DAVID CRAIG
KUNDIAWA - In 1961, when I was head teacher at Gon Primary T School on the edge of Kundiawa, I was privileged to be allowed to attend a ‘bugla inngu’ pig killing festival.
The ceremonial pig killing was held at the village of Pari on the slopes adjacent to Kundiawa. The talk had gone out into the surrounding villages that it was Pari’s turn to celebrate.
We heard the message at school and wondered what implications it had for us. We soon learned that the school children were expected to be there. I made enquiries to district education head office in Goroka whether we could declare a school holiday but was told no.
Further discussions took place and I explained that, if I said no, the students would go anyway and it would be impossible to discipline them, even if I wanted to. Eventually permission was granted.
Ruth (now my wife of 57 years) gained permission from the mission to close her school and Merv, who ran the technical school on the edge of the airstrip, also closed it. We told the parents and the elders that we would give the children a holiday - as long as we were allowed to attend.
It was and the three of us climbed up to Pari early on the morning of the main event, the only westerners there.
The pig killing festivals that in the Chimbu were some of the biggest occasions in the life of the local Kamanuku people. They were held every four to eight years depending on climatic conditions and the availability of pigs.
The local festivals were held by three clans close to Kundiawa and were held in rotation over the years. Villages from one clan would celebrate one year and invite the people from the other two clans.
When a committee of villagers decided that the time was right for another celebration, one of the other clans would invite the others to their village. In time it was the third clan's turn.
The festivals needed enormous planning and preparations as many visitors had to be accommodated in guest houses [right] and catered for in the host village.
It was firmly ingrained that reciprocity – the giving and receiving - was important. And it was considered a matter of great pride that the host clan killed as many pigs as had been killed by the previous hosts.
Some 170 pigs were killed on the occasion we were present, representing huge monetary value. A man could purchase a bride for 10 or 20 pigs depending on her status. Indeed, pigs were so valued it was rare for the people to eat pork between festivals.
They were so important that a woman who had given birth would also suckle a young pig on her breasts - sharing with her new born baby. Pigs were given a name and considered part of the family. You could not eat your own pig as it was like your brother or sister.
When we arrived, there was bedlam in the village. The clouds were low and it was cold and wet. Smoke hung heavily in the air. Shouts of excitement mixed with the cries of roped pigs, seemingly aware of what was to come.
People were dressed in their finery. Bird of paradise feathers adorning heads and paint and shells decorating bodies. After some time, men began dragging the first of the pigs into a clear space in the middle of the village.
Some men produced large lumps of wood and began bludgeoning the pigs across the snout.
Some pigs collapsed immediately whilst others squealed loudly and tried to get away. It took two or three men to hold them before they eventually succumbed and fell to the ground.
Once all the pigs had been killed, they were dragged into a long line across the village.
People crowded around the pigs and an important man (akin to a town crier) marched up and down the line of pigs telling the assembled crowd that those killed this year were bigger, fatter and more in number than last time. This boasting was necessary so as not to lose face before the visitors.
By now the air was dense with smoke and the noise had risen to an extraordinary level. The fires had been lit early so that the many stones required could be fully heated. These would be placed in hollow logs standing on their ends and used to cook vegetables.
The next stage of festivities began. Pigs were thrown onto the fires to burn off the body hair. This caused the pigs to swell.
Banana leaves were strewn on the ground and the swollen pigs were placed on them. The villagers then proceeded to cut the pigs using bamboo knives. (They had steel knives but did not use them in this ceremony.) The pieces of pig were then thrown into the fires and cooked.
Actually they were half-cooked and, as the meat was being eaten, the blood ran down people’s chins. We had been warned not to eat the pig meat, which partially cooked could cause disease, so waited for the vegetables to be readied on the hot stones in the hollow logs.
Sweet potatoes and corn were placed inside and water poured on the rocks. A thick cover of banana leaves was then placed on top of the logs. The vegetables thus cooked by steaming were very tasty indeed.
We left in the late afternoon but the people were to continue dancing and singing all night. Some later got very ill with dysentery from eating the meat.
Over the following days groups of very tired men and women could be seen returning to their own villages where no doubt they collapsed with exhaustion and slept for a very long time.