slit drums.
Robertson 137 gave a more detailed description of the island —
Huts in former times were built without posts or walls, as now, and
were in shape not unlike a huge boat, keel up, or turned turtle. The
ground was first raised from 12 to 18 inches, then slender poles,
about 3 ft. apart, were sunk 12 inches in the ground. These were bent
over and tied with very tough creepers to the ridgepole. Across
these, lighter poles were placed, and on this frame work was a
covering of reeds (the stems of the tall reedgrass) beautifully woven
together. Over all this was placed the thatch of sugar-cane-leaf or
reeds with their grassy tops, this being securely tied through reedwork underneath. This covering was very strong and yet cool. When
it was to be used as a sleeping-house, both ends were thatched with
the exception of a small entrance or doorway. The door was simply a
plaited coconut-leaf, with hinges of creepers. These sleeping-huts
would be about twelve feet by eight feet.
The large Siman-lo (general cooking and sleeping house for the
young or unmarried males) is almost always built in the old way
without walls. It has a very rustic and picturesque appearance.
These Siman-lo are usually from forty feet to fifty feet in length and
from fifteen to twenty feet in width. When we first came to
Erromango, the Siman-lo was, in every case, owned by a chief of
rank. None of the common people dared to imitate the fan-lo or
high-chiefs, by putting up one of these houses. They were very large
and built with the utmost taste and care. In the south districts of the
island, I have seen Siman-lo, which were over one hundred feet long,
twenty feet wide and about twenty-five feet in height The
Erromangan houses are indeed very pretty, when new, and in my
opinion are much finer than those of the other islands.136
These kinds of homes have now disappeared from Erromango, but
certain materials are still used for present-day building.
The Island of Tanna
With an area of 550 sq. km., this island is densely populated
(15715 in 1979). A coral island, volcanic in origin, it is dominated, in
the south by a mountain range of 100m. and a small volcano, the
Yasur, which is permanently active.
Captain Cook does not appear to have been very impressed by
the inhabitants of Tanna: “The village consisted of about twenty
houses the most of which need no other description than comparing
them to the roof of a thatched house in England, taken off the walls and
put on the ground. Some were open at both ends, others partly closed
with needs; and all were covered with palm-thatch. A few of them were
thirty or forty feet long and fourteen or sixteen broad. Besides these,
they have other mean havels which, I conceived, were only to sleep
in."139
Ngouna
I->
Moso
Leieppa
a
Pole
Mao
EFATE
Nevolou 4i
Oupongkor v
ERROMANGO
"V Ipota
Lowiteui
White Sands
TANNA
Lenakei
U*1
Ipao
lasoa
FUTUNA
imaki
Aname
ÿ ANATOM
Oulmetch
Fig. 183 Map of the iles of south Vanuatu (from Speiser, 1923).
Monin gives further details: “villages of 40 huts, arranged in
uneven rows within an enclosure made by a fence of about 2m. high,
having only two openings where there were no stakes. All these huts
are 9m. * 2'Æm. x 2m., a triangular prism, resting on beaten earth.
There are three openings: one on the partition wall facing the village
centre, the other two on the side walls.
Speiser writes that the hamlets are small, consisting often of five
to six houses at the most. The inhabitants would often have moved
house on account of the frequent wars that raged on the island. All
hamlets and fields were surrounded by fences 1 %m. high. These were
of two kinds: either of plaited reeds or vertical stakes. Roofing
materials were reeds, pandanus leaves or sugar cane. 142 It is thought
that it was formerly much more populous that it is at present
(according to J. Guiart, 20,000 inhabitants on Cook’s arrival). 143
“These people today live in several hundred hamlets scattered
along paths climbing the hill-crests or crossing this way and that on
the plateau. Near each one — a space of cleared earth, varying in
size, shaded by age-old banyan trees, where in the evening people
come to share the national drink, kava.
According to the place, the hut is in the old style with double­
sided roofs sloping down to the ground or an imitation, on a reducedscale, of a European house, its roof of double thickness sugar-cane
leaves, being raised on stakes complete with a wall of plaited reeds.
No village type plan. The huts are scattered right along the dance
square where the owners come and sit on important days. In the
mountains and on the central plateau, huts are small in size, the
humidity, they say, making material rot too quickly for it to be worth
building larger ones. The lower parts of the White-Sands and PortResolution districts show the visitor huts in the grand manner, usual
in dry places or on atolls of Polynesian descent as well as less
scattered groups”. 143
Without doubt, Tanna is the island in the New Hebrides where
traditional society has developed to its most logical extent, the
principle of fixed territory and controlled mobility. Its society rests on
a "system of titles" which are hierarchical, passed down from
generation to generation within the small lineage, sometimes
hereditary and sometimes by election'1.144
In-everyday practice, 165 territorial groups can be counted,
composed of several hamlets, and whose average population is 42
inhabitants, an average from among the extremes ranging from 5 to
159 inhabitants. The principle of this social division, topographically
fragmentary, follows that of land tenure. According to the mind of the
local group it is unthinkable to establish an abode anywhere other
Fig. 184 View of Tanna (from an engraving byE. Lejeune, in G.L.Domeny de
Rienzi, L’univers, histoire et description de tous les peuples:
Oceanie, 1873, pl. 252).
to the 1
villages of
Lokoripai and
Losihur
path to Nakamal
yuwunier
.
?r i s
Napanaklai
Yuwunier
group
limits
Latun Swatu
path to Nakamal
Latun
Swatu to Ikaoras
Fig. 185 Dance area of Ipai village,Tanna (from J. Bonnemaison, LaDerniere
kahoungalenimalatan
touhou
napwor or napor
sapang
bamboo trellis
nakis I
entrance
ij*
nokoulou
nawakalouwaout
I ji 5 * 2-=£l
yokoukahaou
iawarsannima
kouhou
Fig. 186 View of the frame for a
hurricane shelter (nimaleten), Tanna,
and detail of the method of securing
the various structural elements.
upper side of roof ndge
reed
bamboo
pandanus
palm frond
nawakalouwaolisouhas
plants used for
the knotting
nolaouliyao
nouhil
nameuhameuh
Fig. 187 Interior view of a hurricane shelter near White Sands, east Tanna
(from a photo by Coiffier).
Fig. 1BB A village in east Tanna, Ipekel, at the foot of the volcano, Yasur
(yahuwey) (from a photo by Coiffier).
Fig. 189 A family house at White Sands, east Tanna (from a photo by
Coiffier).
Fig. 190 House at Ipekel village, with a cross symbolising the John Frum cult,
White Sands region (from a photo by Coiffier).
than one one’s own land. 145
But for the last 50 years the authorities and the missions have
encouraged inhabitants to settle in larger villages.
“In the light of the events of recent years, it has been noticed that
this time is not that of the dance square where kava is drunk, a place
designated, according to the dialect, by the term yimwayim or
yimwarem. This square does not represent any place whatever, but is
endowed with a supernatural patronage, its site having been chosen,
once and for all, at the beginning of time, by the Wuhngen.146
The yimwayim is an area made out of plants, that is a great space
of beaten earth protected by enormous banyan trees, some of which
are considered sacred. There are several types of vimwayim. The
ordinary squares are the place of minor dances called nepe, napuan,
or napuk according to the language, circumcision dances, baptism
dances, marriage dances as well as being the place of the ritual for
the first-fruits. Other squares are used — the presentation and killing
of pigs, toka dances and nao — during the ceremonial cycle called
nekowiaror nanggowiati.”147
According to J. Bonnemaison, the ideal tree, the banyan (nepuk)
represents man, whereas the canoe represents the tribe (niko), but
niko is also the cup from which kava was drunk in the evening. If the
tree is the place, the canoe is the way.148
Some villages today are still surrounded by coral stone walls and
fences made up of stakes (village: John Frum). Traditional ribbedvaulted huts are still quite numerous; apparently they can resist the
most violent of cyclones.
The building of a hut (according to directions by Hubert Goron):
After the site has been cleared, three forked posts are knocked (up to
a metre) deep into tne ground, 2-50m. apart. On the forked ends of
these three posts (sapang) at a height of 1.80m., the ridgepole is
placed (touhou). At each side of the axis formed by the three posts are
put long thin poles, 3cm. in diameter, at a distance of 1.50m. These
are kept firm in the ground by a cross-piece and bent back up to the
ridgepole where they are securely attached with creepers. These long
thin poles are joined together by cross poles, parallel with the ridge­
pole and also tied with fibrous strings from various plants: Nolaouliyao, Nouhil, Nameuhameuh. Lighter-welght poles (Nawakalouwaolisouhas) are bound onto the cross-beams. All that remains to be
done is to cover the whole with coconut-palm (kamek) leaf or
pandanus plaques (noumankiou).
The whole of the habitation takes up a ground space of three by
five metres. The building is usually placed on sloping ground to
facilitate drainage of rainwater. The interior features two distinct
parts: a public area (eramrolkiyou) near the entrance, where strangers
are received, a private area (nowanpousen) at the rear of the house
where the fireplace is situated and where people also sleep. The
gable end (nokoulou) of the public side has a door (napor or napwor) of
plaited bamboos (nahou) and reeds (nouing), the gable end on the
private side (nakis) is closed.
The Island of Aniwa
This isasmall island? sq. km., 26 km. to the east of Tanna. In 1874
there were 185 inhabitants, in 1936: 176 inhabitants and in 1951: 185
inhabitants,150 now there are 349 who make a living growing oranges
for export to Port Vila. Today's largest village bears the name of
Isowai on maps. But J. Guiart gives us the names of four modern
villages151: Imwale, Itangutu, Imwasaand Ikoukao. From this article we
also learn that the various patrilinear groups in these villages are the
imarae, the same name as the dance squares where the men meet for
the ritual preparation of kava. The chief ceriki of the island has a
certain number of rights and has the privilege of having a special
enclosure, taxopa in front of his abode.
According to J.G. Paton,152 roofing material in the island of
Aniwa was sugar-cane leaves.
The Island of Futuna or Erronan
Situated 70km. to the east of the island of Tanna, with an area of
11 sq. km. and a population of 320 (1978) it is one of the most isolated
islands in the archipelago on account of its small size, distance and
relief.
Eckhardt153 writes that on this island some islanders live grouped
together in a large house of nine to ten metres high by about the
same breadth and from 35 to 40 metres long. Speiser relates154 that
dwellings are of the Polynesian type, fairly similar to those of the
island of Tanna. The word Futuna as the use of the term fares implies
is reminiscent of the Polynesian origins of the island’s inhabitants.
Six small villages are built on the hillside 100 to 150m. above sea
level. A steep, winding road connects them. Rivers come down from
the mountains to be channelled into village reservoirs. Ph.
Prodhomme writes p. 1641 "Better than our ancestors1 drawbridges,
the colossal, vertical ladders of bamboo and creepers by which one
gains access to the villages and dwellings are real works of art” 155.
Fig. 191 Traditional-style house built by students undertaking cultural
studies, Futuna (from a photo in Vanuatu, 1980).
Fig. 192 Stone carving designs discovered in rocks at Aneityum (from a
photo by Rev. W. Gunn, in Speiser, pi. 107 (3)).
Fig. 193 Oulmetch village, south Aneityum (from Ph. Prudhomme, 1979, p.
161).
This is one of the first islands in the archipelago to have had
contact with Europeans (sandalwood merchants and whalers). With
an area of 158.5 sq. km., it enjoys a moderate climate but its
mountainous interior obliges its inhabitants to make their villages
along the seashore. At present it has a population of 357 inhabitants
(1978) spread over three villages: Port Patrick (Anamé), Anelgaouat
and Oulmetch. The village of Oulmetch still has traditional style
houses very similar to those of Tanna. (see Fig. 194)
According to Murray,156 the oio hamlets were made up of houses
grouped together behind reed fences.
Eckhardt157 writes that the people of Anetchom build themselves
houses four metres high and six metres wide with the branches of
trees and that their roofs were covered with large leaves.
But Speiser158 adds that there were special houses, without walls,
simply used to protect boats. In every village toilet facilities for each
of the sexes were built with their backs to each other, people being
afraid of the nahak magic. Speiser thinks that it is also for that reason
that he never came across toilets built at the seaside.
Conclusion
We have now become aware of the great variety of architecture
existing or having existed in all these islands. Moreover any
differences are due to very good adaptation to the ecology and to
special circumstances.
It has much in common with the architecture of other Melanesian
archipelagos. Firstly, it is the existence, even today, of a traditional
type of architecture representing a considerable cultural heritage,
which should not be allowed to disappear. Buildings of local design
are still being built. A whole world of technological know-how still
exists among the oldest men of the village and schooling (in its
present form) is likely to kill off this cultural attainment as was the
case in numerous Polynesian archipelagos (with the exception of
Samoa).
Secondly, cultural entity is found in the multiplicity of its
variations between the various archipelagos from New Guinea to
New Caledonia — its coherent society and particularly its family
set-up.
In the field of ceremonial architecture, there is a close connection
in so far as importance of size goes: the centre posts and the fire­
places. Main parts of the house often have anthropomorphous
names: the mouth, the eyes, the hair etc______
In the description of the Vao men’s house in Sepik in Papua New
Guinea. They are in fact in front of the two facades of the buildings
and inside their longitudinal axis. In Sepik there were Borassus palmtrees planted on mounds surrounded by upright stones, whereas in
Vao there were great stone tables.
The presence, on the roof, of great birds with spread wings (birds
of prey) is found in many parts of Oceania. The division of the men’s
long house into different areas according to one's rank in society was
found on Banks and Torres Islands as in the Sepik valley.
The making of covering material may differ so far as what is used
is concerned but the technique is quite similar.
We have discussed the influence of Polynesian technology on
building in the islands of the centre and of the south, but mention
must also be made of Wallisian traditional housing on the island of
Efate on the road to Forari. It would be interesting to draw up a
'complete inventory of existing techniques and assure their distri­
bution throughout the archipelago and even in other countries.
Techniques have sometimes followed the traditional circuits of
exchange, now the development of inter-island relations should be
fostered.
It is to be hoped that we will soon see the end of the effects of
imitating European design that have been festering for decades in
most of the non-western countries. The disastrous results are known
and another way must be found.
If there can be no question of a return to the past, one has to
admit that there was a certain measure of comfort in housing, called
traditional. But economic and social conditions have greatly
changed, therefore we should aim for development that knows how
to reconcile new technological knowledge with that of the past.
At the beginning of the century, R.J. Fletcher wrote159 : “This
bungalow has always grieved me. It is built of wood and galvanised
metal, frightfully straight and bare; at noon the heat is intolerable
there. Unfortunately the galvanised roof is a necessity.. .we can
drink rainwater only.
I wonder why they do not build all the houses on the indigenous
model; they would be cool, absolutely impermeable and pretty. And
then they would not cost anything. The bush supplies all the material,
vegetable fibre ropes are used for nails. The natives make doors of
plaited coconut frond.”
It may seem strange that R.J. Fletcher should write these lines, he
who was so disillusioned by life in the islands. But one realises that
he had not learned much about the life of the native people, when he
says “they would cost nothing. The bush supplies everything". That
is to forget the numerous ties of inter-aid and obligation that bind the
inhabitants of the same village, which makes B. Hébert write:
As for the huts for living in, imported wood, corrugated iron, nails
and wrought casings replace the local suma, if not esthetically or
hygienically, at least with far fewer workmen and much less trouble.
And when a cyclone sweeps away these light buildings, the public
authorities or charitable organisations are there to help replace them
as cheaply as possible if not gratuitously.160
Independence has brought new responsibilities to the people of
Vanuatu and ought to re-establish justice in the matter of landed
property.
Let us re-read a few clauses of the new constitution161
Clause 71 All land in the territory of the Republic belongs to the
customary, indigenous owners and their descendants.
Clause 72 In the Republic, laws of custom constitute the base of
ownership rights and land usage.
Clause 73 Indigenous citizens alone, having acquired their pro­
perty according to a recognised system of land tenure,
have the right of perpetual ownership over that property.
Clause 78 Notwithstanding the provisions of articles 71 and 72, the
government may buy land from the traditional owners
with the object of transferring it to indigenous citizens
from over-populated islands.
Another problem has appeared in this country, that of the
migration of youth from certain islands to the urban centres of
Luganville and Port Vila.
J. Bonnemaison, within the framework of ORSTOM, has carried
out an excellent study on the subject which never ceases to grow in
importance. 162 Thus he finds three distinct categories of migrants:
1. "The traditional, 'circulating' migrant, who remains essentially a
rural dweller in transit, whose time of residence in town seems
relatively brief and whose presence in the urban milieu comes
about through groups controlled by the place he has left.
2. The ‘fixed’ migrant who has often initially been moving about,
but who having acquired professional qualifications has brought
along his family and who lives in the city for much longer
periods. Generally he remains faithful to the structures of the
group of which he is often the stable centre."
3. Finally, the ‘shy’ migrant, the latest arrival in the migratory
system, whose ties with custom and the group seem more
tenuous — whose position favours his individual insertion into
urban life. He has no fixed date for his return to the rural world,
but his urban destiny, appears hazardous and dependent upon
the more or less stable work that he will find.
The immediate future of the Vanuatuan economy is most specifi­
cally rural, plantations and stock-raising; moreover, in the latter
fields, it would appear very promising. Neither is it the ideal solution
for potential manpower to leave certain islands. It is to be hoped that
the balance in agrarian activity will be restored and the people
concerned will realise the quality of their former staple crops: yam,
taro, bananas and fruit of all kinds.
It is by diversifying to the full agricultural production in the
islands and by helping the peasantry of the Archipelago to rediscover
the quality of their own produce, that an initiai feeling of sufficiency
between the latter and their natural environment will come about. 163
As far as housing is concerned, the problem is similar; the
inhabitants must be helped to rediscover the quality of their own
technical achievements. But, alas, education in both private and
public schools, has up till the present, turned too many of the young
against their own culture, the food they were brought up on, their way
of sitting, their way of living etc “The adolescent school-leaver
has become a stranger, not only to his own natural environment, but
also to the society which is his. From then on, he has no choice but to
leave for the city.”
Education seems to us to be one of the most sensitive issues.
Imagination will have to be exercised to adapt educational pro­
grammes to the reality of the country and of the international scene.
The people of Vanuatu do not have to be ashamed of their past,
on the contrary, they can be proud of the architectural achievement
that their ancestors so very well knew how to adapt so often to a
difficult environment.
We hope that this work will be part of that realisation and be likely
to motivate other research workers to continue to enrich it.
Regional variation in the name given to men's houses throughout
Vanuatu163
Often the word is combined with the article ‘na’. However, it
would seem that the transcription of the various names by different
travellers, missionaries and ethnologists has been very variable, and
also that the same word has been spread throughout the islands to a
certain extent by the medium of Bislama.
In the Torres Islands
the Bank Islands
but on Motalava
On Ambae
On Santo
St Philip’s and St. James’ Bay
Nogugu
Nogugu and Epi
South Raga (Pornowol)
Pentecost
Ambrim
Malakula
Seniang
Lambumbu
Big Nambas
:
:
:
:
gamel (Rivers) or gemel (Durrad)
gamal (Codrington, Rivers)
nagmel (Vienne)
gamali (Rivers)
: gamali (Rivers)
: na-gamal, na gomali (Deacon)
: komal, komali, komet (Rivers)
: mal (Tattevin)
: nakamal (Muller)
: himel (Rivers), imel (Deacon), me/
(Guiart)
Port Sandwich
Aulua
Small Nambas
Lagalag
West Epi (Burumba)
Shepherd Islands
: na-amel (Deacon)
: (g)amal (Deacon)
: ghamal (Deacon), naghamal
(Guiart)
: a mil (Rivers)
: n’amal, n'amel (Rivers)
: amel (Muller)
: hamal (Deacon)
: gomali (Deacon)
: na-kamali, varea (He^ ert ^
Erromango
: siman-lo (Robertson)
The same term is used also to designate the dance area:
Malakula
Atchin
Wala
Lambumbu
Lagalag
Ambrim (Susol)
: amaI, and lol-hamal (house of
initiation; Layard)
: n’amil (Layard)
: na-amel (Deacon)
: hamil (the sacred place of the
clan; Deacon)
: heme! (himel signifies the men's
house; Rivers)
Regional variation in the name given to family houses throughout
Vanuatu
Torres Islands
Banks Islands
Ureparapara
Vanualava
Mota
Motalava
Gaua
Merelava
Maewo
Ambae
Santo
Bigbay
women’s house
youth’s meeting place
Ambrym
Malakula
Epi
Shepherd Islands
Efate
Erromango
Tanna
Aniwa
Futuna
Aneityum
: n'ema (Durrad)
em
en, im, qeqek, govur
ima
em, neum (Vienne)
uma, govur
im
vale, ima
vale
im
na peruhu
na peakava
anali
hale, ima
namel (Guiart)
uma, iuma
na suma, (Hébert)
suma, sum
imo
iuma
fare
fale
im, eom
Appendix B
Various forms of vertical drum
ambrym
F- Speiser,
1923, pi.
109(19)
AMBRYM
from a
photo by
C. Coiffier,
RANO
F. Speiser,
1923, pi
101 (3).
1979
VAO
From a
photo by
C. Coiffier,
1979
A
EPI
F Speiser,
1923, p|.
104 (6).
MALAKULA
(B. Nambas)
malakula
(S. Nambas)
from photos by C. Coiffier.
158
1979.
EFATE
Musee de
l'Homme
Océanie,
1976, p. 105.
Stages in the construction of the roofing of a traditional
house
Notes
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
16.
19.
20.
21.
22.
See José Garanger.
James Cook, 1954, Relations de voyages autour du monde.
Leper Island is the present island of Ambae.(Aoba).
Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, 1966, Voyage autour du monde, pp.
246-247.
Thus the land of the salt-water men, as opposed to the bushmen.
Except in certain parts of the island of Santo.
On Malo, Malakula, Ambrym, Efate, south Pentecost, Ambae, Maewo,
Erromango and Tanna, celibate boys sleep in the men’s house.
Felix Speiser, 1923, Ethnographical Materialen aus den Neuen Hebriden
und den Banks-lnseln.
Ethnologists and Prehistorians do not seem able to collaborate towards
an understanding of both the past and the present of these islands. It is
not just a matter of prehistoric research but, above all, a realistic
interdisciplinary approach is necessary. See José Garanger, 1975,
Eléments d‘ Ethnologie, p. 303.
Several new models have appeared, particularly concerning the
missions. These could have arisen from the missionaries’ importation
of models from upon other Pacific islands or other regions of the world.
W.J. Durand, ‘Notes on the Torres Islands', Oceania 10(4) 1940, pp.
389-403.
Cf. Speiser, 1923, p. 122.
Cf. Speiser, 1923, p. 123.
Cf. W.J. Durand, 1940.
On this subject, see B. Vienne, Gens de Motlav, 1984, la Société des
Océan istes, p. 27.
It is known that Fijian, Kanak, Solomon Island and Polynesian
architectural styles often make use of stone in the construction of
terraces.
R.H. Codrington, The Melanesians, 1972, p. 298.
Cf. B. Vienne, 1984, pp. 35-36.
Cf. F. Speiser, 1923, pl. II (1) and 18(2).
F. Speiser, op.cit., ‘Rawenga in Vanua Lava liegt auf einer 10m hohen
Bank’, p. 98.
Brenchley, 1873.
Cf. B. Vienne. 1984, p. 55.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
B. Hébert, ‘Nouveiles-Hébrides: Notes sur les cases traditionelles d'
habitation et de réunion des iles du Centre sud’, in Etudes
Mélanésiennes, no. 18/20, Dec. 1963/65.
E. Aubert de la Rue, Les Nouveiles-Hébrides: iles de cendre et de corail,
1945, pl. XVII (1).
Cf. B. Vienne, 1984, p. 50.
F. Speiser, 1923, p. 105.
ibid, p. 122.
Cf. B. Vienne, 1984, p. 134, 135, 138, 140.
B. Vienne, 1984, pp. 142-143.
Cf. R.H. Codrington, 1891.
F. Speiser, 1923, pl. 91 (12).
ibid, p. 98.
Compare Figs. 2, 23 and 24.
ibid, p. 121.
Cf. B. Vienne, 1984, p. 21.
Cf. F. Speiser, op.cit., pp. 105 and 121.
B. Vienne, op.cit., p. 135.
Dr. H ans Nevermann, Masken und Geheimbunde in Melanesien, 1933,
p. 94.
J. Bonnemaison, 'Espaces et paysages agraires dans le nord des
Nouveiles-Hébrides’, Journal de la Société des Océanistes, Vol. XXX, no.
45, Dec. 1974, p. 173.
ibid, p. 178.
Cf. F. Speiser, op.cit., pp. 120-121.
Bonnemaison, op.cit., p. 173.
Compare Figs. 30, 31 and 32, p. 26.
Cf. L.A. de Bougainville, 1966, pp. 243 and 246.
F. Speiser, op.cit, p. 119.
Cf. J. Bonnemaison, op.cit., pp. 177 and 180.
Patrick O’Reilly, ‘Megalithes hébridais’, Journal de la Société des
Océanistes, Vol. VII, no. 7, Dec. 1951, pp. 175-180.
ibid, pp. 175 and 176.
Cf. F. Speiser, op.cit., pp. 99-101 and 108-113.
See Figs. 42, 45 and 50.
Jean Guiart, Espiritu Santo (Nouveiles-Hébrides), 1958, pp. 20, 25 and
26.
Personal communication from H. Goron, Luganvllle, 1979.
Guiart, op.cit., p. 27.
See Fig. 68.
F. Speiser, op.cit., p. 101.
Cf. Speiser, pl. 10(3).
Speiser, p. 114.
J. Bonnemaison, 'Les voyages et l’enracinement', L' Espace Géo­
graphique, no. 4, 1979, pp. 308-309.
Bonnemaison, Nouvelles Hebrides, Les éditions du pacifique, 1975,
pp. 43-46.
60. K. Muller, 1971, p. 73.
61. K. Muller, ‘Land Diving with the Pentecost Islanders', National Geo­
graphic, Vol. 138, no. 6, Dec. 1970, p.806.
62. I. & E. Johnson, 'South Seas’ Incredible Land Divers’, National Geo­
graphic, Vol. CVII, no. 1, Jan. 1955, p. 01.
63. During the construction, the men cook for themselves.
64. Cf. K. Muller, 1971, pp. 67 and 70.
65. In the indigenous language, these three supports are called: the penis,
and the lips of the vagina (Muller, 1971, p. 70).
66. Muller, p. 70.
67. J. Guiart, Dec. 1956, p. 220.
68. Cf. F. Speiser, 1923, pi. 16(1) and 17(3).
69. ibid, pi. 97(3).
70. J. Guiart, 'Sociétés, rituels et mythes du Nord Ambrym', Journal de la
Société des Océanistes, Vol. VII, no. 7, Dec. 1951, pp. 23 and 25.
71. ibid, p. 26.
72. ibid, p. 30.
73. ibid, pl. 96.
74. Guiart, Nouveiles-Hébrides, 1970, p. 18.
75. Guiart, ‘Unité culturelle et variations locales dans le centre-nord des
Nouveiles-Hébrides', Journal de la Société des Océanistes, Vol. XII, no.
12, Dec. 1956, p. 217.
76. Guiart, ibid, pp. 334-335.
77. Ph. Diolé, 1976, p. 214.
78. Guiart, ‘L’organisation sociale et politique du Nord-Malekula’, Journal
de la Société des Océanistes, Vol. VIII, no. 8, Dec. 1952, p. 154, pp. 168-9.
79. Guiart, ibid, pp. 169 and 178.
80. Cyathea (blakpam). See J. Barreau, 'L’agriculture vivriére indigene aux
Nouveiles-Hébrides', Journal de la Société des Océanistes, Vol. XII, no.
12, Dec. 1956, p. 182.
81. Cf. J. Guiart, 1970, p. 14.
82. Guiart, Dec. 1952, pp. 170-172.
83. Ibid, 179-184.
84. M. Ch. Laroche, ‘Un documentaire hébridais: Les hommes d'Amok de
Freddy Drilhon’, Journal de la Société des Océanistes, Vol. XII, no. 12,
Dec 1956, p. 351 and 352.
85. Cf. F. Speiser, pl. 10(9).
86. Ph. Diolé, 1976, p. 214.
87. M. Laroche, F. Drilhon and J. Guiart, ‘Notes sur une cérémonie de
grades chez les Big Nambas', Journal de la Société des Océanistes, Vol.
XII, no. 12, Dec. 1956, pp. 229 and 230.
88. Guiart, 'La mort en Océanie’, in Les hommes et la mort, 1979, p. 129.
89. J. Layard, Stone Men of Malekula, Vao, 1942.
90. Cf. J. Guiart, 1970, p. 19.
91. Layard, op.cit., pp. 439-445.
92. Layard, op.cit., pp. 439-445.
93. P. O'Reilly, ‘Une sculpture des Nouveiles-Hébrides at the Musée de la
France d'Outre Mer', Journal de la Société des Océanistes, Vol. V, no. 5,
Dec. 1949, p. 192.
94. J. Guiart, 1970, p. 66.
95. Cf. Speiser, 1923, pi. 19)6) and Layard, 1942, map IV, p. 69.
96. Cf. P. O’Reilly, op.cit., pp. 192-194.
97. Layard, op.cit., pp. 345-347.
98. Speiser, p. 116.
99. Layard, op.cit., p. 273.
100. Cf. J. Layard, op.cit., p. 56.
101. K. Muller, ‘Les Mbotgote de I’ ile de Malekula', in Encyclopédia Alpha des
peuples du monde entier, Vol. 3, 1976, pp. 116-119.
102. Muller, ‘Field Notes on the Small Nambas of the New Hebrides', Journal
delà Société des Océanistes, Vol. XXVIII, no. 35, June 1972, pp. 154 and
155.
103. Cf. J. Guiart, 1970, p. 22.
104. See Fig. 158.
105. J. Guiart, Les religions de /’Océanie, 1962, p. 52.
106. B. Deacon, Malekula: a vanishing people in the New Hebrides, 1934.
107. See B. Deacon for a variety of sand drawings, in ‘Geometrical drawings
from Malekula and other islands of the New Hebrides’, Journal of the
Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 64, 1934,
pp. 129-175.
108. Cf. J. Guiart (1963, p. 121), (1970, p. 13), (1979, p. 135).
109. Table from Guiart, l'Art et les sociétés primitives, 1963, p. 129.
110. F. Speiser, pp. 103 and 118.
111. ibid, see photos 4 and 6, pi. 104 (Figs. 160 and 161).
112. J. Garanger, ‘Prehistoire et ethnologie exemples océaniens', in Eléments
d'Ethnologie, Vol. 1, 1975, p. 309.
113. J.-J. Espirat, Systeme de titres dans les Nouvelles-Hebrides centrales d’
Efate aux /les Shepherd, 1973, pp. 51, 81 and 95.
114. Guiart, 1963, p. 39.
115. J. J. Espirat, 1973, p. 147.
116. Guiart, 1970, p. 15.
117. Cf. B Hébert, 1965.
118. Cited by A. Dan, in Peter Milne of Nguma, 1927, p. 16.
119. Cf. B. Hébert, 1965, p. 16.
120. ibid, pp. 17 and 19.
121. ibid, p. 19.
122. From Hébert, ‘Notes sur les cases traditionelles d’habitation et de
réunion des iles du centre sud’, in Etudes Mélanésiennes, nos. 18, 20,
1965, p. 14.
123. J.-J. Espirat, 1973, p. 273.
124. Dr. Monin, "Contributions k la géographie médicale'-, Arch, de méd.
nav., 1882.
125. A. Roberjot, 'L’Archipel des Nouveiles-Hébrides', Bull, de la Société de
Géographie de Paris, 1883.
126. Dr. A. Hagen and Pineau, ‘Les Nouveiles-Hébrides', Rev. d’ethnographie,
1888.
127. Monin, 1882.
128. J.G. Goodenough, Journal of Commodore Goodenough, London, 1876.
129. J.E. Erskine, Journal of a cruise among the islands of the Western Pacific in
H.M.S. Havannah, 1853.
130. F.A. Campbell, A year in the New Hebrides, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia,
1873, p. 108.
131. D. Rev. MacDonald, Elate, New Hebrides, Vol. 4, 1893, p. 724.
132. A. Dan, 1927, p. 16.
133. B. Hebert, 1965, p. 7.
134. Cf. F. Speiser, pi. 18(1).
135. These leaves are placed in such a way on the roof structure that the
wind is prevented from tearing the leaves of the reed-thatch.
136. See P. Benoit, Erromango, 1929, pp. 140-142.
137. Rev. H.A. Robertson, Erromangua: the Martyr Island, 1902.
138. ibid, p. 374.
139. James Cook, A voyage towards the South Pole and round the World, 1777.
140. G. Turner, Nineteen Years in Polynesia, 1862, p. 84.
141. Monin, 1882.
142. F. Speiser, pp. 105 and 124.
143. J. Guiart, ‘Un siecle et demi de contacts culturels 'a Tanna’, Société des
Océanistes, no. 5, 1956. pp. 3 and 4.
144. J. Bonnemaison, ‘Les voyages et l’enracinement’, L"spacegéographique,
no, 4, 1979, p. 309.
145. J. Guiart, 1956, no. 5, p. 10.
146. ibid, p. 14,
147. ibid, p. 15.
148. Communication from J. Bonnemaison a la Société des Océanistes,
June 1983.
149. Personal communication from H. Goron, 1979.
150. M. Eckardt, Der Archipel der Neuen Hebriden, 1877, p. 19.
151. J. Guiart, The social anthropology of Aniwa, Southern New Hebrides’,
Oceania, Vol. 32(1), 1961, pp. 34-53.
152. J. Paton, Autobiography, 1880.
153. Cf. F. Speiser, p. 105.
154. P. Prudhomme, Découvrir les Nouveiles-Hébrides, 1979, p. 164.
155. A. Wright Murray, Missions in Western Polynesia, 1863, p. 28.
156. Eckardt, op.cit., p. 19.
157. Speiser, p. 124.
158. R.J. Fletcher, lles-paradis iles d'illusion, lettres des mers du sud, 1979, pp.
70 and 71.
159. B. Hébert, 1965, p. 21.
160. Constitution of the State of Vanuatu.
161. J. Bonnemaison, ‘Système de migration et croisance urbaine a PortVila et Luganville (Nouveiles-Hébrides)’, Travaux et documents de I'
O.R.S.T.O.M., no. 60, 1977, p. 8.
162. ibid, p. 93.
163. The information contained in Appendix A derives from two sources:
J. Layard, Stone Men of Malekula, London, 1942, p. 60; and Dr.
H. Tischner, Die Verbreitung der Hausformen in Ozeanien, Leipzig, 1934,
p. 213.
164. From J. Guiart, L'Art et les Sociétés primitives, 1963, p. 136.
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Table of Illustrations
Map of the Torres Archipelago
2
Plan of the interior of a Torres Islands gemel
4
Family dwellings in the village of Vipaka, 1906
4
Map of the Banks Archipelago
6
Family houses at Ureparapara
8
Diagrammatic representation of roof construction
of a sleeping house
8
Another type of dwelling at Ureparapara
8
Plan of a village on Ureparapara
8
View of Mota
10
Cross-section and plan of a house with stone
foundation
10
Statue or post indicating rank, Vanua-Lava
11
House of a man of high rank
11
Men’s house with stone wall
12
House built on a lava-block foundation
12
Interior of a men’s house on Vanua-Lava
12
Plan of a village on Vanua-Lava
13
Simplified plan of the present-day village of Vatrata
13
Simplified plan of the old village of Gamelvava
17
Plan of a village, Motlav
17
GamaI of the village of Ara
18
Ancestral sculpture near a men’s house
18
House with stone foundation and dance platform,
Gaua
20
Plan of a dance area, Gaua
21
Tattoo designs, similar to those found at the
entrance of men’s houses
21
1 74
Traditional Architecture in Vanuatu
Fig. 25
House gable, Gaua
21
Fig- 26
Ancestral house, Gaua
22
Fig. 27
House of a man of high rank in the Suqe hierarchy
22
Fig. 28
House and gamal, Merlav
24
Fig. 29
Plan of a village in north Maewo
26
Fig. 30
Plan of a village in south Maewo
26
Fig. 31
Use of land in a traditional village
26
Fig. 32
Family house with stone foundation, Maewo
27
Fig. 33
Monolith on a grave at Maewo
27
Fig. 34
Plan of a hamlet, Ambae
29
Fig. 35
Plan of a hamlet, Ambae
29
Fig. 36
Use of land in Lolossori region, Ambae
29
Fig. 37
Houses with stone platform
30
Fig. 38
Houses in south-west Ambae
30
Fig. 39
House of a man of very high rank, Ambae
31
Fig. 40
House in west Ambae
31
Fig. 41
Longitudinal view and cross-section of a house in
north-west Santo
34
Fig. 42
Storehouse in north-west Santo
34
Fig. 43
Sculpted columns of a men's house in north-west
Santo
34
Fig. 44
Village plan, north-west Santo
35
Fig. 45
Village plan, north-east Santo
35
Fig. 46
Cross-section of a dwelling in north-east Santo
36
Fig. 47
Men’s house, Port-Orly
36
Fig. 48
Diagram of construction of fencing in north-east
Santo
36
Fig. 49
The construction of a roof
36
Fig. 50
Village plan, central Santo
37
Fig. 51
Schematic representation of a family house in
Tsrapae, central Santo
37
Plan and cross-section of a village house at
Butmas
37
Fig. 52
Table of Illustrations
175
Fig. 53
Plan of house in south-west Santo
38
Fig. 54
Dwellings in south-west Santo
38
Fig. 55
House in the village of Vuinavanga, south-east
Santo
38
Men’s house, north-west Santo
39
Fig. 56
Fig. 57
Men’s house on the west coast of Santo
39
Fig. 58
Interior of a men's house in west Santo
39
Fig. 59
Ceremonial area of a village in south-east Santo
40
Fig. 60
Men’s house, south-east Santo
40
Fig. 61
Dwelling in south-east Santo
41
Fig. 62
Longitudinal view and plan of house in central
Santo
41
Dwelling in the village of Fwimatal
41
Fig. 64
Dwelling in the village of Vuinavanga
41
Fig. 65
Village plan, north Malo
45
Fig. 66
Dwelling in north Malo
45
Fig. 67
Reed fence, north Malo
45
Fig. 68
Cultural areas and patterns of interaction in north­
east Vanuatu
46
Partial schematic representation of the village of
Bunlap, Pentecost
49
Fig. 70
Men working on the construction of a houseframe at Bunlap
49
Fig. 71
Men securing the roof beams with pandanus
leaves, Bunlap
49
30 metre high wooden tower used for the Gol
land-dive, Bunlap
50
Fig. 73
Men working on the base of the tower
50
Fig. 74
Detail of the diving platform
50
Fig. 75
Various stages of the land-dive
52
Fig. 76
House on a hillside, Bunlap
52
Fig. 77
House of a man of high rank, Pentecost
52
Fig. 78
Village plan, Ambrym
64
Fig'. 79
Men's house, Ambrym
64
Fig. 80
Men’s house, Ambrym
65
Fig. 63
Fig. 69
Fig. 72
Fig. 81 Men’s house with drums, tree-fern statue and
sculpture representing stylised pig’s jaws
66
Fig. 82
Drums and statue at Bounlou village, 1871
66
Fig. 83
Men's house, Ambrym
67
Fig. 84
Drum beside a naghamal at Neha, north Ambrym
67
Fig. 85
Mel in Neha village, north Ambrym
67
Fig. 86
House with bamboo walls, Ambrym
68
Fig. 87
Family house, Ambrym
68
Fig. 88
Family house, Ambrym
68
Fig. 89
Sculptures of rank, carved from tree-fern stumps
70
Fig. 90
Vertical view and cross-section of a platform built
around a statue of rank mage ne urur (wurwur)
72
Man on a platform with an axe in one hand, a pig
club in the other
72
Fig. 91
Fig. 92
Rank-taking ceremony in an Ambrym village
73
Fig. 93
Head of a large siit-drum on Ambrym
75
Fig. 94
Ambrym slit-drum
75
Fig. 95
Two views of the detail on the head of an Ambrym
drum
76
Fig. 96
Family house, Amok village
79
Fig. 97
Part of Amok village
79
Fig. 98
Various ponarats
81
Fig. 99
Ponarat positioned at the roof ridge of a men’s
house
82
Fig. 100
House-frame under construction in north Malakula
82
Fig. 101
Interior of a name/ at Amok, north Malakula
82
Fig. 102
Village plan, central Malakula
84
Fig. 103
Village plan of Lexan, north Malakula
84
Fig. 104
Front view of a namel at Lexan (namel eya), north
Malakula
85
Fig. 105
Namel, central Malakula
85
Fig. 106
Schematic perspective view of a house-frame
85
Fig. 107
Garden fence at Lexan, north-west Malakula
85
Fig. 108
Two men of the Big Nambas beating drums on the
occasion of the killing of a pig, Amok
87
Table of Illustrations
177
Fig. 109
Dance area with large slit-drums, Batarmul
87
Fig. 110
Map of the islands of north-east Malakula
88
Fig. 111
Bird figurehead for canoe prow, Vao
90
Fig- 112
A ceremonial site (after J. Layard, 1942) at the
village of Pete-hul, with drums and stone
monuments
91
Fig. 113
Vertical section and plan of a ghamal of Pete-hul
called Ber hangawul
92
Fig. 114
View of a ghamal at Pete-hul, Vao
92
Fig. 115
Gable of a ghamal, Vao, 1979
93
Fig. 116
Ceremonial site at Port-Sandwich at the beginning
of the 20th century
93
Fig. 117
Multicoloured carved support post for a bird
figure, forming one end of a roof beam, Vao
94
Village plan of Pete-hul with part of the villages of
Togh-vanu and Peter-ihi, Vao
95
Fig. 119
Plan of the twin villages, Pete-hul and Togh-vanu,
Vao
95
Fig. 120
Upper section of a vertical drum from Venu on the
coast of Vao. Two pig jaws are hung on the drum
96
Fig. 121
Drum orchestra at Togh-vanu, Vao
98
Fig. 122
Drum orchestra, Vao
98
Fig. 123
Drum orchestra, Vao in 1979
98
Fig. 124
Graveyard with wooden sculpture and stone
platforms
99
Grave sites and drum orchestra, Atchin
99
Fig. 118
Fig. 125
Fig. 126
Framework for a funeral monument
100
Fig. 127
Drum and sculpture, Rano
100
Fig. 128
Small Nambas house
105
Fig. 129
Men's houses, south Malakula
106
Fig. 130
Interior of the house of théold chief
Tambwebalimbank, Mbotgote de Lendombwey
village, south Malakula
106
Fig- 131
Tree-fern roof sculptures, Dirak village, south
Lendombwey villager carrying
Tambwebalimbank's rhambaramb
108
Fig. 133
Men's house, south Malakula
109
Fig. 134
Sculpture relating to the taking of rank ceremony
of a man of high rank, south Malakula
109
Fig. 135
Man of high rank by a tree-fern sculpture
109
Fig. 136
A drum orchestra at Mendu, south-west Malakula
Fig. 132
Fig. 137/138 Two drum heads
Fig. 139 A child of Mbotgote beating a drum
111
111
111
Fig. 140
Village plan, south Malakula
Fig. 141
Young folk in front of a house in South West Bay
112
Fig. 142
Men's house and drums at Meriver, 1891
112
Fig. 143
Village plan, Seniang
113
Fig. 144
Drum orchestra near a reed fence (naai seve),
Seniang
113
Fig. 145
Dance area of Sarembal village, with stone
sculpture
113
Fig. 146
Geometrical sand drawing, Seniang
114
Fig. 147
Geometrical sand drawing, Mewun, South West
Bay
114
Fig. 148
Gable end of a naghamalat Tomman, south
Malakula
117
Fig. 149
Wooden sculpture (mweleun sunburan), with small
phallic figure
117
Naghama/in the dance area, Tomman
117
Fig. 151
Large men’s house at Tomman, Malakula
118
Fig. 152
Carved ancestral figures used as posts for a small
house at Tomman, Malakula
118
Men’s house at Bwinembar, South West Bay,
Malakula
119
Fig. 154
Diagrammatic representation of the framework of
an amel
119
Fig. 155
Diagram of the gable of an amel, decorated for the
rituals of Nalawan Amel Sesmandur, South West
Bay
119
Fig. 150
Fig- 153
Fig. 156
Outhouse (amel nitemes) constructed for a
112
ceremony of the taking of rank Nevelvel ol
Nimangki
120
Three figures of Tar-Lenunggor stand before a
tree encircled by stones, South West Bay
120
Fig. 158
A palm (Ni-mweil) encircled by stones
120
Fig. 159
Map of part of the Isles of central Vanuatu
122
Fig. 160
Stone table for pig sacrifices, with two sculptures
122
Fig. 161
Drum orchestra at Lamen, Epi
122
Fig. 162
Hurricane shelter at Mara, Emae
125
Fig. 163
Family house (na suma) at Mulool, Buninga
125
Fig. 164
Communal house {na kamal) at Erata village,
Tongariki
127
Communal house (na kamal) at Lakilia village,
Tongariki
127
Fig. 166
Dwelling (na suma) at Erata, Tongariki
127
Fig. 167
Map of the Shepherd Archipelago
128
Fig. 168
Erect drums in front of the communal house at
Lambukuti, 1871
130
Communal house (na kamal) at Lambukuti,
Tongoa, in 1963.
130
Fig. 170
Front view and plan of a family house (na suma)
133
Fig. 171
Cross-section of a na suma
133
Fig. 172
Cross-section of a communal house (na kamali na
toka)
133
Fig. 157
Fig. 165
Fig. 169
Fig. 173
Cross-section and plan of a large communal
house, Erata
134
Fig. 174
View of the interior of the same building, Erata
134
Fig. 175
Hurricane shelter, Matarisu village, Efate
136
Fig. 176
Village plan, Saama, Efate in 1979
136
Fig. 177
Dwelling at Leleppa, Efate
136
Fig. 178
Hurricane shelter at Ifira, Fila Island
136
Fig. 179
View of the village of Matarisu, with surrounding
wall
139
Front vertical section and plan of the house of
chief Taripoamata
139
Fig. 180
Fig. 181
Back view of chief Taripoamata's house at
Matarisu, Efate
140
Fig. 182
Family house, Matarisu
140
Fig. 183
Map of the isles of south Vanuatu
143
Fig. 184
View of Tanna, from an engraving by E. Lejeune
145
Fig. 185
Dance area of Ipai village, Tanna
145
Fig. 186
View of the frame for a hurricane shelter
(nimaleten), Tanna, and diagram of the method of
securing the various structural elements
146
Interior view of a hurricane shelter near White
Sands
146
A village in east Tanna, Ipekel, at the foot of the
volcano, Yasui
A family house at White Sands, east Tanna
147
147
Fig. 190
House at Ipekel village, with a cross symbolising
the John Frum cult, White Sands region
150
Fig. 191
Traditional-style house built by students
undertaking cultural studies, Futuna
150
Stone carvings discovered in rocks at Aneityum
150
Fig. 187
Fig. 188
Fig. 189
Fig. 192
Fig. 193 Oulmetch village, south Aneityum
150
Appendix B Various forms of vertical drum
158
Appendix C Stages in the construction of the roofing of a
traditional house
159
Index
A mbae, The Island of 28; Aoba, also known
as 28; clubhouses, men's, open to
women 32; dance squares 32; family
homes 32; forbidden to women, Men's
houses 32; funerary buildings 33;
houses32; menstruation hutforwomen
32; population 28; two crater lakes
dominate 28
Ambrym, The Island of 63; Christian
villages 72; Council of elders 69; dance
square 77; division of labour 74; drums,
with vertical slits, world famous 63, 74,
wooden 77; forbidden to women 69;
funeral rites 74; hierarchal organisation
74; meeting houses, Men's 63; men's
house, The 69; pagan villages 69;
population 63; rituals, mostly con­
cealed from women and children 74;
tree-fern carvings 63,74, description of
making 74; volcanoes, two active 63
Anatom (or Aneityum, Anetchom) The
Island of 149; European contact, one of
the first islands 149; houses, traditional
style 149; moderate climate 149; popu­
lation 149; special houses to prolect
boats 151; villages along seashore 149
Aniwa, The Island of 149; growing oranges
149; largest village, Isowai 149; popu­
lation 149; ritual preparation of kava
149; roofing material sugar-cane leaves
149
Archaeological research xii
Artefacts in museums x
Atchin, The Island of 78, 101; ancestors,
statues of 101; dance place with stone
platforms 101; men's houses 101;
sacrificial altars 101
Bamboo xii; dividing compartments 3;
knives for circumcision 48; reservoirs
5; wall 90
Banks Islands 3, 5; Architecture interest­
ing 7; basic material for framework and
fencing 47; copra 7; economy 5; house,
detail 15, overhang of roof 16; housing
changed since beginning of century 7;
Ureparapara the most northerly 7;
volcanic 5
Banyan, the ideal tree 148
Black Island, The (see Ambrym) 63
Botanical heritage xi
Bougainville x
Breadfruit Tree (autocarpus altitus) 77
Building materials xii; communal effort, a
xiii; coral or volcanic stone xii; mineral
and vegetable matter 7; of a house xiii;
vegetable fibres most commonly used
xii
Buninga, The Island of 126; population
126
Bunlap 48; boys circumcised with bamboo
knives 48; circumcised youth to men's
community 53; custodians of custom
48; people of 48; social set-up of village
48; village of 48
Chiefly system 86
Christianity, introduction of ix
Clan prestige 86
Climate xi
Coconut palm xiii; plantations on island of
Mota 14
Colonisation ix
Constitution, new, some clauses 153
Conqueror, Human victims offered to 80
Cook James, Captain x, 142
Cycad, at entrance to village 136; classic
flora for sepulchres 33
Cyclones, Tropical xi
Dance square 7, 15, 23, 32,77, 97,110,121
Dawn Island (see Maewo) 25
Dead, libation to 83
Design, imitating European 153
Designs, comparison of various xiii
Drum called chinchin, A 5
Durand, W.J. Father 1
Earthquakes, frequent xi
Ecology, good adaptation to 152
Economy of coastal villages xi; mountain
bush xi; Vanuatuan 154
Education, one of most sensitive issues
155
Efate, The Island of xi, 135, 153; Fila Islet
137; Hurricane hut 137; Matarisu,
village of 138, Chief’s house 138; most
densely populated 135; Nguna 137,
PortHavannah 137, Port Vila 135, satel­
lite islands, surrounded by 135, villages
spread along coast 135
Emae, The Island of 124; villages of
Makata, San gava, Sasake, Marae 124
Environment, natural ix
Epi, The Island of.121
Erromango, The Island of 141; population
141; Sandalwood Islands 141
Erronan, The Island of (see Futuna); 149
European navigators x; travellers xi
Ewose, The Island of 126; uninhabited 129
Fences, chiefly 86
Food-safes 86
Funeral areas xii; feasts 5; rites 3, 74,102;
sites xii
Funerary buildings 33
Futuna, The Island of (see also Erronan)
149; isolated island 149; Polynesian
origins of inhabitants 149; type dwell­
ings 149; population 149
Gaua, The Island of (or Santa Maria) 19;
architecture, three type 19; family
home of a high-ranking man 23; gamal
19; Go Jump, special rite 48; house of
high-ranking ancestor 23; Lake Letas
lies within crater 19; largest of Banks
Islands 19; roofing, different types 19;
social diversity in the village 23; ‘Stone
Building at Gaua' 19; volcanic 19
ghamal, description 90; each village has
only one 90; made by women 90; one
erected in Pete-hul 90; thatch of palmleaf titles 90
Hat Ragha (see Penticost Island) 47
Heritage, cultural 152
Hostilities, in case of 80
House, building of a xiii; domestic 16
Human victims, offered to conqueror 80
Humidity makes material rot quickly 144
I le Aurore (see Maewo) 25
Independence, new responsibilities 153
Inter-island relations, development should
be fostered 153
Introduction of new materials xi
Kava 80; consumption of 86; cups from
which it was drunk,148; double session
80; making 3, 5; national drink 144;
ritual preparation of 149
Lakon (see Gaua) 19
Lepers', Island of (see Ambae) 28
Liro Village 121
Lopevi, The Island of 121; island un­
inhabited 121; volcano given to violent
eruptions 121
Loulep Village 121
Luganville xi, 154
Maewo, The Island of 25, 28; Europeans,
first contact with fatal 25; houses 25;
village, in plan of 28; women, could not
enter the man’s house 25
Makira or Makura, The Island of 124;
population 124; soil excellent 124
Malakula, Island of 78; inter-island trading
78; mountainous 78; population 78; the
great slit drums of 89, with human
faces 89
Malekula, (seeMalakula) flooding, cutoff
by 102; funeral rites 102; huts, distin­
guishing features 102; Nimangi, a
hierarchal society 102
Malo, The Island of 44; homes often sur­
rounded by cane fences 47; houses 47;
roof with two pitches 47
Mataso, The Island of 124; Four villages,
Worokoto, Mata'as(o), Sawi(a), Silimauri 124; Na'asang now only village
124
Melanesian house, typical 7
Melanesians, the 19
Merig, The small Island of 19
Merlay, The Island of 23; dance square 23;
has become Christian 24; houses 23;
most populated 23
Meskelynes Islands 78
Migrants, three distinct categories 154
Migration of youth to urban centres 154
Mota, Island of 14; coconut plantations 14;
housing kept to pre-European locality
14; land subsistence 14; population 14;
volcanic cone 14
Mot lav, Island of 14; dance square 15;
population 14; villages, five large 14
namal, building of a 80
Paama, The Island of 121; five villages 121 ;
no river 121; volcanic origin 121
Pandanus xiii; leaves 144
Pentecost Island 47; Bunlap, Villages of
(see under B) 48; circumcised youth
admitted to men's community 53; Gojump, special rite 48, fatal accident,
only one 54
Polynesian technology, influence of 152
Port Sandwich x
Port Vilaxi, 154
Rano, The Isle of 78, 101
Ravena, Islet of 14
Roofs, of bamboo, bent over a ridge-pole
7; material in island of Aniwa 149;
preferred material for xii, 144; with two
pitches 47
Sago Palm xiii
Saint Clare 19
Sand drawings 115; symbolic 115
Sandalwood Islands 141
Santa Maria (see Gaua Island) 19
Santo, The Island of 33; Christian village,
A 43; European and Christian indi­
genous homes 43; house in Butmas
village, two descriptions 44; largest
Vanuatu island 33; least populated 33;
number of posts in house 42; planta­
tions and stock-farming areas 33; small
houses for conjugal encounters 42; Tshaped houses 42
Seniang region 110; house building 115;
inhabitants
Christian
110;
rafter
making 115; Suriot, Bay of 110;thatching 115
Shepherd, the — Islands 124; Cyclone hut
124; houses, better shape to withstand
cyclones 124; path of tropical cyclones
124; population 124
Social structure, two distinct types xi
South West Bay region 105; circles of
stones 110; dialects, three distinct 105;
man’s houses 110; na-me/105; profane
part reserved for women 110; sacred
part reserved for initiated men 110;
skulls of high-ranking dead 110
Sugar Cane xiii, 144
Taal Netan 121
Taboo, two crossed cycad leaves 138
Tafea Group, the 141
Tahi Village 121
Tanna, The Islandof, building of ahut 148;
coral island 142; densely populated
142; fences, detail 144; frequent wars
raged on island 144; ideal tree, the
Banyan 148; land tenure 144; nimwayim
148; people live in hamlets 144; pi ace of
ritual 148; roofing materials 144;
system of titles 144; volcanic in origin
142
Technical achievements, quality of 155
Techniques, new evolved ix
Tomman Island 78, 116; Table of
Bwenekhay history 116
Tongariki, The Island of 124; aristocratic
system 126; highlands not easily
accessible 124; population 124; right to
use certain parcels of land 126; tradi­
tional title 126
Tongoa, The Island of 129; construction of
building 131; fourteen villages 129;
largest bf Shepherd Islands 129; meet­
ing houses 129, various parts 132,
nomination of new chief 131; popula­
tion 129; thatch, thick — detail 132;
women help in gathering material 131;
woods used 132
Torres Islands, The 1, 5; Christianity
changed traditional organisation 1;
completion of thatching 3; Dwellings,
ridge-pole weakest point 3; gemelmost
important place in village 3
Urban centres xi
Ureparapara, The Island of 7; curved
houses on stone bases 7; homes of
men of rank 7
Uripiv, The Isle of 102
Vanua-Lava, The Island of 9; higher alti­
tudes have poor soil 9; huts 9; largest
island in Banks archipelago 9; popula­
tion 9; rainfall heavy 9
Vanuatu’s national flag 138
Vao, The Island of xii, 78, 97; dance
squares 97; densely populated 97;
family plots of land 97
Vegetable fibres xii
Village, dance square 15; description of
15; established on gentle slopes 15;
gamal 15; gardens, surrounded by 15;
layout of houses 15; men’s public club
house 15, forbidden to women 15;
plants denoting what is forbidden,
taboo 15
volcanic line, active xi
Wailep Village 121
Wala Island, The 78,101
Wallisian traditional housing 153