J. Miedema The water demon and related mythic figures; The Birds Head peninsula of Irian Jaya / in comparative perspective

In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 156 (2000), no: 4, Leiden, 737-769

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1. Introduction

Terms like 'practice' and 'human actors' occupy a prominent place in current anthropology. This is the outcome of an established idea that a people's daily affairs and activities should be the starting-point for the description and analysis of their social life. Informants' natural expressions in language and behaviour will put the researcher on the track of a people's 'local worlds' and 'cultural meanings'. The present paper will take the activities of a supra- human actor, a water demon, as starting-point for a description and analysis of local Bird's Head oral traditions. Our course here will take us from the interior of the eastern part of the Bird's Head Peninsula, through the hinter-

1 This article, the third in a series on the Bird's Head Peninsula of Irian Jaya / Papua in Comparative Perspective as part of a long-term individual research programme aimed at com- paring a variety of data on Bird's Head cultures, is a revised version of a paper presented at the Fourth Conference of the European Society for Oceanists (ESfO) in Leiden on 25-27 June 1999. Research for the study was conducted in the framework of the NWO (Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research) priority programme 'Irian Jaya Studies; A Programme for Interdis- ciplinary Research' (ISIR), financed by WOTRO (Netherlands Foundation for the Advancement of Tropical Research). I am indebted to Anton Ploeg for his constructive comments on an earlier version of this article, and to Rosemary Robson for her corrections of the text of that version.

JELLE MIEDEMA studied anthropology, specializing in social and cultural anthropology and (ethno-)history, with a particular interest in mythology and , at the University of Groningen and took his PhD at the University of Nijmegen. He is currently Coordinator of Irian Jaya Studies at the Projects Division of the Department of Languages and Cultures of Southeast Asia and Oceania of the University of Leiden and has previously published 'Trade, migration, and exchange; The Bird's Head Peninsula of Irian Jaya in a comparative perspective', in: A.J. Strathern and G. Sturzenhofecker (eds), Migration and transformation; Regional perspectives on , pp. 121-54, Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1994, and .'Culture hero stories and tales of tricksters; The Bird's Head Peninsula of Irian Jaya in a comparative perspective (II)', in: Jelle Miedema, Cecilia Ode, and Rien A.C. Dam (eds), Perspectives on the Bird's Head of Irian Jaya, pp. 193-234, Amsterdam/Atlanta GA: Rodopi, 1998. Dr. Miedema may be contacted at Nonnen- steeg 1-3, 2311 VJ Leiden, The Netherlands. His e-mail addresses are: Miedema® Rullet.LeidenUniv.nl, and [email protected].

BK1156-4 (2000) Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 05:22:06AM via free access 738 Jelle Miedema land of the south coast, to the western end of the Peninsula. In addition, the paper will suggest that changes in the operating space of mythic figures cor- relate with long-term transformations in the human world. The New Guinea anthropologist J. Pouwer writes in a recent study: 'If one thing is apparent from the analysis and comparison of East Bird's Head cul- tures and a fortiori from their , then it is that there are sufficient paral- lels to justify a comparison and sufficient differences to make such an exer- cise worthwhile' (Pouwer 1998:163). According to Pouwer, ' is eternally true and valid; yet it changes, sooner or later, when local and historical contexts change. However, myth is not an epiphenomenon of social time and place: it stands on its own feet, it is an autonomous though not independent social force.' (Pouwer 1998:164, my italics, JM.) My interest in myth is concentrated on transformations in , as well as correlations between these transformations and changes in social life. Our knowledge of the socio-cultural and (ethno-)historical context of the episodes of myths discussed in this paper2, however, is fragmentary. Even so, it is the links between the various transformations in myths across the Bird's Head (and beyond) and long-term changes in social life that are described in this study - albeit tentatively. This interest was aroused by among other things the diametrically opposed attitudes to the Bird's Head water demon Wuob/Mos of the people on the one hand, and the Ayamaru people on the other. The Kebar people in the north-eastern part of the Peninsula fear the water demon, or did so in the late 1970s, saying 'Whether we are punished by Wuob or by the Lord, we are punished in any case' (Miedema 1984:206). The Ayamaru people3 in the central western Bird's Head, on the other hand, boasted in the late 1950s that they knew the secret of how to stop Mos (Elmberg 1968:224). This opposition in attitudes is extremely interesting, as eastern Ayfat/ Kebar and western Ayfat/Ayamaru myths about water demons show many striking similarities. In an earlier study (Miedema 1986), in which I refer to Elmberg 1968, I have already discussed some similarities and differences between myths from the north-eastern interior of the Peninsula and myths

2 The present article is based on an inventory of all the available Bird's Head myths, collect- ed from the 1950s to the 1990s (so far about 300 stories, including variant versions of some). As far as the representativeness of this material for Bird's Head mythology is concerned, it should be noted that tales gathered more recently in the inland areas constitute mainly new versions of already known stories and virtually no completely new stories (see also Haenen 1998, who focuses on the so far unknown south-eastern Wamesa area). 3 Specifically members of the Uon (or Won) society, a secret men's society that was still oper- ative in the western Bird's Head in the 1950s and in the central Bird's Head in the 1970s (Elmberg 1968; Miedema 1984) and which survives as a 'tradition of knowledge' (see Timmer 1998, 2000).

Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 05:22:06AM via free access The Water Demon and Related Mythic Figures 739 found as far away as the south-western interior. It was in fact the water demon which led me to establish similarities between myths from areas to the east and west of the Ayfat River. Along this north-east-(south-)west axis, the water demon in all the versions of the myths concerned punishes man- kind by sending a deluge, whereas in Kebar myths the water demon (deluge) is stopped by a snafe-woman who is delivered of a child (Miedema 1984:167), while in a western Ayamaru version the water falls after a possum-woman has recently given birth (Elmberg 1968:254; Miedema 1986:39). The above-mentioned attitudes are also interesting from a centre-periph- ery point of view. Following the same north-east-(south-)west axis as above, but now in the opposite direction, we note that the Ayamaru Lakes area is located at the centre of the Bird's Head ceremonial exchange system (see Section 3 below), whereas the Kebar Plains area is located in the periphery of this exchange complex. At this juncture it should be observed that this is an exploratory study. Moreover, it focuses on a specific region, the interior of the Bird's Head Peninsula, and a specific figure, the water demon. Besides elaborating previ- ous comparative Bird's Head studies, in particular recent studies on unfin- ished males, tricksters, and culture heroes (Miedema 1996, 1998; Pouwer 1998),.and attempting 'to integrate patterns in mythology with patterns of mobility and politics' (Strathern 1998:8), it aims to add another map to the 'multi-layered grid of information' (Strathern 1998:5), as yet still fragmentary, on the Bird's Head area and its population. The implication is that it is still too early to describe the underlying links between transformations in myths and in real life in more detail. Regarding research method, I favour that proposed by Strathern and Stewart, who write: The method that we have employed here has been a modification of Platenkamp's 'rules' for comparison, based on his main statement regarding 'explanations' (1996). We have not, however, adhered to his stipulation that there must be a con- struction of some model before comparison can proceed. Ideally, this would be done. In practice, however, it is also methodologically sound to use a thematic approach, which capitalizes on sets of similarities and differences in order to pur- sue them cross-culturally. (Strathern and Stewart 1998:43.)

In fact, this study is another contribution to what I have termed the 'cluster approach'. This approach implies: (a) making an inventory of important phe- nomena per region, group, and period; (b) tracing any correlations between these phenomena, again per region, group, and period; and (c) comparing these correlations within an inter-regional and temporal framework. This approach 'can lead to enquiries in a number of directions while not exclud- ing the possibility that there are correlations between clusters of features and

Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 05:22:06AM via free access usapor TAMRAU AMBERBAKEN Abun Mpur ^ (Karon Pantai) ...,__. N Darfat ARFU (Karon Dori?> KEBAR ^MpuTMeyah —' Mpur, -Meyah-^A- \i, Miun [Meyah]pAkarl \^ SALAWATI Etskebi [Meyah] Salawati Anason [Meyah] AYAMARU LAKES Oransbari Tehit Teminabuan Ma>' MERDE KO^DA N. Sougi) Moskdna (Manikion) Tin*10

Yahadian pUragi, S. Sougb BIRA Ne9eri' (Mantiun) Inanwatan Besar Bintuni

ARGUNI BAY^/jl/V BOMBERAI PENINSULA ( _J ^ Map of the Bird's Head Peninsula showing ethno-linguistic groups*

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KEY TO MAP

Names of regions are printed in capitals (e.g.: SEGET) Names of towns and villages are printed with only an initial capital (e.g.: Sorong) Names of languages and dialects are printed in italics (e.g.: Moi) Non-local names are printed in italics and placed in parentheses (e.g.: (Karon))

* In time, ethno-linguistic groups have come to be named after the relevant regions, places, languages, and/or dialects. longer term historical processes bound up with Centre-periphery relations' (Strathern 1998:5). Regarding the latter point, I earlier elaborated a centre-periphery model which focused on the prevailing exchange system.4 This system, based on imported textiles, or rather, cloths imported exclusively by way of the south coast (Miedema 1984:71-8), has its centre in the Ayamaru area (Miedema 1986:27), which in its turn is located in the peripheral region of the former East Indonesian sosolot system (see Section 3 below). This paper, however, describes other relevant centre-periphery relations between the Bird's Head and surrounding areas and /or centres from which goods, persons, relation- ships, and ideas have been imported. The paper is divided into four sections, each representing a further stage in the development of the argument. Section 2 gives a short general overview of (ethno-)historical and socio-cultural developments in the Bird's Head Peninsula and beyond. It begins by adding a new piece of information to the ethno-history of the Peninsula, then summarizes earlier findings, and finally shifts from contemporary (ethno-)history to oral traditions. Section 3 presents a survey of episodes from mythic texts dealing with the water demon and related mythic figures. The textual fragments presented are either preceded or followed by brief notes and comments. Preliminary com- parisons are made, focusing on the relationships between the water demon and in particular a dominant, hostile/'evil' female and her opponents, a cul- ture hero, and a benevolent grandmother/elder sister figure. Section 4 presents an extended comparison and analysis of the main sim- ilarities and differences between the (fragments of the) texts concerned. This section distinguishes a north-north-eastern-eastern from a south-south- western mythic complex and indicates how transformations from one to the other correlate with long-term (ethno-)historical and socio-cultural changes dealt with in earlier studies.

4 These previous studies deal with the conditions under which the kain timur exchange sys- tem developed, the directions in which it expanded, and the extent to which it was accepted in particular cultural settings (Miedema 1994; see also Section 3 below).

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2. Short outlines of (ethno-)historical and socio-cultural contexts and developments

Colonial history, ethno-history North coast and hinterland For centuries the whole of the north coast of Irian Jaya was the scene of trade and raids, conducted externally by representatives of the Sultan of Tidore and internally by peoples from the area (Miedema 1984:1- 39, 254-6). In preTColonial and colonial times the north-western part of the Peninsula was dominated for a long time by the 'king' (Indonesian raja) of Salawati. Mon cult elements from the island of Salawati are reported to have been incorporated into the rites of (former) western Bird's Head secret men's societies (called kambik and (je)wun). Mon is from Salawati, [Salawati] was influential among the Moi (their kambik). Seget-Moi had mon houses. [...] Wun, jewun, mon are probably one and the same. [...] These secret men's societies are concerned with two things: first, the practices of medicine men [shamans, mon]; second, the acquisition of harta [(imported) trade goods used as brideprice]. The first is stressed among the Moi, Moraid, Madik, and Karon [north-western Bird's Head], whilst the second is a focus of attention in the Ayamaru, Berauer, and Teminabuan area [central/south-western Bird's Head], [... and] still exists in that area. [...] A flying proa plays a key role in all [western Bird's Head] men's societies. From this, one may conclude that these societies are not of local origin. [...] One could postulate that the old centre was located on the island of Salawati. (Kamma n.d.:l, my italics, JM.)5

North-east coast and hinterland The north-eastern part of the Peninsula was subjugated around 1710 by Doreh Bay people of -Numfofese origin (Miedema 1984:3; Pans 1999:177). It subsequently came under the sway of the mission and civil serv- ice, from 1855 and 1898 respectively. This part of the Peninsula became the scene of messianic and cargo-cult movements (Kamma 1972; see also Held 1957:320). The north-eastern coastal area was an initial contact area in which settled and became active, concentrating mainly oh the northern and eastern'coastal areas and ignoring the southern coastal region, which was left largely untouched by the said movements (but see Van Rhijn 1995a:29; Van Lochem 1963:201). The isolated hinterlands of the northern and eastern coasts have under- gone strong influences, directly and indirectly, from both the east and the

5 'The medicine men come back [from the forest, where they are supposed to have killed an evil giant as part of the initiation ] with blood marks on their body. This blood is obtained through tongue-bleeding, although they say that it originates from the giant. In addition, "evil" is associated with women, suangi (the giant is called Ksas Bokeda, where ksas = suangi, too).' (Van Rhijn n.d.:l.) All translations of quotations from non-English publications in this article are mine.

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west, through raids, epidemics, , colonial rule, the Pacific War, subsequent colonial and post-colonial political developments, and recent state-building processes (see Miedema 1984; Huizinga 1998). One conse- quence of coastal epidemics, as well as of raids from both the coast and the interior to the south, was that people in the mountainous Amberbaken area mistrusted each other from mountain slope to mountain slope, their suspi- cion being reinforced by an isolated residential pattern.

South coast hinterland Having undergone a different (ethno-)historical development, the interior of the southern half of the Peninsula presents a different picture. Located in the periphery of a long-distance sosolot trade and raiding network6, the hinter- lands of the south-western and southern coastal areas evolved as a centre of an elaborate ceremonial exchange system, the so-called kain tithur complex7 (Miedema 1986). In the course of time this exchange system came under the control of great/big men (Miedema 1994, with reference to Godelier 1986), earlier described as 'warrior-capitalists' (Barnett 1959), 'textile grabbers' (Pouwer 1957), 'bankers' in kain timur (Elmberg 1968), or '(pre-)"capitalists'" (Kamma 1970; Miedema 1994). Population groups in the hinterland of the west and south coasts - a low- land area intersected by big rivers - became intensively8 involved in inter- insular trade and exchange networks. The slave trade, prohibited in the nine- teenth century, eventually petered out in the interior of the Peninsula in the first half of the twentieth century. Reading the writing on the wall, former south-coast middlemen moved to the interior to make a new living (Elmberg 1968). In the south-western interior these coastal big men (bobot pantai) created a position of power for themselves by introducing new goods, relationships, and ideas into local exchange circuits. They exchanged (imported) axes and textiles, observed a restricted form of reciprocity, and'introduced new initia- tion cults (Elmberg 1968). Competition between coastal and inland big men "gave rise to a society marked by a combination of warfare and exchange in

6 Discussed in Leupe 1875; Robide van der Aa 1879; Haga 1884; Hille 1905/1907; Seyne Kok 1992; Van Rhijn 1997c; Bergh 1964a, b; Elmberg 1968; Miedema 1984, 1994; Goodman 1998; Haenen 1998. 7 Kain = 'cloth', timur = 'east'. The term kain timur refers to old ikat cloths which for centuries were imported into the Bird's Head (by way of the south coast, see Miedema 1984:254-6) in exchange for slaves, birds of paradise, and so on. These cloths were highly valued as brideprice, particularly in the interior of the Bird's Head. 8 That is, on a much larger scale than was possible for groups along the rather inaccessible north coast.

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which tales about a real trickster9 - hardly found as such in the northern and eastern Bird's Head (Miedema 1998:215-6) - won popularity.

Southern lowlands Regarding the southern lowlands I shall confine myself to two general remarks. For centuries the western, south-western, and southern coastal areas, from west to east, came under the influence of Salawati and, as sosolot areas, of the raja-raja of Rumbati, Patipi, Sekar, and Arguni respectively (see map). This implies that socio-economic, linguistic and mythological elements, such as commodities, vocabulary and mythemes, entering the area from across the MacCluer Gulf and from Salawati have played an important role in the frames of reference of population groups along the south(-west) coast and in the interior areas (Timmer 1998, 2000). Important though it was, this influence was not absolute, as several south- coast groups refer to Mount Nabi (Indonesian Gunung Nabi; see Mahler 1997a:42), actually located in the south-eastern hinterland of Babo, which in turn is located on the south-eastern coast of the MacCluer Gulf (see map), as their mythic centre. This is a very important point. Many origin stories in the lowlands and on the south coast of the Bird's Head are mixed forms and/or inversions of stories found in both the interior of the Bird's Head and in areas to the south of MacCluer Gulf, while all these stories in turn have either equivalents or inversions in the Cenderawasih Bay area. From north to south and from west to east we come across gradually changing clusters of mythemes, of which equivalents, inversions, or particu- lar elements are found to the west and east of Mount Nabi. As Mount Inggorosai, the mountain of the ancestors, this place is also a mythic centre of southern Cenderawasih Bay societies (Held 1957:284), and probably also of Arguni Bay societies (Van Lochem 1963:198; see map)..

Ethno-history, contemporary history Past and present Earlier (1984), I reported that people in the north-eastern interior have a rather pessimistic world view, as is illustrated by the above-quoted saying 'Whether we are punished by Wuob or by the Lord, we are punished in any case'. This shows that the water demon plays a potentially threatening role in

9 Real trickster stories are narratives marked by cheating relationships between two male mythic figures, as a rule a man dominating his younger brother. Real culture hero stories are tales initially marked by alternating cross-sex cheating between pre- or superhuman beings, cul- minating in a final struggle or test of strength between a superhuman (predominantly male) being and extraordinary evil (female) powers or non-cooperative (pre-)human beings, ending in the non-ordinary disappearance of the superhuman figure, who then appears to have taken with him extraordinary knowledge and power.

Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 05:22:06AM via free access The Water Demon and Related Mythic Figures 745 daily life. Besides drawing attention to his role in oral traditions (see below), I shall give two examples here of daily life situations in which the water demon plays an active role. In 1979 the local government of West Kebar decided to build a permanent bridge across the Ayfat River. The bridge was planned at precisely the spot where the mythic culture hero Fentori came ashore, and a local church leader was asked to say a when the work was due to start. After the cere- mony I asked the teacher why he had joined in the prayer, as the bridge would not last long at that spot, with one sandy shore, anyway. 'Of course, I know', he replied, 'but now that place is no longer batiu (taboo). If things go wrong [when the river grows angry] then it will not be our fault.' Secondly, when the sky grew dark, followed by thunder and lightning, people used to say, younger people sometimes with a knowing wink: 'Wuob warmor' (Wuob is angry). Also when plagued by heavy rain, older people told me they used to put gifts, such as some tobacco or a Vain, near pools and say a prayer in former times ('of course, now we are Christians'). 'Former times' are still very much alive outside the village, however. When during a fishing party some old men threw money into the water, they explained that this was necessary to please the lord of the water (Indonesian tuhan air) or Wuob.10 Characteristically, similar ideas and practices are found in the Ayamaru area (in the 1950s; see Elmberg 1968). When in the appropriate season hard- ly any fish are caught for some time, this is considered to be a sign that Mos is angry and has called the fish away from the weirs and traps. The old peo- ple are said to believe that the fish can withdraw from the lake through underground channels, finding their way out to the MacCluer Gulf. When this occurs, old men reportedly declare fishing forbidden for a period of four days. During this time a special ritual, which is secret and cannot be revealed to women, has to be performed. I was told that- during this ritual Mos is asked to send back the tagu fish (local Malay/Indonesian ikan sembilan) (Miedema 1986:19, with reference to Elmberg 1968, and Schuster and Rustani Djajadiredja 1952).

Present and future The picture outlined above does not imply that people in the interior of the Bird's Head live in the past. They are very concerned about their future, but some groups are more concerned about or better equipped for coping with the new adat (beliefs and customs) than others. In the 1970s, when I was asked by the people themselves to coordinate the construction of airstrips in the (eastern) Kebar and the Ayamaru area, I

10 More examples of the beliefs and customs of Kebar Valley people in other areas of life as well may be found in Miedema 1984 (including 24 case studies).

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noticed a striking contrast between them. The Kebar people were unable to organize basic supplies, for instance by laying out gardens for extra food, cooperating with neighbouring villages, and so on, while the Ayamaru/May- brat people took their own initiative in organizing extra food', collecting money among Maybrat living in coastal towns, and working out a successful plan for cooperation between villages. I have chosen this example because it seems to be characteristic of a more general difference between people from the periphery and from the centre of the kain timur complex: people in the periphery - though a first-contact area in the relatively recent pacification process11 — are or have become fairly passive, whereas people in the centre of this complex try to make the best of the new adat.12 . I would like to illustrate this using a more recent example from road con- struction. In 1995, the government planned to extend a newly built road along the north-eastern coast, from to eastern Amberbaken, into the Kebar Valley, while in the western part of the Peninsula it had just extend- ed another newly built road to the Ayamaru area. Characteristically, the Kebar spoke of development in terms of plans to be realized by the govern- ment, whilst the Maybrat had already bought a pick-up truck to make sure they derived maximum benefit from the new situation. One Ayamaru informant reported that they had also bought land along the road (and re- gistered ownership in the town of Sorong), saying: 'We had to do this, other- wise the orang Bugis and Makassar will buy the best locations'.

3. The water demon and related figures; Episodes, regions, mythic contexts

For an appreciation of the similarities and differences between the myths dis- cussed below, three important keys are provided by Kebar mythology. The first is the maltreatment of animals like rats, pigs, or a particular species of short snake (Indonesian ular pendek) arousing the anger of a hostile suprahu- man female (Kebar: Wawusin/Wabiton), as these (anomalous) animals sup- posedly are her children. In revenge for the teasing of these animal-children, Wawusin/Wabiton may send her male servant or son, a water demon13, to

11 'Pacification' here refers to a process whereby a group which has so far led a relatively autonomous existence is gradually, but permanently, incorporated into the wider configurations of state and church. 12 In the interior, 'new adat' is a term used for arrangements introduced by the church and state. It refers to the process of pacification described in local Malay/Indonesian by the phrase masuk adat baru (enter the new adat). 13 In the Kebar-Arfu area (Mpur language group) the water demon is called Wuob/Tumbi, in the central eastern Bird's Head (Meyah), Merin, in the northern Ayfat (Maybrat) and southern Karon (Darfat) area, Amos, and in the Ayamaru / western Ayfat area (Maybrat), Mos.

Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 05:22:06AM via free access The Water Demon and Related Mythic Figures 747 punish mankind with a flood, preceded by thunder and lightning. The sec- ond is the fact that the water demon Wuob/Mos can be stopped because of his fear of blood. The third is the idea that incest results in the birth of a witch - with all the attendant dangers ('witches eat the of children, who after- wards die'). An alliance between female witches and the hostile/evil supra- human female is suggested by the statement that after the execution of a witch, rats and snakes will leave her body through its orifices.14 It will be shown at the end of this section that these themes shed new light on the thus far isolated Amulagilala story noted down in the 1930s by EC. Kamma. New myth material that has become available since the 1980s (Miedema 1995,1996,1997a, b, c; Van Oosterhout 1996; and the unpublished field notes of the linguists Dol and Berry and Berry) enables us to (re-exam- ine, alongside recent data on unfinished males (Pouwer 1998), tricksters, and culture heroes (Miedema 1996, 1998), beliefs about water demons and so on from across the Peninsula.

Figure 1. Locations discussed in this section (indicated by capital letters; see also map)

14 Additional information on and associated ideas among the Kebar and southern Akari can be found in Miedema 1984,1988,1989,1993, and 1996. Similar ideas are found in; for instance, the Bedamini origin myth: 'In another variant of the Dunumuni myths, the men cut open her [a woman from the lower world] stomach and the animals [pigs, cassowaries, birds, fish, snakes, lizards and all animals] emerge from it' (Knauft 1998:153, with reference to S0rum 1990).

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A. The north-eastern Peninsula: Karon Dori (Darfat), Kebar (Mpur), Meyah (Mejach) (Kebar Valley) As was just said above, in various texts from the oral tradition in the (interi- or of the) north-eastern Bird's Head Peninsula, the maltreatment of animals like rats or a species of small snake arouses the anger of the animal's mother, almost invariably an 'evil' (hostile) female, who may send her subordinate male counterpart or son, a water demon, to punish mankind with a flood. For instance, an origin myth of certain kinship groups in the central and south- ern Kebar area relates the following. During a feast some innocent people, in fact, children (Indonesian anak budak, 'children of slaves' [people who could not have known]), have violated a taboo: ' they have killed a rat and eaten it the wrong way (with red pepper). Wabiton grows angry and transforms herself and her son Tumbi into snakes, who then pre- cipitate a deluge, as a result of which all the people are drowned.' Subsequently mother and son once again assume the guise of human beings and marry each other. They have a daughter, who then marries her brother-father. Their children are the ancestors of the present people. (Miedema 1984:166-7.)

One characteristic of the north-eastern Bird's Head water demon (hence Wuob) is that he lives in pools (Indonesian kolam-kolam), from which he is able to create a flood, heralded by thunder and lightning.15 Initially Wuob is immobile; he only moves when his dominant female counterpart / mother, Wawusin, is made angry. In one story Wawusin even threatens the mythic (Kebar) culture hero Fentori, who thereupon vanishes into the sky, taking his extraordinary knowledge and power with him.16 In the Fentori story the cul- ture hero is helped by a 'grandmother', the benevolent snake-woman Kukwapon/Ikuanon, while in a related version the same Kukwapon/Iku- anon helps children escape from the clutches of the water demon Wuob/ Tumbi by giving birth (Miedema 1984:159-68). New texts from the oral tradition of the eastern Bird's Head that became available in 1997 reveal at least two important points. First, a hostile suprahuman female and a subordinate male (water) demon, as well as ani- mals related to them, also figure in stories from the as yet relatively unknown

15 In the Amberbaken area, the water demon - in his guise as a snake - is named Bajar (Oelar ini dilihat oleh orang disini mereka tidak boenoeh, sebab katanja kalau boenoeh nanti djadi oedjan goen- toer jang hebat artinja dengan bahasa fakniki kata Amberbaken badjar', Rumbrawer 1997:199). 16 The culture hero Fentori and the trickster-transformer-culture hero Jubewi (Miedema 1996, 1997a, 1998) have a counterpart in the Cenderawasih Bay (Waropen) area: 'When the older brother at last ran angrily away from the younger, on Mount Inggorosai (Ancestor's Mountain) on the upper course of the Woisimi on Wandamen Bay [above-mentioned Mount Nabi, JM], he also took the inspiration and the capacity for higher civilization away with him' (Held 1957:284; see also Kamma 1978:181, note 108).

Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 05:22:06AM via free access The Water Demon and Related Mythic Figures 749 outer eastern Bird's Head area, such as the Honori story from the Hatam/ Sougb hinterland of Oransbari, on the east coast of the Peninsula. Second, beliefs about the water demon can also be traced in stories from the - as yet also relatively unknown - south-eastern part of the Bird's Head, such as the Asmarom story from the centre of the eastern Bird's Head and the so-called Ibori/Iba stories from the hinterland of Bintuni, on the south coast of the east- ern part of the Peninsula (Miedema 1996,1997b, c).

B. The outer eastern Peninsula: Hatam (Sougb), Manikion (hinterland ofOransbari) The above-mentioned Honori story runs as follows (passages between inverted commas are quotations from Miedema 1996). An old woman, Temtu, lives on Mount Numtui with three children: a son, Bamo, 'who cannot walk', and two daughters. The old woman keeps a great many dogs to catch people and pigs. She eats the people herself. There is also one man, Honori, an inveterate hunter, who one day happens to take a rest in a house of which all the occupants are dead and then meets Temtu's daughters. They take him with them and hide him inside their own house. When the old woman comes home, the girls start to weep. They tell Temtu that they have a man, a human being, and ask her if he can be allowed to live. Honori hears this and flees. The old woman lets loose her dogs to pursue the man, but Honori kills all the dogs. Two arenas are prepared for a duel between Temtu and Honori, who kills Temtu, after first making her fighting pitch slippery. Honori then moves to the coast (Oransbari) with his two wives. 'Bamo stayed at home. He could not walk. The house was enshrouded in rain and clouds and Bamo begged his dead mother that he might walk. This happened.' Bamo goes to Steenkool (Bintuni) to gather his people and, sailing in many proas, they go to Oransbari to kill Honori. A white cockatoo sees the enemy and wakes Honori and his wives. The enemy is repulsed several times. Bamo asks his mother for help. Temtu is then reincarnated as a snake, which kills the cockatoo, whereupon Bamo is able to kill Honori at night after pulling him into a boat. The two women are taken away.17 (For a full version see Miedema 1996.)

In the northern interior of the eastern part of the Peninsula the evil snake- woman, Wabiton, as we have seen, has a male counterpart, Wuob, who is usually unable to move. The interesting point is that obviously similar ideas are operative in the Honori story. Like Wabiton, Temtu has a subordinate male counterpart, a son, who initially is unable to walk. After the evil snake- woman Temtu is killed, her son,'consumed with rage (his house is enshroud-

17 In former times the east coast of the Peninsula was exposed to raids from the direction of the adjacent Cenderawasih Bay area (Kamma 1977:458-60; Pans 1999:155-6). Held reports with reference to the latter area: 'In some cases the meaning is also incomprehensible to the Waropen because the song was in a foreign language, e.g. the language of Ansus on , in the language of Windessi, or even in the language of one of the tribes of the interior of the Vogelkop [Bird's Head]' (Held 1957:269, my italics, JM).

Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 05:22:06AM via free access 750 ' Jelle Miedema ed in rain and clouds), is given permission by this hostile female/mother (who is later reborn as a snake) to move. In short, Temtu and her son Bamo from the outer eastern Bird's Head (Hatam / northern Sougb area) are more or less equivalent to Wabiton and Wuob from the north-eastern Bird's Head. The similarity postulated here between Wawusin (Wabiton) and Wuob on the one hand and Temtu and Bamo on the other has been pointed out before (Miedema 1996). However, in the context of the present study it is underlined by yet another correspondence: Temtu and Bamo are also equivalent to Tumena and Mos/Amos from the Ayamaru-Ayfat area in the central western part of the Peninsula (further discussed in Sections 3.1 and 4 below).

C. The central eastern Peninsula: Moskona, Sougb (Manikion/Mantiun) (Karst area) In the outer eastern Bird's Head the subordinate male does not play a clear role as water demon. However, when we move a little further west into the interior he comes into the picture again as such. The passage concerned runs as follows. One day Asmorum cuts down a tree, which falls into a 'small lake1 (in which Asmorum and his people start to catch fish). However, the tree was inhabited by a 'sago worm' and the small Jake becomes 'disturbed'. A frightful storm rises and whirlwinds destroy everything. Only a small birth hut is spared, and with it one of Asmorum's daughters and her youngest brother; they marry each other and their children become the ancestors of the inhabitants of several central south coast villages. (Bergh 1997:48.) . .

In the Asmorum story the pool features again. By accident a sago worm is maltreated (is caused to fall into the small lake), and this evidently incurs the wrath of a local water demon, as a storm destroys everything - except a birth hut. The birth hut episode is new in a known set of beliefs regarding the water demon ('he is afraid of [vital] blood/red'). It shows that these beliefs indeed occur across the entire area.18 An inversion of the Bird's Head birth hut motif is reported from the south- ern coastal lowlands, in particular the Arandai area, whose (Muslim) inhab- itants claim that they originate from the Mount Nabi area across the Mac- Cluer Gulf (present author's field notes 1995). In their origin story the flood is (not stopped but) caused by a woman giving birth.19

18 In another version, reported from the islands of Roon (east coast of the Peninsula) and Biak (Cenderawasih Bay), a surviving woman gives birth to a son / culture hero who ultimately kills the evil snake (Karhma 1977:426,1978:133,149-50, 157; in the Cenderawasih Bay area the flood is usually represented by a huge snake, and in the MacCluer Gulf area by a giant). 19 'At the moment that her waters broke, a huge tidal bore arose which struck deep fear into the hearts of people. Then Pece-Pecedyeo sang a brief song. [...] When she had sung this, the tidal

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D. The south-eastern Peninsula: Sough (Mantiun), Moskona (hinterland o/Bintuni) Moving to the south-eastern part of the Peninsula, the water demon or pool fades away, at least in the stories so far available. Nevertheless, related beliefs are definitely an integral part of the south-eastern Ibori stories, though in an even more cryptic way than in the case of Honori. The relevant passage runs as follows. The culture hero Ibori (indirect equivalent of the above-mentioned Fentori and Honori) has been cheated by his two wives. He feels hurt and decides to punish the wives. He carefully prepares to leave and builds a proa. When the boat is ready, he tells his wives that he is taking it for a trial run first. 'Then he asked for rain (Indonesian minta hujan) by cutting a snake in two on the boat, so that both parts dropped into the water [...]. The rain falls in torrents and the waters of the Tuhuiba River rise alarmingly high.'20 Then Ibori takes his wives and children and rows away. He sails on and on, all the way to the south coast. Here he (a) changes his wives into a bird and a tree respectively; (b) kills his children; and (c) creates new people from a cassowary. (Fuller, English-language version in Miedema 1996, and Dutch-language version in Miedema 1997b, c; for a recent, more westerly variant see Van Oosterhout 1996:8.)

We noted above how in northern Bird's Head myths the maltreatment of cer- tain (anomalous) animals like rats or a particular species of snake gives rise to a flood. Precisely the same chain of events is found in the Ibori/Iba stories: when a snake is cut in two (on a proa, built in the interior) and both parts drop into the water, the rain comes down in torrents (allowing Ibori to leave by proa).

E. The south-south-western Peninsula: Inanwatan, Puragi, and so on (hinterland of Inanwatan) A kind of equivalent of the East Bird's Head culture heroes Fentori, Honori, and Ibori/Iba is Bodori from the hinterland of Inanwatan (south-south-west- ern part of the Peninsula). Though Bodori belongs to a 'lowland' cluster of myths21, he is certainly related to Fentori, Honori, and Ibori. In a nutshell the story runs as follows. bore receded and the river returned to normal' (Mahler 1997a:42). Elsewhere in New Guinea aqueous overflow is associated with menstrual flow (Wagner 1978:108-9). Another southern 'lowland' inversion, reported from Negeri Besar (hinterland Inanwatan), is virtually equivalent to the motif in stories from across the MacCluer Gulf (where a hostile male is killed by a Fentori/Honori-like hero named Feneriromi; see Van Rhijn 1997a:33; Mahler 1997b:221). 20 In another version Iba kills a kind of lizard (Indonesian kaki-empat), which he wraps in a piece of black tree bark and takes to a river, whereupon the sky grows dark in the upper reach- es of the Wasian River (Mahler 1997d:135-6). 21 Corresponding to recent findings that the Bird's Head languages form a Sprachbund, that is, a mixture of (in this case Austronesian and non-Austronesian) languages (Reesink 1998), the

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Bodori lives near the spring in the village of Puragi. He a large tree, a river, and a large hole in the ground. One time when he is out hunting, he sees a 'sacred snake'. Mastering his panic, he attacks it. A very dangerous battle ensues, which ends in victory for Bodori. He goes to his resting place. Suddenly, in the middle of the night, he is visited by an apparition in the form of an old creature; it is the sacred snake.22 Bodori'is told to prepare for heavy rain, which will fall as though it will never stop. He makes a raft to escape with his people from the dan- ger of the flood. Suddenly the rain begins to fall. It pours without a break for four- teen days. His family - his wife, three children, and'a grandfather - is also on the raft. The water shows no sign of receding, and they go hungry. Bodori considers letting one of his children disappear into the water, believing that once the child has been sacrificed, the water will automatically recede. But then the grandfather declares himself prepared to be cast into the waters. This is done23, and at that very moment the waters begin to recede and quickly return to the holes through which they have come. Bodori goes in search of new land. The direction of his journey is southward, to the coast. He often has to fight other tribes. He and his people possess 'hidden powers of nature', however, so that everything happens just as they say. In that country there is no river, and one woman takes the initia- tive in creating a river. She is a married woman whose body is not quite normal. She is blind in both eyes and carries a stick in her right hand. She utters the words asma, asma (indicating the sound of the winds). Suddenly water begins to flow, fol- lowing them wherever they go. Finally they reach the south coast. (Van Rhijn 1997b; for fuller, Dutch- and English-language versions see Miedema 1997b:17-26, 68-77.)

The Bodori story shows some interesting similarities with, as well as differ- ences from, the Fentori, Honori and Ibori/Iba stories, (i) Like Fentori and Honori, Bodori has to fight the hostile female, (ii) Unlike Fentori and Honori, however, he wins, (iii) With Ibori, Bodbri shares a knowledge of how to cope with the deluge, (iv) Like Fentori, Bodori is helped by an older, related myth- ic figure (further discussed in Section 4 below).

F. The south-western Peninsula: Tehit, Ogit, and so on (Teminabuan) The following passage is from a story about the creation of the Kohoin River near Teminabuan, on the south-western coast of the Peninsula. This story provides another example of the association of a pool or spring with the dan- ger of a flood.

Bodori story comprises a mixture of inland and coastal elements, the latter stories including other flood/snake tales, of which the mythic centre is located in the isthmus of the Peninsula. 22 Judging from contextual information, this second (helpful) snake may be the equivalent of the benevolent' snake-woman Kukwapon/Ikuanon from the opposite end of the central Ayfat River area. 23 ' for life' is one Bird's Head which is also reported from the Cendera- wasih Bay area (Kamma 1977:613) and many other parts of New Guinea (Goldman and Ballard 1998).

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Wasfele, who has become thirsty, asks Besi: 'Where can I find water?' Besi tells him to go to the tree over where there is a small spring. Wasfele goes and takes a coco- nut shell, which becomes wedged in the spring, however. It breaks and Wasfele tries to dig it out. He hears a gurgling noise from inside the spring. Wasfele drinks and takes a bath. Then he hears a noise like thunder and the sound of heavy rain and a storm coming down from the hills near Kihiro. Besi asks: 'What did you do?' Wasfele says what he has done, and Besi says: 'It is you who have caused the storm'. Just as he is saying this, the River Kaibus, which was formed from the storm water, bursts its banks. There is a water demon (Indonesian tuan air) who has moved from the rate (Indonesian, 'flat ') to a higher place, which is a cave resembling a bowl. After that the river is no longer taboo. (Kamma 1995:10-1; for fuller, Dutch- and English-language versions see Miedema 1995:7-12, 45-8.)

G. The central western Peninsula: Maysawiat, Maybrat (western Ayamaru) The next story, recorded in the village of Ayamaru (formerly Mefchatiam), gives an account of how Lake Ayamaru came into being. A man Chrumbles at Sekior worked up a thirst when laying out a garden. He cut lianas, but failed to get any water from them. Then he went to the lower region, near Kambuaya. His dog saw a black rat (Maybrat safe), which disappeared be- neath the roots of an anggur tree. Trying to dig out the rat, the dog came across a stone. Then Chrumbles took a branch of a tree with white leaves and removed the stone. Underneath it was what appeared to be a well. Water started to squirt out of it. It was the dwelling-place of the water demon Mos. Mos was angry with Chrumbles and his dog because they had tried to catch the black rat, and when Mos is angry, he punishes mankind with a deluge. The water which poured out of the well inundated the whole area and forced Chrumbles and his dog to take re- fuge high upon a hill. After four days the water fell again and that is how Lake Aya- maru came into being. (Miedema 1986:3; see also Elmberg 1968:253-4 and 256-7.)

It is interesting to note how in this western Ayamaru version the rat is described as being black. Earlier we saw that in the Kebar area the rat is regarded as one of the children of the 'evil' female counterpart of Wuob (alias Mos), named Wabiton. An additional pertinent fact is that in the north-east- ern part of the Peninsula, the Kebar Valley area, both Wuob and Wabiton belong to the category 'black, dirty, full of sin' (Mpur wandiek) or 'uncon- trolled' (Indonesian tidak teratur), as opposed to the category 'white, clean, without sin' (Mpur mafuri) or 'controlled' (Indonesian teratur). In Kebar cos- mology both categories form part of a coherent system of complementary oppositions. Seen against this background/it is hardly coincidental that in the Ayamaru version a black rat (representing Mos and his people) is dug out with a branch of a tree with white leaves (earlier discussed in Miedema 1986), while in Kebar myths the water demon is confronted by yellow leaves, 'yel- low' in Kebar/Mpur being synonymous with 'white' (Miedema 1984:191, 211).

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H. The central western Peninsula: Maybrat (southern Ayamaru) As we saw above, in several East Bird's Head tales animals are teased or killed with kinds of food or vegetables which are all red (red pepper, Indo- nesian rica; a red sugar cane stalk; the red pandanus fruit, Indonesian buah merah). In the southern Ayamaru area of the western Bird's Head we have something similar. One story runs as follows. Between the village of Susemuk and the Kais River, two small children had caught a lizard. They were teasing the animal, when suddenly Mos arrived. He ordered the children: 'tell your parents to keep some taro aside for me when they come back'. Mos wanted to gather all the people. He hid in a nearby swamp. Soon after- wards 'it got dark and Mos came back. He was very angry and wanted to see the parents, because their children had caught a lizard and teased it with "buah merah" [...] He had also brought with him a calabash. In his rage he broke the cal- abash and water streamed out of it [...]. The calabash did not empty and the whole area was inundated. [...] All the people were drowned [...] That is how the Ibiach River originated.' (For a fuller version see Miedema 1986:6-7.)

I. Central and north-eastern Ayamaru Lakes area (Maybrat, and so on) Above, I stated that Temtu and Bamo are the equivalent of Tumena and Mos/Amos from the Ayamaru-Ayfat area in the central western part of the Peninsula. This may be illustrated by the following quotations from Elmberg. Tu [...] a female form of the dema [...] bound up with anthropophagy [...] the usual division between the female dema [...] and its supervisory function on the one hand, and the dema's male form (Mos), acting on her behalf, on the other (Elmberg 1968:122). [...] male dema form (Mos) [...] synonymous with flood, downpour, storm (Elmberg 1968:184). [...] when the dema was perceived as female she was complemented by a male form often regarded as her son or husband (Elmberg 1968:222).

Another new piece of data, from the north-eastern Maybrat-Darfat border area, is that Temtu/Wabiton/Wawusin/Tu-mena and Bamo/Wuob/(A)Mos respectively are also equivalent to an old woman whose name is Frakon, with her husband Amorwit, whilst their 'slave', Potafit.(a benevolent white snake), is equivalent to the helpful, also subordinate snake-woman Kuk- wapon in origin myths from the northern Kebar area.24 Frakon, however, is a woman who not only is always in search of people to eat (after causing a rainfall of epic proportions, she invites some children to stay in her house, whom she thereupon kills and eats), but also is stigma-

24 Frakon erroneously hits Potafit's nose (which is also the fate of the good snake-woman Kukwapon in the northern Kebar Fentori story, see Miedema 1996:6-15; Potafit and Kukwapon, in turn, are both equivalent to the helpful old widow Dembok in an Abun story from the north-north-western part of the Peninsula (Berry and Berry 1987)).

Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 05:22:06AM via free access The Water Demon and Related Mythic Figures 755 tized as an old, hostile female whose blood - after she is killed - is drunk by the black cockatoo, the water lizard (Maybrat skum, Indonesian kadal sungai), and a bird named Posrekek (Philomena Dol, unpublished field notes). This theme is further explored by the northern Abun and the north-western Moi. An interesting water demon variant, incorporating local ideas about the origin of the Oan cloth (sacred wan cloth)25, is reported from the village of Kauf (western Ayfat).

When the children were some ten years old, they were looking for crayfish where Mos lived in the river of Ajwasi. Mos let them catch many crayfish. They were fishing with snares, with taro as bait, and suddenly Mos thrust its skin as an Oan cloth into the noose. The children became giddy when they saw the fish-cloth. Terrified, they rushed home and showed the cloths to their parents. [...] The moth- er told the children to stay at home, but nevertheless they went down to the river. Mos grew.[angry?] and took one of the children [...]. (Elmberg 1968:259.)

As in the Kebar area, in the Ayamaru area a flood occurs after the water demon has been angered, or rather, after a taboo has been broken. In the Kebar region this taboo concerns a rat or snake, in the eastern Ayamaru area a gecko (Indonesian cicak), in western Ayamaru (also in Maybrat versions) a black rat, and probably also a tree cuscus (Indonesian kuskus pohon), and in northern Ayamaru a wallaby (Indonesian kuskus tanah). [...] a man went out hunting with his dog. The dog started barking near the source. It started up a wallaby and dug for it [...]. It got out a pandanus fruit [...] and after- wards a stone. Finally, there came ashes and water. Semuniak hastily took the dog away, and the water followed him to the (present) mooring place for boats. Here he was caught up by Mos, the water dema [...]. The water dema made a way through the swidden and the people were drowned. The hunter was still swal- lowed [followed?] by the water. They came to Tu Harit. Here he made a tree-house in a mango-tree, and climbed up, but the water flowed round about until both tree and house fell with a splash. [...] He jumped out and ran to Awk and was turned to stone. (Elmberg 1968:273-4.) /. The north-western Peninsula: Karon Pantai (Abun) (north-north-west coast and hinterland) Abun oral tradition from the northern part of the western Bird's Head shares with both the outer eastern Sougb and north-eastern Kebar myths the feature that the hostile female is much more prominent than the water demon. In

25 The word for cloth also refers to an exchange system, found mainly in the interior of the Peninsula, in which imported ikat cloths constitute the most valuable exchange articles (see note 4 above). In the western half of the Peninsula, two categories of cloth should be distinguished: cloths used for exchange (Indonesian kain jalari) and cloths kept as heirlooms (Maybrat wan; Indonesian kain pusaka) (Elmberg 1968; Schoorl 1979).

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fact, the water demon hardly figures here at all. In the Abun story the 'evil' female fights directly with human beings (Berry and Berry 1987), whilst in the Honori (northern Sougb) and the Fentori story (northern Kebar) she ulti- mately fights with a (male) culture hero.

K. The outer north-western Peninsula: Moi (Sorong and hinterland) The theme of a direct struggle with the hostile female is worked out fully in the Amulagilala story from the north-western Moi area (published and dis- cussed by Kamma in 1941; see also Van Rhijn 1987:3-4, Haenen 1991:87). After Amulagilala is killed, her blood is drunk by all kinds of animals, including a white snake (but again, not by the white cockatoo), opening the way for disease, witchcraft, and death to come into the world. All trees and plants exuding red fluids are supposed to have participated in the hongi (raid, here to kill Amulagilala) and to have drunk her blood. Only the first human being, the male transformer-hero Uhmili, took precautions: before leaving, he gave people Toksarum leaves to cope with the poison dispersed by Amulagilala, and laid down the adat (Kamma 1941:341). Finally, like the Sougb hostile female Temtu and the Abun 'evil woman', Amulagilala could only be killed after the stone/spot on which she stood had been made slip- pery by her opponent (Kamma 1941:339).26

4. General comparison and analysis, summary, and epilogue

General comparison and analysis From the northern to the eastern Peninsula Taking Kebar and Ayamaru studies as point of departure27, and again mov- ing in a more or less clockwise direction around the Bird's Head, we first come across the hostile female Temtu and her subordinate son Bamo. What is fascinating about Temtu and Bamo is that they are equivalent not only to Wawusin/Wabiton and Wuob respectively in the (nearby) north-eastern part

26 In another version, evidently from the north-western part of the Peninsula (which is found in an unpublished manuscript by Kamma entitled 'Dalmoes Moi' (Moi stories)), the dominant evil female - who likes to eat real people (Malay/Indonesian makan manoesia poen) - is named Wombik, and her (male) 'opponent' Sebinsitan. This version is a short variant of the second part of the Kebar Fentori story. However, whereas in the eastern variant Fentori becomes a real cul- ture hero, Sebinsitan is presented as just an ordinary human being. After escaping from Wombik, Sebinsitan shouts to his people to beat the gong and drum (Indonesian Kamoe memoekoel gong dan koelit). Wombik becomes frightened, evidently expecting a raid, cuts short her chase of Sebinsitan, and meekly returns home (Kamma, 'Dalmoes Moi', unpublished manuscript, Zending van de Nederlandse Hervormde Kerk archives). 27 These studies provide the fullest information to date on societies in the interior of the west- ern and eastern Bird's Head.

Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 05:22:06AM via free access The Water Demon and Related Mythic Figures 757 of the Peninsula, but also to Tu-mena and Amos/Mos, found as far away as the central western part of the Peninsula. Even the names are similar (Ba- mo28 versus A-mos), or almost similar, if seen as inversions (Tem-tu versus Tu-mena). This newly discovered Wawusin-Temtu-Tumena connection sheds new light on the problem of the possum-woman (see Introduction above) in the Ayamaru myths. The latter is interpreted by Elmberg as one of the many manifestations of the hostile female, Tu-mena, which, however, is inconsis- tent with the fact that the possum-woman is not evil. She opposes the water demon and the evil female (lethal powers), and by her deeds (her vital power, demonstrated in the birth hut episode) she is equivalent to the benev- olent Kebar snake-woman Ikuanon (who also opposes the water demon Wuob by giving birth), alias Kukwapon. The latter directly opposes the Kebar hostile female, Wawusin, who in turn is equivalent to the Ayamaru hostile female Tu-mena. One solution to the question of who is the water demon's opponent is to regard the possum-woman as not just another manifestation of Tu-mena, but as one of the 'Tu-beings' (Elmberg 1968:96), or rather, Tu-and-her-people (my interpretation, JM). I arrive at this interpretation on the basis of the following arguments, (a) The possum-woman in question is probably a white possum, as a red possum is explicitly associated with 'the man-eating dema' (Elmberg 1968:226, see also p. 239). (b) In Elmberg's studies, the prefix tu- refers to 'ori- gin' or 'first beings', (c) In Kebar myths the (benevolent) snake-woman, Kukwapon (equivalent to the possum-woman), also belongs to the hostile female and her people (local Malay/Indonesian Wawusin punya masyarak), who in turn are associated with the 'first world'29 (Indonesian dunia pertama). Finally, (d) in Hatam/Sougb myths as well, the hostile female is opposed by subordinate,benevolent women - in this case Temru's daughters, who are also the sisters of the hostile water demon (Bamo). The structurally important messages are that (a) all three are subordinate to the hostile female, Temtu, an anthropophagic mother figure30, and (b) a sister can stand up to and correct her brother (a theme elaborated in other East Bird's Head myths).

28 In the Kebar and Meyah (language) area, ba- is found as a prefix in the names of other mythic figures as well. For example, Kebar/Mpur: Bflbuafe (the father of Fentori); Meyah/ Sougb: Bawiwilu (equivalent to Bobuafe as well as Aita/Nyonto, the father of Ibori/Iba). Prob- bly the prefix refers to a male figure (in contrast to the feminine prefix wa- as in Wawusin/ Wflbiton). 29 This term refers to the pre-deluge period (Mahler 1997c:230). 30 Elmberg also speaks of-Tu-mena as a mother-dema, also 'bound up with the very term for anthropophagy' (Elmberg 1968:117). In the Ayamaru area this Tu being is also regarded as a cas- sowary-mother; in some southern areas a similar mythic figure is killed by her son (Ibori and so on), after which parts of her body rum into new life or real human beings.

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The solution just suggestedin explanation of the water demon's opponent may help to solve another problem. From the point of view of the culture hero's generation (Miedema 1996, 1998), the opponent of the water demon and his people is presented in the myths as either a grandmother (northern Kebar) or a young mother (birth hut episodes - southern Kebar, Ayamaru, Meyah / southern Sougb), or simply young women/wives (hinterland east coast). In several Kebar, as well as non-Kebar, myths these helpful women are presented as older sisters, and this 'older' is of special interest: in the eastern Bird's Head an older sister may be called mother or 'grand'mother after a real (grand)mother's death.

From the eastern to the south-eastern Peninsula Moving clockwise in a southerly direction/both the water demon and his dominant 'mother' fade away. From a prominent mythic figure who is feared, the water demon turns into a character who (is not feared but) is used to make rain, whilst two disobedient women (the southern hero's wives) take the place of the hostile northern female.31 To put it differently, the water demon's (mythic) social setting in the northern and outer eastern part of the East Bird's Head differs from that in more southerly regions, marking a shift in focus from north to south.

Tentative conclusions (1) - In the northern part of the eastern Peninsula a hostile female and/or her subordinate partner, a water demon, manipulate a culture hero;' - In the southern part of the eastern Peninsula the water demon himself is manipulated by a (increasingly aggressive) culture hero. The north-south dichotomy postulated here points to a passive/fallible versus an active /infallible role for culture heroes vis-a-vis water demons. This raises the question of whether this picture for the eastern Bird's Head is also representative for the western Bird's Head, and hence for the Bird's Head in general. Earlier it was shown that tales-about real tricksters are most popular in the central part of the western Bird's Head, and that real culture hero figures are virtually unheard of here (Miedema 1998). The only real culture hero (non-

31 These women, who know how to deal with a small snake (to solve an unfinished male's dilemma), are directly associated with the water demon at the very least. One of the women loses a breast, which turns into a stone. The crucial point here is that there is a very revealing taboo attached to this stone: if you touch it, it will cause thunder and lightning, in other words, it will arouse the anger of the water demon and his evil female counterpart (Miedema 1996:42). The idea that these two 'disobedient women' also were/became evil women is underpinned by a new version, recently collected by Haenen in the Sougb area, in which the women in question are explicitly described as evil (Indonesian jahat; Gaspar 1997).

Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 05:22:06AM via free access The Water Demon and Related Mythic Figures 759 trickster) figure in the interior of the western Bird's Head32, and in particular in the southern part of this area, is Bodori. So the next step is to compare Bodori's (mythic) position with that of his northern and eastern counterparts, Fentori, Honori, and Ibori.

From the south-eastern to the south-western Peninsula In the myths, the culture heroes Fentori and Honori do not defeat the hostile suprahuman female33 or her subordinate male counterpart or son, while Ibori, on the other hand, shows how to deal both with disobedient women and with the water demon (in the latter case again in demonstrating how to make rain). In short, Ibori knows how to manipulate the water demon. It is precisely this which he has in common with Bodori. That means that Bodori knows how to stop the water demon / deluge.

From the south-western to the central western and north-western Peninsula The other mythic figures who confront the water demon (Mos) in the west- ern part of the Peninsula are 'first inhabitants'. On the south-west coast we find the innocent (uninitiated?) man Wasfele, who digs up a spring, and even takes a bath in it, which gives rise to thunder, strong winds, and heavy rain. Fortunately he is accompanied by another man (Besi), who is more know- ledgeable and at least realizes what has caused the storm and rain. Moving to the central western interior we come across Chrumbles, local- ly regarded as the lord of the land (Indonesian tuan tanah). At first sight Chrumbles also seems to be a rather innocent figure (as he and his dog try to catch a black rat, whereupon water pours out of a spring underneath a stone into which the rat has disappeared), but he uses a branch of a tree with white leaves and does not perish in the deluge. • Finally, in the northern interior we encounter Semuniak (who tries to catch a wallaby). In contrast to his southern equivalents (Wasfele, Besi, and Chrumbles), Semuniak does not escape from the water demon (Mos). He is drowned.

Tentative conclusions (2) - The north-south dichotomy postulated above can be extended to the west, in such a way that one may draw a 'border'line across the Peninsula from the west/north-west to the south-east;

32 The south-west-coast transformer-hero Bauk (Elmberg 1968; Kamma 1995) and his son Olinado (Timmer 2000) will be discussed when all the relevant materials are available. 33 Fentori was probably able to survive because he was born of a man, who in turn became pregnant after two women had given him a dish comprising snake fat mixed with vegetables (Miedema 1996:9; Pouwer 1998:184). An association of snake grease with semen and new life is also found in Sarmi initiation cults (see Epilogue below).

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- To the north of this boundary humans are manipulated by the water demon and his people; - To the south of this boundary the water demon himself is manipulated. The above tentative conclusion provides the starting-point for the analy- sis of links between transformations in the mythological and the human worlds.

Tentative conclusion (3) By concentrating on water demons and related mythological characters, we can distinguish two related mythological worlds at this stage of the analysis of Bird's Head myths. These are characterized by the following traits.

To the north/north-east (mountain area): - a dominant evil/hostile woman and her subordinate son, a water demon, and - a fallible male culture hero.

To the south/south-west (Karst area): - a dominant male trickster and his subordinate younger brother, and - a successful culture hero who knows how to deal with the water demon.

General tentative conclusion (4) Basically (interior) Bird's Head mythology seems to be female-centric. However: - while the north-western, northern, and outer north-eastern part of the area, geographically the periphery of the kain timur complex, remained pre- dominantly female-centric, - the central western and south-western part, geographically the centre of the kain timur complex, seems to have become more male-centric.

Summary Interior A basic theme in the oral traditions of the interior of at least the central and northern parts of the Bird's Head Peninsula is obviously that of a dominant, suprahuman .female who watches jealously over 'her people'. These people are particular (anomalous) animals, who are regarded as her children. For the benefit of these animal-children, first human beings have to take care to observe particular taboos. If they fail to do so, the hostile suprahuman female sends her subordinate partner, a water demon, to punish mankind with a deluge. The Hostile/Evil Female is the mother of the 'first world' and the guardian of particular areas. She protects her domain by practising anthro-

Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 05:22:06AM via free access The Water Demon and Related Mythic Figures 761 pophagy. In her world there is hardly any room for (first) human beings, and certainly not for any male hero who wants to help these beings. The hero fails, even though he is helped by female defectors from among the First Female's people, as it was certainly not in his power to defeat the evil forces on his own. This general set of beliefs is worked out most elaborately in northern parts of the interior of the Peninsula. In the western interior we find what seems to be a counter-ideology, manifested here in initiation cults in secret men's soci- eties, and in the south-eastern interior in a local invention, namely an increas- ingly aggressive, trickster-like (male) culture hero.34 Both of the above answers seem to point to a desire among people in the interior - from east to west, in myth as well as in daily life - to break with the past. But both also show that old beliefs and customs have a long life.35

Interior, coast, and beyond Confrontations with the new adat seem to have generated frustrations among people about their own cultural heritage, reflected by, among other things, differences in accents in mythemes. An attempt to disentangle the confused complex of oral traditions can only be made if one broadens the range of one's comparison and systematically examines the similarities and differences. Looking at the Bird's Head Peninsula as a whole, at this stage we can pro- pose the following correlations between divergent mythemes and long-term ethno-historical developments:

Interior northern Peninsula (Moi, Abun, Kebar) - in northern versions, in particular north-western ones, the hostile suprahu- man female is extremely wicked; - the island of Salawati is regarded as a centre of witchcraft (Indonesian suangi);

Interior north-eastern Peninsula (Kebar) - in the north-eastern interior, the culture hero vanishes into the sky after he fails to kill the hostile suprahuman female; - the area is a first-contact area with respect to activities;

34 The phenomenon of a (real) culture hero who sometimes behaves like a trickster is also reported from the Sarmi area (Kamma 1978:54; see Epilogue below). 35 Currently the process of adaptation to the new adat is being studied in the central western interior by Louise Thoonen and Ien Courtens of the University of Nijmegen, in the hinterland of the south-west coast by Jaap Timmer of Leiden University, and on the south coast by Dianne van Oosterhout and Paul Haenen, also of Leiden University. All these researchers are affiliated with the ISIR project (see note 1 above).

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Interior outer eastern Peninsula (Hatam - northern Sougb) - the eastern hero fails miserably; he is killed by the water demon and his wives are taken prisoner; - in former times the area was exposed to raids and trade from the direction of Cenderawasih Bay;

Interior south-eastern Peninsula (southern Sougb) - the aggressive southern hero manipulates the water demon (succeeds in breaking with traditional life) and moves to the south coast, or even across the MacCluer Gulf; - in the recent past, the MacCluer Gulf area represented a centre of power for particular southern Bird's Head ethno-linguistic groups;

Interior western Peninsula (Moi, Abun, and Maybrat) - the 'evil'/hostile suprahuman female is replaced, from north to south, by a male trickster; - an aggressive warrior-capitalist becomes the most influential new big man (the south-western coastal areas are initial contact areas in the frame- work of intensive long-term raiding and trade relationships, in which big men from the interior and their followers were actively involved).

Epilogue In previous studies I postulated that a variety of long-term (ethno-)historical changes have made deep inroads into the social and religious life of the Bird's Head people. Material used for these studies has made plausible the theory that the interior of the Bird's Head is divisible into two more or less semi-cir- cular zones, as indicated above. - In the hinterland of the south-west/south coast (that is, the central west- ern Karst area and its southern fringes, not including the lowlands), which in former centuries was a centre of trade, warfare, and exchange, is the centre of the Bird's Head ceremonial exchange system, or kain timur complex, of which subcentres and peripheral areas are found to the east and north as well as north-west (Miedema 1994,1998). - In this centre of the kain timur complex, or more precisely, in a regional centre formerly marked by relatively fierce competition between big men, we find pure trickster stories (Elmberg 1968; Miedema 1986,1998). - Mainly in the periphery of the kain timur complex (Miedema 1997a, 1998), which in the north-east was a first-contact area with respect to missionary activities (Kamma 1972, 1977; Miedema 1984), by contrast, are found tales about real culture heroes. - Along the same line, trickster stories, together with new initiation (carried out in secret men's societies), have been shown to have been 'import-

Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 05:22:06AM via free access The Water Demon and Related Mythic Figures 763 ed' into (made popular in?) the interior by former south-coast middlemen (Elmberg 1968; Miedema 1986). These middlemen moved into the interior when the slave trade was abolished. Their descendants (Elmberg's bobot pan- tai, 'coastal big men') today trace their origins back to Salawati. - Other connections with Salawati are reported to have been found in the former kambik initiation houses of the north-western Moi. In the present study, I have moved across the interior of the Bird's Head Peninsula on the trail of a thus far fairly unknown cluster of mythic figures: the hostile water demon, a dominant, 'evil' suprahuman female, and related mythic characters. Taking texts from the oral tradition as a starting-point for the description and analysis, I found another layer of information, elements of which can be postulated to correlate more or less - depending on place, event, and/or theme - with the long-term developments described in previ- ous studies (Miedema 1998:224, Figure 5). To the external influences mentioned above should be added another one. Bird's Head peoples are hemmed in not only by Doreh Bay people in the north-east, Salawati in the west, and the raja-raja of the southern MacCluer Gulf area in the south-west, but also by Wandamen and Windesi people in the south-east. A preliminary comparison of Bird's Head myths with the material discussed by Held in his studies reveals that key elements in Bird's Head tales are also found in Wandamen and Windesi stories, including ref- erences to a hostile female and her 'children' and a brother. Held writes:

The theme of a primeval catastrophe is elaborated in an individual way in the story of the flood. The direct cause of this disaster is again a rather insignificant mistake, usually the stupid curiosity of a few small girls who make fun of 'grand- mother' who, when working the sago in the sago forest, has intercourse with a crocodile. Angrily the grandmother summons Aiwui (awa, high tide), by sending the crab with a message. Only the wowa, a kind of fish which is able to fill itself completely with air or water, can take in sufficient water; with this water it swims upstream past Sanggei village and then releases the flood [...] Or the flood is sum- moned by a woman who is angry because her brother has been killed in a fight for some insignificant reason. (Held 1957:318-9.)

The southern Bird's Head areas, of course, not only came under the influence of former slavers and traders but also, first and foremost, form part of a sin- gle region, the MacCluer Gulf - - Arguni Bay region, which in turn has close links, from a cultural-mythological point of view, with the Cenderawasih Bay area. In both these areas one finds tales about unfinished prehumans, tricksters, culture heroes, stories about a deluge, and so on; ini- tiation houses and/or secret men's societies; and beliefs about a mythic cen- tre located in the Bird's Head isthmus. Finally, a complex of beliefs, practices, and mythic figures similar to those mentioned in this paper (and previous ones) is reported from north-coast

Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 05:22:06AM via free access 764 Jelle Miedema areas further eastward. Typical of this area are secret men's societies [...]. All tribes, even clans have their own culture-hero [...]. White as well as black magic seems to have been a common feature [...]. As a more common culture-hero the famous Merne appeared to have travelled the whole western part of the area and is recognized as the originator of many culture-traits and complexes. He performed creative deeds [...], but has sometimes the character of a trickster, an unusual trait as to the culture-heroes in this area. [...] the narrative about the cannibal woman Jaime; she has a dualistic character though, sometimes she is like a culture-hero. An important role the 'white' culture-mother Ema plays in this area too. Connected to initiation is the treatment of snake grease [...]. The people who escaped [deluges] assembled and formed various small tribes. (Kamma 1978:53-4, referring to Van der Hoeven 1952, Van der Leeden 1956, Oosterwal 1961.)

Therefore Bird's Head mythologies must be compared first with mythic and non-mythic worlds beyond the Peninsula and placed in a wider analytical framework before it will be possible to say more about the character of the correlations between particular mythological themes on the one hand and particular (ethno-)historical phenomena on the other. Two final remarks should be made. The first concerns the socio-cultural and theoretical relevance of comparative mythological studies for an under- standing of practical daily life, and more particularly of (male-centric) gen- der ideologies. The present study will, I hope, add not just another, but a very basic element to the 'multi-layered grid of information' about the Bird's Head. It has laid bare a particular set of ideas which still resonate in many people's daily beliefs and practices today: beliefs about and accusations of witchcraft (Indonesian suangi). These beliefs and practices - in addition to ideas and customs in connection with arcane knowledge, initiation, and fer- tility - reflect cross-sex as well as same-sex competition with regard to the (re)production of human life and society. Together they form the often hid- den frames of reference by which people (try to) cope with new adat or cus- toms. The second remark relates to the debate, etic as well as emic, about where specific witchcraft beliefs come from and why they still survive, or have even become invigorated, in the post-pacification era. Although this is a topic which begs for treatment in a separate study (also involving a centre- periphery model and a cluster approach), here I would like to say that, if the origins of (particular?) suangi beliefs and associated practices lie in the Raja Ampat area and further west (as is claimed by Bird's Head as well as Cende- rawasih Bay people, see Miedema 1984:186, 234-5; see also Held 1957:258), and ;/ these have indeed grown more vigorous in the (post-)colonial period (Lamers 1939:30; Feuilletau de Bruyn 1947:158; Held 1957:261; see also Stewart and Strathern 1998:314-8), then this study may at least make it clear why accusations of witchcraft (as a post-pacification form of warfare with

Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 05:22:06AM via free access The Water Demon and Related Mythic Figures 765 invisible weapons) fell in fertile ground here, encouraged as they were by a widespread cluster of firmly established verbal and non-verbal traditions.

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