Sacred Practices

Sacred Practices (Umana Papait na Pidik)

Ismael K.  Isikel 9/6/2017

Sacred practices in the Tolai culture are found in the Tubuan and Iniat societies. Initiation is the socially prescribed prerequisite for membership in these  males -only sacred societies. Males who want to be initiated pay a fee in tabu to the owner of the tubuan.  

Sacred practices

Tubuan and Taraiu

A Taraiu is a special place set apart for the practice of Tubuan performances and other activities. Only initiated males are allowed to enter the Taraiu and take part in Tubuan activities. Females and uninitiated males are forbidden from entering the Taraiu or participate in Tubuan activities. The Taraiu is a sacred place and worthy of respect in Tolai culture. Females and uninitiated males do take part in feasts involving tubuan performances outside of the taraiu but keep to a respectable distance from the tubuan and men of the tubuan (tarai na tubuan).

Iniat and Marovot

A marovot is a sacred place for Iniat practices carried out by certain male members of the village. Wood and stone carvings of human figures, birds, and animals were carved at the marovot and used in Iniat rituals and other sacred practices.  As oral history goes, my grandmother (my father’s mother) told me on several occasions that one of the practices at the marovot was for the person to enter the marovot and perform certain rituals before taking a “deep sleep” so that his spirit depart the body and travel in the form of a bird or other animal form. The purpose of the “spirit travel” varied but one of them was payback killings.

Related terms and practices

Palnapidik. A  Palnapidik today is essentially ceremonial and is used in various traditional ceremonies in Tolai communities as part of decorating the ceremonial location. It is usually a small ornately decorated house. The current practice and purpose may not be the same as that of the past, especially before and during the arrival of Christianity and other foreign influences. Information now surfacing from archives, including old church records, (NGI Historical Society 4/5/2017) points to a traditional ceremony on its own involving the construction of a huge tall structure as the Palnapidik.

Tabalar.  Tabalar is the Kuanua word for carving. Other words that may be used to mean carving are Pokopoko and Tanua

Tulungen. Tulungen is the word for spirit.

Watabalar.  the practice of sleeping at the marovot in order for the spirit (tulungen) in the human body to depart and travel  in another form such as a bird, pig, shark (balilai) or other chosen animals. This animal form is chosen before the Iniat (the man) sleeps in order to accomplish the watabalar in order to carry out a task in non-human form.

Note: This post is written mostly from oral historical sources except for the reference to the Palnapidik ((NGI Historical Society 4/5/2017).