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IV. Kamoro masks: general myth concerning the origin of the masks [32] Father G. Zegwaard (Catholic missionary society), the legendary missionary who lived in the Kamoro region between 1947 and 1953, recorded the following story told by Jeremias Iwekatiriuta, in Atuka. Aowea and her husband live in the west. One day Aowea, far advanced in pregnancy, is beaten by her husband, and flees her home. She travels eastwards, ultimately arriving in a village, which is abandoned since all the people have gone to fish in the mangrove forests and the sea. In the village Aowea encounters the heavily pregnant spirit woman, Mbiiminare, who has risen from the underworld in order to give birth to her son, Mbiiminarejao, in one of the empty houses. Aowea also gives birth to her own son, Aoweao. The spirit woman charges Aowea to raise both their sons, whereupon she sinks down into the underworld again. When the villagers return, they perceive Aowea and her two sons, erroneously, as spirits, and a panic ensues in which several people are killed. The two sons soon grow into strong young men, still experiencing resentment from the villagers. They therefore decide to remain free of all obligations by refusing to accept goods or food, from any of the villagers. Their great stature and resolution produces great anxiety, and the story repeatedly stresses how fear of the brothers causes panic in their fellow villagers. The brothers depart for the west, where they find that the land is better, and they decide to return to their own village in order to persuade the people there to migrate to the west, and drive out the local occupants. They make all the preparations needed for this war, including the gathering of food. The two brothers go fishing, but are unable to see any fish when they look into the water, only mbii-kao (masks), for the spirits are celebrating the Kaware feast. Mbiiminarejao dives down to the mbii-kao, but succeeds in grasping only their mirror-images. He sinks down to the underworld, where he meets his real mother, Mbiiminare. This relationship permits him to obtain a mbii-kao for himself, and one for his brother. These masks are used, among other purposes, in the war with the westerners to frighten people, but fate is against the brothers, and they die a violent death. Finally, the villagers do succeed in establishing themselves in the west. | |
