The cane swallowing ritual of the Bena people

By SHIRLEY KOMOGI
TITLED, the Last Real Man, a local documentary film exposes a sacred cane swallowing ritual. Set in the Eastern Highlands, this film took six years to complete. After extensive research and efforts to convince the elders from Sakanuga village in the Bena area, Ruth Ketau became the first female filmmaker to break through this cultural barrier and film the cane swallowing ritual (Neheya initiation) which had never before been documented on film.
Often referred to as Dring Kol Wara (Drink Cold Water) by the Bena people of Eastern Highlands, the Neheya initiation is practised only by men. Women were never allowed to know about it, much less see it. Afraid that this customary ritual is slowly dying due to western and religious influences, the local men of Bena agreed to expose to the world the story of the Neheya initiation.
Anthropologist Gilbert Lewis in his book, Day Of Shining Red said: “Ritual is a source of knowledge about how to do things, learnt from ancestors and held in trust. There is a duty to teach it and pass it on.”
Apart from the cane swallowing ritual, the Neheya initiation includes bleeding of the nose, tongue and male genitalia. It is believed that upon initiation, young men would be good leaders in their community and attract beautiful women for marriage. Believing that this ritual clears the mind and enlightens the heart and body weight, the cane swallowing ritual is for boys at puberty and for men in certain circumstances. The ritual is also considered purification or cleansing of the body after a man takes and eats food from a menstruating woman, engages in coitus with a woman, or has general weakness to fight.
Lewis, who has studied and wrote on rituals in many cultures around the world, including PNG, in Day Of Shining Red, wrote: “A menstruating woman is dangerous to men. Variously, menstrual blood could cause a man to die, fall ill, or fail to find game in hunting. Therefore a woman menstruating will not cook food for her husband or other men.”
Village elders and Neheya experts speak well of past initiates recounting that those men did not get sick, were physically fit to run long distances to catch up with enemies and were generally strong people.
“There is a balance to be protected between the dangers in women for the successful outcomes of what men do in rites,” Lewis continued.
The cane is carefully carved to achieve a smooth surface, so as to allow easy ingestion. With careful preparations, final touches are made to bend the cane into a U-shape before hanging it to dry in kitchen huts. It is dried for about one month before being used. Every now and then the dried cane is taken out and left in water to regain moisture to maintain its outer covering. Its length may vary from two to three metres.
The initiation period may last for two to three months, depending on the amount of pork available for meals in the ‘haus man’. Mothers of young boys cry for their sons as they are taken away to learn their custom and embrace manhood. Importantly, there must be no quarrels or disagreements between all family members of the initiates before the Neheya is carried out, otherwise serious ingestion problems may occur. During the course of this initiation, initiates are required to lie on their back, face-up, to sleep as it is believed that that will straighten and elongate the intestines in preparation for the Neheya. Meals provided for the initiates comprise of only pork fat and boiled kaukau (sweet potato), believing that this dish, also known as hosamaya, ensures the smooth passing of the cane along the digestive tract. It is prepared only by elderly women who have gone past menopause.
Initiation rituals were practised in other societies of Papua New Guinea as well, representing the transition into adulthood, of authority, correction and the sharing of knowledge. Village elders took this time to rebuke any transgressor of the unwritten laws of their society. Beatings often followed with instructions.
“The presence of explicit rules was present and examining these rules, we learn about the society, an act in part of responsibilities for the well-being of the person and his growth, linked with manhood and participation in rites which men control,” Lewis explains in his book.
As part of the Neheya, initiates must undergo the ‘nose bleeding’ ritual. Specific sharp-edged grass, known as the ‘nose bleeding grass’, or ‘bleeding arrow’, is used by shoving it with force into both nostrils. Usually a Neheya expert shoves the grass into both nostrils while the initiate is held back by another participant. The head is then tilted to one side (usually the right side due to the belief that the right nostril is bigger than the left) so blood flows out easily. Soon after, the cane swallowing ritual follows.
Both the nose bleeding and cane swallowing rituals are carried out near water, preferably a flowing creek where the stones are cleared out so water washes away expulsions from the body. Women are not allowed to see.
With much chanting and singing, initiates are led to start the ritual. For a first-timer, an initiate may require guidance from a Neheya expert to guide the cane down with both hands through the mouth and slowly down the oesophagus. Leaning forward, an initiate must strike the correct pose for smooth ingestion of the cane. Water is then splashed on an initiate’s chest and stomach to cool down his body temperature. Past initiates recall being afraid of the cane ingestion but had to be brave as bravery is of prime importance in a ritual like the Neheya; one wrong move and it could result in serious internal haemorrhage, causing death.
Neheya experts from Sakanuga tribe as well as other Bena areas have claimed to have ingested cane five to 10 times a day and may walk 100 to 500 metres with the cane still inside their bodies. After expulsions of blood and saliva from the body, the initiates are instructed to bathe, then are adorned with traditional attire and led back to their village – as men.
A final feast follows with the inclusion of the hosamaya dish which initiates believe heals the pierced nostrils and prevents infection. Although the initiation ends after the feast, these men would continue the practice of cane swallowing for the rest of their lives for purification purposes.
“We were strong and fit and quite the catch for ladies back then,” the elders now recall. Moreover indicating a complex Papua New Guinean society in the past, that indeed the Bena people still remain proud of their customs and traditional heritage.
Afraid it might be a legend, this ritual was recorded as a documentary film in 2004 and is kept in achieves at the National Film Institute.

• Shirley Komogi is a freelance writer.