THE RELATION B1iTWEEN SLIT-GONGS AND RENOWN IN A   L

SOLOWN ISLANDS CULTURE
?                            Douglas L. Oliver

*    'While Walter Cline was instructor and tutor in anthropology at

Narvard it was his practice to require undergraduates to become tho-

roughly familiar with a half dozen whole-culture ethnographios before
letting forth on excursions into more theoretical works of ethnology
-ld 80social anthropology.  "Next to living among primitives," he usod
to say, "this is the soundest way to approach the subject you say
'ou're interested in." -This was a tedious and chastening task for

Mhudents who, like the present writer, conceived of anthropology as

UIn adventurous quest for big ideas traced on canvasses of continental
4,..ie. In time, of course, we came to recognize the pedagogic wisdom
,bohind those exercises. Moreover, some of us also learned to value
`the reading clue he gave us as being one of the simplest yot surely
tone of the most effective of all keys to understanding any culture.

nIn every department of culture you are reading about," he suggested,
I& effect, "pick out the key native words and try to translate them."

Tears later, another gifted and highly experienced anthropologist made
:the sAm kind of obsorvtion, "--- the most difficult task in anthro-
'ological fieldwork is to determine the meanings of a few key words,

" ~pbn an understanding of which the success of the whole investigation

:depends; ---"

These remarks apply with particular force'to the culture of the
,Siuai people which the present writer studied intensively during 1938
band 1939, and two papers previously published (2) have boon devoted

,to descriptions of the meanings attached to the key words "leader"

tImmi) and "land owner" (muhni ukum) by the Siuai. The intent of the
.preFsent paper is to inquihreint~otie logic underlying the Siuai prac-

tice of using metaphorically the phrase "renown making" when describing
K, tho beating of wooden slit-gongs.

The name Siuai applies to all those natives of southwest Bougain-
1vlle (Solomon Islands) who speak the Papuan Motuna language. There
,are about 4650 of theso nogroids (3); and although they possess no
*:ver-all tribal organization they do recognize themselves as being

Oulturally distinct from peoples living around them and speaking dif-
--erent languages. The Siuai live in small hamlets scattered through-
sout the tropical rain forest, and subsist mainly on the products of
,their gardens and groves. Hunting and fishing are unimportant, and

-pigs are raised only for feast occasions. Nuclear family households aro
'the residential and subsistence units, while small, totemic, exogamous

tMatrilineages are the focal points for most beliefs and practices which

'might be called religious.  Patrilocality is slightly more prevalent

,. .~ ~ ~ ~ ~    ~  ~   ~   8

than othor forms of residenco, but not sufficiently so to have resulted
in a consistent resident pattorn.  Siuai natives say that formerly

their hamlets used to be drawn together under the leadership of war-
making leaders who possessed powers of physical coorcion over thoir
underlings and who used to vie with one another in organized head-

hunting forays.  In the early 1920's the Australian administration of

the Mandated Territory of New Guinea established effective control over
Siuai, outlawed warfare and the use of physical force by the indigenous
leaders, and set up a new system of native administration involving

appointed native officials and a legal procedure culminating in the courts
of Australian magistrates. Meanwhile, the indigenous political system
persisted, although in greatly altered form. Instead of gaining a

leader's renown (potu) by moans of organizing and financing successful

wars, ambitious natives now turned to foast-giving as the most effective
means of acquiring the renown essential for leadership; and that man who
surpasses his rivals in feast-giving has the pleasure of hearing himself
acclaimed as "he who has most renown" -- not a very tangible reward for
the enormous effort that goes into such enterprises but apparently suf-
ficient to encourage the ambitions of most men.

These feasts take place at the men's club-houses, largo and open-
sided structures which are located along the main paths and away from

dwellings-_ for women are prohibited from visiting or even passing close
to a club-house. No man can become an active feast-giver without hav-
ing a club-house of his own, and no club-house is complete without a

full complement of wooden slit-gongs, usually nine in number.   It is to
these gongs that we now turn our attention in order to gain some insight
into the reasons why the Siuai describe the beating of gongs as "tho
making of renown."

Gongs range in size from three foot long and one foot in diameter
to fifteen feet long and five foot in diameter. They are made by

felling a moikui tree of desired diameter, cutting out a piece of log
to the desired- l-ength, and hollowing the interior through a narrow

longitudinal slit. The ends of the gong are chopped nearly flat and
the bark is stripped away, otherwise tho surface is not rounded or

smoothed. Hollowing the log requires considerable skill since the slit
opening has to be kept narrow. Nowadays steel trado-adzes are used for

this operation, but thern are still in use many gongs that were hollowed
out with stone adzes, which must hgve benn a delicate and lengthy pro-

.coss since some of theso old gongs have walls only two inohos thid,ki
thinner in fact than most of the modern stool-mado products. Throughout
northeast Siuai thorn are only a dozen or so men capable of making first
class gongs.  In making a gong the log is shaped. and hollowed but-in the
forest at the place where the tree is felled, being carried to the club-
house only after it is roady for use.

The ideal arrangement of slit-gongs in a club-house is shown in
Figure A, although thorn is some variation in this according to the
number of gongs prosent. Gongs are placed and labeled according to

size, the largest one being called The Big-one, the next His-younge~r-

70

Le~ ~ i  th  akrud

S~~~~~~~ov -'

lII    EzzE

-~ ~ h  ida  aragmnEfsi-onsi  lbhue

As, ' ~~~~~Igr   A.

brother, then Thoir-youngor-brother, Muuomin . Fifth-one, Sixth-one,

SovetlWh-one, Tapiuo, and  jo.   Alsoe the seven larger gongs are some-
tiaciS call d The Body to differentiate them from Ta 1uo and Regoi; and
individual gongs are sometimes given specific names, such as The Thun-
derer or The Killer.  Many club-houses possess more than nine gongs;

in such cases the intermediate ones are grouped with those of nearest
size and arn named accordingly.

Gongs rest on small wooden sleopors with the slit side up and are

beaten with the butt-end of a four foot long stick struck sharply against
tho oonter of the lip of the slit. Tones vary with the size and hollow-
niss of the gong, although the tonal intervals betwnen thn gongs in any
club-house are by no moans regular; in fact the Siuai have no concept of
regularity of tone interval in their pan-piping or in their gong-beating.

Gongs are beaten on a number of occasions, and although thorn is

no systommatic code, alphabetic or otherwise, the sound pattern of each
kind of signal is universally well known and various patterns can be

put togothor so that they describe a varying soquence of eovnts. Tho

following signals are beaten on only ono gong, usually on Thoir-youngor-
brothor:

kngk      kung-- a oall to assemble, usually sounded by
the clu        owner  oall together his supporters for some work
project.

Atara-- an announcement, usually made in the ovening, alert-
ing supportors that thorn will be a kungkungkun       on the following
morning.

Akarumingmingno-- an announcement that a special pudding is
being mlade lor a feast.

Kauooro-- an announcement that tho pudding is completed.

Kuroto--. an announcement that somoono of consequence, e.g.,
a patrollingATdiinistrative Official or a traveling native leader, is
approaching.

Enopi-- a signal boaton by the club-house owner to announce
that ho is angry    for example, if he has discovered that his gardon
fonon has been broken through by a hungry pig, or if ho has learned
that someone has slandered him or tried to seduce his wife.

On other occasions Tho Big-one alone is sounded:

Aokoto-- an announcement that a renowned leader has died, or
that a large f-tuskod pig has boon penned up for a feast.

Eruoto-- a signal that used to be boaten to announce that a
man has been killed in fighting.

71.

Y3:kuoku-- an announcement of the cromation of a man who has
melt his death by falling from a tree. On hearing this signal all

other adult males keep away from the funeral in order to avoid having
similar fates bofall thomsolveis.

Takiruoto-- a signal that used to be beaten to summon warriors
for a raiding expedition.

On the occasion of a large feast all the gongs in a club-house

aro beaten in unison at various stages of tho preparations# The climax
of these events is reached the night preceding the feast, at which
time "pig-counting" takes place. The host's supporters assemble at

his club-house after dark and take up their posts, ono beater for oaoh
gong. Tho most export boater sounds the small Ragoi load gong, while
the strongest man presont sounds The Big-ono; bet   of these posts are
coveted, for though thorn is no special honor attached to them the
Siuai nevertheless take great pleosure in sounding the doop-voicod
The Big-one or in loading their fellows on Ragoi. The host usually
assigns those two key posts, while the other beaters pick their own

places; there will always be more beaters than gongs so that the boat-
ing is done in relays. Whon everyone is ready the Ragoi boater sounds
his gong, beginning with Vitality-gotting, a quick warm-up signal. He
first plays the signal twice through, then as he begins it for the
third time Tapiuo joins in. Tho two smallost gongs boat the sign1
through in uTnson and then as they start it again Seventh-ono joins

in, and so on until all the gongs are being beaten in unison. After

thren or four repetitions of the signal with all gongs beaten together,
Ragoi sounds a quick series of terminal beats and loaves off beating.
Following this Tapiuo does likewise, and so on around the oval until
finally only The Big-one is boating; and then The Big-one stops.

Following this the boaters pause for a minute or two and congratulate
themselves over their fino performance, then Ra g0 sounds off on an-
other signal. The initial Vitality-gottin   is olowed by Shell-

ornaments, the general name for a largo number of gong calls baten
for pleasure rather than for signalling spoeific information.   The
expert lead man may have as many as forty or fifty of these in his

repertoire, and he takes groat pride in his ability to load for several
hours at a strotch without repeating. Shell-ornaments vary greatly in
length and complexity. Somo aro very simple, like One-at-a-time, a

series of ten moderately slow boats evenlyr spaced and without variation
in accent. Others are meant to describe real or imagined events, such
as the lament for the kouakoua bird who has become separated from her
mate:

"As I, the kouakoua bird, was warming my eggs on the bank of
the stream the water suddenly arose and washod mo away ddwnstroam4.
And now I search for my mate."

This lament is known to nearly every Siuai, and as the Ragoi beater

sounds it he reproduces each word in terms of its syllablas and accents
so that all hearers recognize the little poem on which it is based.

72~

..horter example of Shell-ornaments will illustrate the technique:
|  roking         pupu                 neuitonk,          neuitong..

The flying-fox   sap-of-uild-banana    it-is-drinking,   it-is-driilking.
en spoken, the line carries these accents and syllabic lenaths:

Moroking  pupu  neuitong, neuitonR.

bd this is reproduced on the goa 'by accent of beat and by tempo.

f   Some Shell-ornaments are humorous and evoke laughter, such as the

aint of the faithful wife who tells how her husband always dreams of
*ing her fornicating  with strangers, and believing his dream# to be

*j beats her every morning upon awaking. Others are solemn, such as
the sorrow of the man who has been driven out of his community on the

utrue accusation of sorcery. A number of them describe little events

ioh are always occurting: "The fro. is oaupht in the fish trap;"

Ten eel swims down the stream bed;" "Pigs have eaten my taro;" and so

n. Many of them are direct borrowings from neiphborinr peoples.     Siuai
*ke great pleasure in performing Shell-ornaments, one of the few activ-
ities in which they coordinate their efforts willingly and effectively
for hours at a time.

When the repertoire of Shell-ornaments runs out, after hours of

drumming, the lead man pauses for a few minutes and then introduces the
Climactic Pig-counting signal with a few repetitions of Man-killing,

the gong phrase that used to be sounded to announce the killing of an
enem~y. When Man-killing thunders through the night people for miles

around straineirears and tell one another: "1ow it is coming.        row
they will make the host's reknown."   Thereupon the whole gong chorus

beats out in unison the value, in shell money, of each pip destined to

he given away at the forthcoming feast. Fatives two and three miles away
will waken one another to listen to these meaningful soundsD and to many
hosts and prospective guests th4s ewniat-i  theahigh pointtof the ofabt#.

So explicitly does gong-beating signalize specific events that no

knowing person would beat one without cause.   If a sane man were to beat

a gong signal for no good reason he would risk losing his power of speech.

Small Siuai boys plav at gong-beating as avidly as american youngsters
imitate their- current cowboy heroes, but usually they have to be satis-

fied with beating on logs and house timbers.   Before a big feast, however,
the grown-ups sometimes indulge the small fry by depositing a small gong

at one of the hamlets and allowing them to beat it to their hearts' content.
-.Even little girls join in this play, much to the amusement of their elders,
...who accuse them of "wanting to own a penis."  There is no mystery assoc-

iated with gongs and gong-beating, and by the time boys begin to frequent

the club-houses they are well acquainted with the patterns and meanings of

73-

most of the signals;  nevertheless it is considered improper and dangerous
for them to play with club-house gongs without cause-except on the occa-
sion just described.

The serious intent of gong-beating is also shown by the injunctions

on use following a death* Mourning is an improper time for acquiring re-
nown, and a sorrowing man will usually declare a temporary taboo upon the
beating of his gongs* To restore them to use-in other words, to termin-
ate the period of mourning-it is necessary to provide a feast for neigh-
bors and kinsmen, and at this time the taboo is removed by beating on

The Big-one with a coconut, part of its liquid being afterwards drunk by

ThuIbhouse owner and part offered as a sacrifice to the demon guarding
the club-house. In former days to terminate the mourning for a great war-
leader it was necessary to secure a human victim and use his severed head
as a beater in order to restore the deceased's gongs to use.

Whether or not a man inherits any slit-gongs, he must obtain a few of
his own if he wishes to acquiTe renown. For one thing, people will speak
disparagingly of a man who possesses mostly inherited gongs; and in addi-
tion, obtaining new gongs provides the ambitious man with excellent oppor

tunities for building up his own renown-provided, of course, they are ob-y
tained in the proper manner.   Any able-bodied man can cut down a tree,

hollow it out enough to make a passable sound, and drag it to his place
with the aid of two or three helpers; some individuals actually do this,

especially Christian catechists who need gongs to placd in front of their
chapels to oall together their congregations for services. But this is

not the way of the ambitious mans For him a gong is both a means and an

enil, He acquires renown in obtaining it, and then it serves as a continu-
ing symbol of that renown* When such a man wants a new gong he commission
the leader of a neighboring community to fashion one for him, and then

rewards. him for his service with a pork feast. In this case the contraote

usually furnishes a suitable tree from his ow forest preserve and pays anx'
expert to fashion the gong; and the reward he receives from the contractor.
usually exceeds his costs-a circumstance which reflects even greater
credit upon the contractor.

The next step is to transport the new gong to the owner's club-house,
and this may cost the owner as little or as much as he cares to invest in
the enterprise. Usually he will commission the leader of another nearby

community to transport it, afterwards rewarding the latter and his support
ers with a feast. Depending upon his ambition, he may cause the transport:
ing to be carried out easily and quickly or he may attach practical and

magical impediments to the job*   Practically, he may build around the gong:
a carrying frame made of such large timbers that the whole burden will

weigh several times the weight of the gong itself.   Or, magically, he may

increase the difficulty of carrying the gong by `tying` the essence of its'
weight to various places along the trail to the club-house# This he acco
plishes by use of the same kind of magic which is normally used to prolong
life.  In the case of a gong its owner gathers some of the chips hollowed
out of the gong and ties them with bespelled  leaves into a small bundle,
thereby capturing the essence of the gong's weight. Then he hides the

74

und-le at the spot in the trail where he desires the gong to become too

v fo.r its carriers to bear  Re must guard against encunbering the
4beyond the patience o.ff the carriers; and, even more important, he

be prepared to reward them with a feast commensurate with their
bors--for woe to the reputation of the man who causes people from

r communities to waste their efforts in unrecompensed work. With all
.i  n mind the shrewd owner will recover the gong's weight essence

P its hiding place, and running ahead of the carriers, will hide it

her along the trail#

Meanwhile the carriers will know fairly well the intent and the

ility of the owner to reward their efforts, and they will play along
th his maneuvers accordingly. If, for example, they are dubious

.t the..prespettt .of: reoompense, one of the m.. icangib s arsz.a g themiwill
t astride the gong and cause his spirit-familiar to sever the link

een the gong and its tied heaviness.

Another technique for increasing the weight of a gong is for the
r to induce his club-house demon to sit astride it.  In this case,
weight can be decreased only through having one of the carriers
e his club-house demon to unseat the owner's; and this can come

out only if the second demon is larger and stronger than the first--
ice., if the master of the second demon has more renown than the master

of the first. This technique is not often employed because it represents
F too naked and direct comparison of affluence between host and guest,

may result in unnecessary ill-feeling.

Most gong-carrying events last only a few hours, but some take up
three and four days; and while it would seem that the owner, having
"'given number of pigs to distribute among the carriers, would derive

're credit by rewarding them with extreme liberality for what was an
toy task, it actually transpires that more credit is derived from

rewarding them merely adequately for a more difficult and-time-consuming
ob. As one articulate informant put it. "When a gong is heavy many men
ill struggle day after day to carry it to the club-house. And all the

lle they are struggling they will think about the owner and the heavi-
"ess of his gong.  Throughout Siuai people will ask:  'Where are all the
big men? We have not seen them about for days.' And others will answer:
'They are all carrying so-and-so's gong. It is very heavy and they seem
meyer to get it far along the road.' Thus will the owner's name and his

renow spread, so that people will be obliged to hear and think about him.'t

Gong carrying is one of the Siuais' most spectacular activities. One
0oocasion witnessed involved some two hundred men; and a twenty-five foot
ride trail had to be out through forest and grove to get the gong to the
3oiub.house. Many coconut palms had to be out to clear the trail--a most
painful expedient for these thrifty, property-minded natives* As the

motley crowd of swearing, shouting, perspiring natives stagger along the
trail carrying the gong, boys walk ahead of them blowing on conchess In
some cases the men deposit the gong directly into the club-house and then
take turns trying it out. Other owners make a separate occasion of the

75

first beating of a nerw gong, and in such cases the owners commission

other leaders to bring their supporters to help try out the new instrum-
ent--and, of course, these too must be rewarded with a pork banquet.

Still other owners, who either cannot or will not require the gong to
be manufacVured, carried, and beaten as three separate operations,

commission one neighboring leader to perform all three; or they may call
on their own supporters to do the whole job. Buxt in any event it is
essential that a feast be provided for the laborers, for  nless some

pigs are killed and their blood-essence offered to the club-house demon
the latter will cause the gong to crack open and become useless. (In-
formants stated that formerly all war-leaders used to consecrate their

new gongs by dismembering a man, stuffing his broken body into the hollow
and using his head to beat the first signal.

It sometimes becomes necessary to move slit-gongs from one club-house
to another: if, for example, an old club-house is abandoned for a new
one; or if a man inherits some of the gongs but not the club-house of a
deceased kinsmano These gongs should also be formally carried and

installed in the new club-house, and a feast must be provided for those

wh1o  ss i st.

Finally, after a gong has been installed in the club-house, and
after -the labore*,s have been rewarded with a pork banquet for their

efforts, the gong remains a symbol of the owner's renown. When natives
hear the familiar gong sound thundering through the night they recall

with pleasure the f:stival and the food which accompanied its installa-

tion, and they regard with respect the man who made these things possible.
Whatever the origin of the metaphor may have been, there is no difficulty
in understanding why the Siuai now identify metaphorically the making of
a man's renown with the beating of his slit-gongs.

76

ENDNOTES
) Evans-Pritchard, E. E.

1951 Social Athropolows Cohen and WTest, Ltd., London, page 80.
) Oliver, Douglas, L.

1949 "Studies in the Anthropology of Bougainville, Solomon

Islandst Parts 2 and 4*tt    Papers of the Peabody Museum

of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University,
i:   Vol.72 Cambridge.

The present tense is used throughout this article to refer to the
years 1938-1939, when the field work was carried out.

r~ ~ ~ ~  ~   ~~~~7