Visual Education (Jan 1923-Dec 1924)

232 VISUAL EDUCATION August, 1924 Skulls and thigh-bones of the head-feast victims were either kept in piles or hung in the "Tambu" or men's lodge. Perhaps this is where the Spaniards got their idea of using the skull and cross-bones on the flags of their pirate-boats. The laws of the tribe are made in the Tambu, and are called the Taboo. The Taboo is the real authority of petty chiefs in times of peace. Sometimes the law is signified by two crossed sticks. In this manner a native secures his yam patch against intrusion. In other districts crudely carved heads on poles are planted on the beach facing seaward to warn away enemies, to keep off fever, and to secure the gardens against intrusion. The Taboo is a negative system of public and private etiquette. The Lot of the Women The women of the islands are beautiful and slim in their youth, but they become prematurely old, as they are the drudges and burden bearers. So low do they stand in the community that to speak of a man's wife by her name is a decided breach of etiquette. After breakfast, when the villagers repair to their gardens in the forest, the men amuse themselves by hunting or sitting around in groups while the women tend the gardens. Upon returning in the evening the men start toward the village encumbered only by their spears and the game caught during the day, while the women stagger after them carrying heavy loads of yams, taro, and cocoanuts. At the outskirts of the village the men build fires to roast and eat their meat, while the women go to the village to prepare the evening meal. After her lord and master has eaten his meal in privacy, the woman eats what scraps are left. Upon pain of death women are excluded from the Tambu. Any woman may be temporarily exchanged for another man's wife without being consulted upon the matter. Through all the years of cannibalism the women were not allowed to taste human flesh. A man's wealth is in his number of wives ; not that the wives themselves are considered worth much, but they break up the shells and bore the holes and string all his cowrie money; and the more wives a man has the better his mats are kept, and the greater the yield of his gardens. Where the art of pottery is known the women are the potters. Native Villages Are Simple The average village consists of from 25 to 40 houses, with 100 to 200 inhabitants. In the larger villages the houses are arranged in pandomus mats upon which the natives sleep. The Florida Island huts are built on piles. Outside the huts are the cooking utensils, often nothing more than a hardwood roasting-spit. But sometimes, as in the islands on the strait, the utensils quite numerous, consisting of a number of earthen pots for "stone boiling," and many water jugs made of cocoanut shells with clay necks built up like those of a bottle. The natives do not put their lips to the jugs, but instead they tip their heads back and pour the water into their mouths. With their cooking Copra is cut and strung in the cocoanut groves. This lessens the labor of carrying the unhusked cocoanuts to the trading post. The husks from the nuts are used as fuel. two rows with a central thoroughfare, and the Tambu house centrally located, while in the smaller ones they are strung out in an irregular row. The houses are from 25 to 30 feet long, 15 to 20 feet wide, and 9 to 10 feet high. The sides and ends are of bamboo poles, and the roof is covered with pandomus leaves supported on a central row of poles. As a rule there is but a single opening, a door usually placed about two or three feet above the ground, consequently the interior is very dingy. The houses are empty except for the weapons, a few mats, a head or two, a row of jaw-bones of wild pigs, a few skeleton fists, and the utensils they are not so cleanly. These are not washed between meals, and while dogs are not allowed to put their noses into the pots, the flies are free to come and go. The Generosity of Nature The houses are warmed at night by tiny smudgy fires — each person building his own. fire beside his bed. Nature has indeed been generous to these savages — the trees alone are many, and remarkable in size and use. They are an unfailing source of food, clothing and shelter. One species of palm yields vegetable-ivory nuts, and another, sago ; while others furnish material for huts and dress. The cocoanut