CHAPTER VI 



SOME CUSTOMS OF THE KAR NICOBARESE 



The Feast of Exhumation — A Scene in the Graveyard — ^^Kaiap-hang" — 

 " Kiala " — " Enwan-n^gi" — Fish Charms — Canoe Offerings — " Rainal" — 

 " Gniinota " — Converse with the Dead — " Ketvi - apa " — " Maya " — 

 " Yintovna Si'ya" — Exorcism — '"'' Tanangla" — Other Ceremonies — The 

 '^^ Sarto-kuv" — The '"'' MafaV — The '■'^ Taniiluana" — Mafai Ceremonies — 

 Burial — Mourning — Burial Scenes — The Origin of Village Gardens — 

 Destruction of Gardens — Eclipses — Canoe-buying — Dances — Quarrels — 

 " Amok " — Wizardry — Wizard Murders — Suicides — Land Sale and 

 Tenure — Dislike to Strangers — Cross-bow Accidents — Canoe Voyages — 

 Commercial Occupations — Tallies. 



Amongst the Kar Nicobarese there are far more customs and 

 ceremonies than I could ascertain during a short visit, but in the 

 following pages an attempt has been made to chronicle all those 

 that came to my knowledge. Many of them were elicited by 

 questioning Mr V. Solomon, the Government Agent on the 

 island, but still more are extracted from his diaries as printed in 

 the Supplements of the Andaman and Nieobar Gazette. For the 

 accuracy, therefore, of much of this chapter, Mr Solomon is 

 responsible. 



Of all the observances, customs, and ceremonies of Nicobarese 

 life, that oi Kana Awn, where the bones of the dead are exhumed, 

 is perhaps the most important. Literally it is called Ka-al-awn — 

 feast of pigs' flesh. 



It is a very laborious and costly festival, commemorated every 

 third or fourth year, with much ceremony commingled of jo)' and 

 sorrow. 



All the islanders cannot observe it at one limited period, nor 



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