By WATSON GABANA
IENTIFIED adult males only are allowed entry. Unnecessary people, out.
This was the scenario for 24 young boys aged between 15 and 25 who recently underwent a ritual to initiate them into manhood at Siar village in Madang province.
For 30 days the boys were locked up in a hausman (men’s house) without food and water.
A fence was constructed with soft bush woods and covered with palm leaves.
Inside the fence was a shack built with sago palm leaves at ground level. That shack was home to the young boys from December 19 to January 19.
No one was allowed to go outside of that fence. No family member or friend was allowed entry.
What happened inside is secret. It is all men’s talk and done the men’s way. It was all total discipline. What transpired inside this shack and within the periphery of the banis were all rituals - rituals that will bring good fortune, joy and happiness to these young boys. They went in as teenagers and emerged on January 19 as adults, ready to do men’s work, equipped and trained to think and act like mature adults.
I was given special permission to witness and go through specific ritual acts to uncover some of the dying Bel culture of Madang province.
The young boys were identified amongst their peers by their parents and okayed to under-go this life-changing experience.
On December 19 a huge party was hosted in Siar. Parents, family members and friends of these boys came together to farewell them off to the ritual.
Tears were shed and hugs exchanged as the boys were seen off. What happened after that is confidential and there’s very little I can tell you now, because it is all secret.
Parents and friends know the sacrifice of allowing their son into a hausman. It is a soul-searching decision. Whether their son or friend would return alive is not guaranteed. It is a life and death decision.
Like the Biblical testimony of Jesus in the wilderness, without food and water for forty days and nights, the 24 boys from Siar village left the comfort of their home, food and water to undergo the ritual.
During their time in the hausman, these boys were taught many life-experiences. The elders of the village were invited to give verbal advice of wisdom on how to look after themselves. What to do and what not to. Tales and folklores depicting identified creatures were shared to show their significance to human nature. The yellow-fin tuna was specifically identified and the boys were told to go swimming as early as 3 o’clock in the morning. Under strict supervision and hausman rule, the boys had no objections. They woke up at 3 am and had to go out to the sea. In the twilight, they were instructed to sink deep into the ocean bed and dry off with the cold mountain/sea breeze.
They ate nothing but a single kalapua (banana), roasted over an open fire twice a day - one for breakfast, the other for dinner. This piece of banana was swallowed with the aid of a ginger crushed to form a lump using saliva. No water was allowed. Only sugar cane to quench their thirst if they were available.
Everybody was treated equally. If one boy made a mistake they all received the same punishment - a slap on the palm.
When one felt sick, he was treated with special herbs. No pharmaceutical product was used. Even the wounds received during major operations healed over-night.
Very strict and stringent rules and strategies were followed.
After a month in seclusion it was party time again on January 19 when the boys were
decorated in red - the color of the reef fish, and released from the hausman.
Each boy was supervised by an uncle. The uncle made sure that on graduation day, the boy had a plate, pot, cup, spoon and other essential household item.
The boy is not supposed to go back to his parents. He will be living by himself in a house-boy for the next two to three months. The young adult will be cooking and feeding himself - not depending on his parents. It is a sign of manhood.
What transpired that Saturday afternoon at around 3:00 pm was very moving. Decorated in full regalia, the boys loaded in two boats and were officially presented to the whole village. In a single line, the young adults showed their manhood by marching through the whole village with pride and perfection. Young girls and mothers were not allowed anywhere close.
From a distance, the mothers openly wept signaling a new chapter in their son’s lives.
A feast was launched when the boys finally returned for re-union with family and friends on January 31.
But what was most significant was the sense of respect accorded to these young boys when they finally made way to their homes. Their parents, friends and peers know that they are no longer boys. They are now adults.
Although Moska is 17, he is now an adult. Mama Aki is now certain that whenever Moska wants to get married, she knows he is ready - no questions will be asked.

More in-depth information about this cultural experience can be gained from Watson Gabana - DWU - Madang on email: wgabana@dwu.ac.pg


 

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