This little piggy didn’t make it… the story of a funeral and a feast

Well, luckily for me this weekend was a very busy weekend in Madolenihmw. There were many things going on, but the biggest thing this weekend was a funeral. Not just any funeral, but the funeral of the 2nd highest ranking person in the municipality. The nanmarke (excuse the spelling, I’m just guessing) is the highest ranking person, and he is like the king here, next is the nanken, and he is the one who died, he was 80 years old and had been sick for a while. Titles and rank mean a lot here in Pohnpei, and with his death everyone who has a title that was under his gets moved up to the next level. Needless to say, this funeral was a very big deal, even though all funerals here are a big deal. Here they last 4 to 5 days, but in some of the outer islands funerals can last up to 40 days.

I had the chance to go to the first two days of this particular funeral. The first night was interesting. There was a building, where his coffin was, and he was placed up on a table because of his title. Women would come into the room, get onto the floor and weep and wail into towels around his coffin. It was very important that he was higher up than the people mourning him, so they would crawl to his coffin on their knees. Then there was a large “nas”, open building raised from the ground around the edges, where men were making Sakau (a drink made from the roots of a special plant, known as Kava in other areas), and then many benches where we sat, ate soup, and sat some more for four hours.

Pigs being prepared for the local stone oven at the Funeral

Yams... 8 men to carry Yams for the funeral

Saturday was the real excitement though, we arrived at 9:30am and found a nice shady spot to sit. As I sat and watched men started coming in with huge pigs tied by their feet to poles which they carried on their shoulders to an area where an “ohn” was made. An ohn is a local oven made with firewood that heats rocks really hot, then the food is wrapped in leaves and cooked with the rocks. The pigs were live when they were brought in, but that didn’t last for long. As soon as they took them to the area, they placed them on the ground and stabbed them in the heart with machetes. Now, I don’t know if any of you have ever seen animals slaughtered for food, but let me tell you. Stabbing a pig in the heart is not the quickest or easiest way to kill a pig, but this is tradition, so this is how it is done. Blood shoots up like a whales blowhole, and then soon it is burned with a blowtorch to burn the skin, then it is cut open and gutted before being thrown onto the oven. There were at least 30 pigs that I counted at this funeral. Another impressive thing was the yams that were brought in as offerings, some took eight men to carry, and there were tons brought in, and just as much Sakau. The day involved more sitting, observing, eating, a service, a burial, and a lot of ceremony happening in the “nas” which we were not allowed to enter, because this was reserved for the chiefs and those with titles. Everything that was brought to the funeral, was brought into the nas where it was divided and given out according to your title and rank. The higher your title, the more yams, pig, and sakau you got.

The Waterfall in Madolenihmw

Well, by 2pm, we were ready to move to the next adventure, a quick swimming trip to a beautiful waterfall here in Madolenihmw to cool off and then to a feast that was being held at one of the other trainees host families home. It was exciting and fun. Here, I was actually able to sit in the Nas, but I had to make sure to always face either inside or towards the head of the nas where the chiefs were sitting. Never sit with your back to the chiefs, it’s disrespectful. There was dancing, music, food, and more Sakau. I had coconut oil rubbed on my arms as a welcome symbol, and was given a marmar (headband thing) made of a dish towel, and a large piece of cloth as part of all the festivities which my nohno is going to make into a shower skirt for me.

Making Sakau
The ceremony of making Sakau is beautiful. First the plants are brought in, and the roots are cut off and cleaned with water and coconut husks. Then the cleaned roots are placed on large stone tables, where a circle of men pound them with rocks using a beautiful rhythm as they pound the roots over and over. Then the roots are placed in hibiscus bark with water where they are twisted and squeezed into coconut shells. It looks and tastes like muddy water, but acts as a sort of sedative. The shells are passed first to the chiefs, then to those with titles, then to the others. As soon as I took a sip, my tongue and mouth began to tingle and go numb, like going to the dentist and getting novacane, but it only lasts a minute or so. I only had a sip, so I can’t speak for the true effects of Sakau, but it was definitely a neat experience.

Once again the roasted pigs and dogs were brought into the nas to be divided by the chief. Dogs…. Yes… I said dogs… Three dogs to be exact, and five pigs. I was really taking it all in when a man handed me a large pig leg to give to my “nohno” (mom), and then came the dog… or dogs I should say, because as I turned around the man in front of me came up with his share… TWO ROASTED DOG HEADS!! Well, not expecting to turn around and come face to face with two roasted dog heads I guess he must have seen an expression of surprise on my face because he held them up to me, said “Woof.. Woof” and started laughing, and placed them in his bowl in front of me with both heads facing me on the nas. Suddenly, I wasn’t so hungry, so as a large slab of roasted dog ribs was offered to me I politely declined. Maybe I’ll try dog one of these days, but I just couldn’t eat dog ribs with two dog heads staring at me… even if they say it’s better than pork.

No...that is not a pig head... Roasted Dog Heads at the Feast
And this my friends was just a small taste of funerals and feasts, Pohnpeian style!! Gotta love it!