By C. AKWAN
Personification of the Sacred Nature
The dragon - also called the snake - was a personification of the sacred nature. His power had been kept in balance by the culture created by human beings, both the living and the dead. The connection between the sacred nature and culture was the adat, the sacred customary law.
The extinction or existence of life depended on where the dragon was. When he still ruled the earth, he killed so many people that human life was doomed to extinction. But his defeat in the hands of human beings enabled life to exist.
Ancestors of the ancient times had conquered the mighty dragon by observing the sacred customary law. As a result, the monster was put in shackles in a big cave in the deepest part of the earth, waiting for his time to break loose.
If people made mistakes, if they transgressed the sacred customary law, if they offended the mighty dragon, he then broke loose from his shackles. His movement deep in the earth once caused floods that formed what was later called the Geelvink Bay in the northern part of the former Dutch New Guinea.
As long as there was life on earth, the dragon would not emerge. Sometimes, he did try to break off his shackles. Quakes and earth tremors happened. "Tatewai! Tatewai! Earthquake! Earthquake!" people shouted. To show the monster that they were still alive, they beat their dogs, or bit their ears to let them yelp loudly, or picked a lot of fruit from trees and gave it to him. If the dragon made a furious attempt to break loose from his shackles, heavy earthquakes occurred. The people on earth screamed and called to the firmament, "Syen! Syen! Lord! Lord!" Then, they sang a medley of lively songs and danced to their rhythms to show their presence to the furious monster.
The destructive power of the dragon was so formidable that it not only affected wider regions in Geelvink Bay, such as Yappen-Waropen, Numfor, Roon, and the Wondama Pensinsula. It also remained fixed in the memory of the people and was retold from one generation to another.
Because of these, different regions had different names for him and related stories about him. People living on the island of Roon called him Nasuwoi, Ina-Wuso, or Wakui-Wosei. The Wondama community called him Nawus and the people in Yappen-Waropen knew him as Roponggai. These regions had related stories of the dragon.
The Rituals on Roon
The people on Roon commemorated the destructiveness caused by the dragon through the mourning ritual. During this ritual, men danced in closed hide that represented a snake. The dancers would then shout: "I'm Wakui, I'm Wosei!" Only men took part in the ritual; women and girls stayed indoors. Only the widows of brave men stayed outside a bit longer. They showed the combs having tokens of respect for their dead husbands; each feather represented an enemy killed by a husband. Meanwhile, the widows stood in front of the house where the bones of their dead husbands were lying.
Before the mourning ritual was closed, the men imitated the dragon. They would reenact the snake that was going to revenge by killing people. This was a threat. Somebody was killed and this meant the men should retaliate by killing the enemy. That is why the widows wore the tokens of honor in their hair and shouted, "I'm Wakui, I'm Wosei."
In addition, the dragon was not only the monster that showed threats. He also symbolized the secrets of life and death. Since human beings had conquered the dragon, they were no longer helpless. They caused life to exist through reproduction or took the life of other people through revenge. The men also took part in the initiation of young men, enabling them to know the secrets of life and existence. That is the why the dragon or snake was also considered the initiation demon, which had been conquered by men.
The mourning ritual was not the only means for the men to imitate Wakui-Wosei. There were times when the men got drunk and shouted: "I'm Wakui, I'm Wosei." To them, the ecstasy gotten through palm-wine drink had the same value.
The mourning ritual also included singing. The participants would sing the kayob, the mourning songs that commemorated the dramatic events caused by the dragon and his conquerors.
Artistic Images
The victory of human beings over the dragon was also commemorated through artistic images. On the bow ornaments of the large canoes in the Geelvink Bay, people had carved stylistic dragon figures. They represented human victory over the mighty dragon in the depth of the earth. On drums, oars, wooden spatulas, wooden ladles, and other utensils, people carved dragons beside their carved ancestors. Human beings remained the conquerors of the dragon as long as they observed the sacred customary laws.
Copyright ©2008. All rights reserved. Published with written permission from the author.
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