Mourning (Palai)

Mourning is a time of grief (niligur) over the passing of a relative, a loved one, a friend, or a colleague. The time of grief, pakana bung na niligur, may take a week or more before it ends with a ceremony. The period of mourning is known as palai and the ending ceremony is known as kutupalai.  Kutupalai is made up of two words kutu and palai. The prefix kutu means cut. Others call the ending ceremony as umawoko. The prefix  U (oo) means wipe and mawoko is the word for dew. Umawoko means wiping off dew. In other dialects of Kuanua tunkubin is used. Similarly, tunkubin is made up of two words: tun and kubin. The prefix tun means burn and kubin means mat and in English that is "burning off mats". There are other terms depending on the dilaect but these are just a few.

Ending of mourning ceremony is usually a ceremony of gratitude to relatives and friends who come and stay with the grieving family. It involves the distribution of food, nian, and shell money. tabu, to the mourners.

In some cases the kutupalai is the initial mortuary ceremony and a big one or two (warwakai ba balaguan) usually follows some months or years later.

Late Tevita of Rakotop Village

All of us have attended a kutupalai and i have lost count of the number of times. However, i remember one that I attended of a dear friend and fellow villager. He passed on at a very very old age in his nap one evening in 1996.

The kutupalai for late Tevita was conducted by the late Conrard ToBung after about two weeks of mourning. Food including rice, bananas, pork, tinned fish as well as tabu were distributed during the kutupalai.

Dance (Malagene)

Types of Dances (Aumana Mangana Malagene)

Ismael Isikel Edited 30/06/2017

Types of Tolai dances performed during traditional ceremonies and celebrations are briefly discussed and listed here. Some of these dances may be performed by both males and females (tarai ma warden) together while others are restricted to one gender. The actual performances of most Tolai dances are usually in a two-line formation with the two at the front as lead dancers (lualua) and the last pair is known as murwarbat.  So, you dance in pairs. The term for partner in a dance is wartalai.

Many Tolai can tell from far away when a dance is about to be concluded when they hear the slow beat or tempo of the olo oloai. Introduction of the dance is known as lalarai where short rapid beatings of tidir or kundu is done and accompanied by quick body movements.

Tubuan dances (tapialai) are performed by initiated male members only of the tubuan society. One has to be an initiate in order to take part in the “ancestral dance” of tapialai. Pairing (wartalai) also occurs in tubuan performances where two tubuan dance together. There are other types of dances but the list provided here are of the commonly performed types.

Types of dances and which gender performs.

Libung                Male and female

Perapere              Male only

Kulau                  Male only

Pinpidik              Male

Parpari                Female

Patete                  Female

Bilolo                   Male and Female

Tabaran              Male 

Tubuan               Initiated   Males only

Dance Terms

Kubak -  Preparation; preparation for the actual performance may take a couple od days to a week or two and include final practice and costume.  The action of preparation is called kunubak.

Lalarai -  Introduction; introduction of the dance is known as lalarai where short rapid beatings of tidir or kundu is done and accompanied by quick body movements. Lalarai is the noun form of the verb Lalare.

Langoron -  Charm; dance charm.

Lartamuna -  Rehearsal; dance rehearsal usually conducted a day before the actual performance.

Lualua -  The leading pair of dancers

Minong -  Dance costume 

Murwarbat -  The last pair of dancers at the end of the line. 

Olo oloai -  Concluding part of the dance in slow motion.

Pinipit -  Composition of the dance song including choreography.

Puak -  Begin; begin the dance song and involves solo and responsorial singing.
Tena buai - A dance choreographer and may also be the composer of the dance song.
Wartalai -   Partner; dance partner.
Wartumu -  Design; body design.
Wunuwung  - Choreography; dance movements.