RICE CULTURE

The women carried the offerings and the Rice Mothers on their heads. -The men wore hats freshly woven of coconut leaf, bristling with flowers and ferns. The parade stopped at the village temple, where the decorated sheaves were blessed by the temple guardian. This ceremony was called mendak nini, " to bring back the Mother." Each family took its Rice Mother to its own granary, which was also decorated with penyors and lamaks to receive it.

The Rice Mothers were deposited on cushions on special wooden thrones inside the granaries, and I was told that they would remain there until eaten by rats. Not even famine could justify eating the rice of the nini; whoever ate the Rice Mother would be considered as low as a dog. After the ceremony the cut rice was brought home to be stored in the granary until needed.

The rice granaries (called according to size and shape lumbung, glebeg, djinan, klumpu, and klimking in the order of their importance) are a good indication of the economic status of a family. They are tall buildings with steep, high roofs of thatch resembling the Melanesian yam houses in shape.

A granary is supported by four wooden pillars with wide circular capitals to prevent rats from climbing up. Custom demands respectful handling of rice. It must be fetched in silence and only in the daytime. A person who climbs into a granary should be in a normal state of physical and spiritual health and may not chew betel-nut.

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