In New Brittany, island of New Papua Guinea, the practical tribe of the tolai a ritual of curious initiation, the " Duk-duk ".

The bigman, lips reddened by the betel, officiates inside the secrecy. It is in a square isolated from the village, by walls of braided straw. Usually the foreign visitor does not have the right to return inside the secrecy but having sympathized with the head of the village, I have the exceptional honor, to penetrate there.
The duk-duk, for these anthropophagous tribes papous, very quarrelsome, was the occasion to make feasts with the flesh of overcome. In times of peace, they were the pubescent girls who made the expenses of the meal. Missionaries quickly did not abolish these cruel rites by not allowing any more but the ceremony of exchange of Kinas, these superb flat shells, in the shape of quarter moon, which one does not find unfortunately much any more on the ranges papous. By fear of adopting a profane attitude, I am done small while penetrating in the secret. Four duk-duk, representing the spirits malefic, are hidden behind of immense masks at a peak.
They covered bottom with their body of a large skirt in sheets of banana tree. The initiate enters, under the cries of encouragement of a crowd of young people. They encourage it to give as quickly as possible its present in collars of kinas in order to alleviate the anger of the duk-duk. After of many initiations, the duk-duk comes out of the secrecy and starts a dance with the sound of the tom-toms. During all this ritual, pigs were cooked on their beds of sheets of banana tree and the assistance, arrival many of the close villages, supervises with delight the cutting of the pieces, replacing the human flesh advantageously. During the sharing of the pieces, whose importance will depend on the number of child of each family, the wise ones assist the big man with the scourging of the duk-duk using the collars of kinas.

 

This old festival cannibal astonishes with his curious costumes and its very complex ceremony. Since millennia the News Guinea New Guinea was a ground of refuge for a large variety of primitive populations. 700 dialects are spoken there and as many ritual different there are practiced. The duk-duk is observed only at the tolaïs, a significant tribe of the Gazelle peninsula, in the North of the Brittany News. Arrived in this island of the Bismarck Archipelago since several hundred years, the tolaïs knew to preserve their religion in spite of the evolution of the manners brought by the Australian ones. In time, this festival was the occasion to make feasts with the flesh of overcome. When peace reigned, these papous anthropophagous replaced their enemies by the pubescent girls of the tribe, who made the expenses of the feast then. Missionaries did not make abolish these cruel rites, by not allowing any more but one ceremony enclosing itself by exchange of Kinas.
These superb flat shells, in the shape of quarter moon, are offered to Duk-duks to reach wisdom. Avoided the execution of this formality, the anger of the duk-duk will be alleviated. The big man, the lips reddened by the betel, officiates inside the secrecy. This place full with magic, was set up in a square, was isolated from the village by walls of braided straw. Usually, the foreign visitor cannot penetrate there, but if the power is on, one can be likely " to profit from an exception and to enter the secrecy. It is to better do very small bus not knowing the habits of the tribe, with the risk to make the odd ones. In the input in the shape of labyrinth, the big man chairs the assembly. Any meadows of him four duk-duk, representing the spirits malefic, hide behind immense masks at a peak and the bottom of their body is covered with a large skirt in sheets of banana tree. The initiate between under the cries of encouragement of a crowd of young people comes to support it in the test.
This initiation is very difficult to apprehend for Western Cartesian spirits. The only facts that one can retain are the intended shows of aggressiveness of Duk-duks have to push the initiate to make his gift of kinas. When the troop of the initiates of the day passed in the enclosure of the secrecy, the duk-duk come out and start a violent dance, rhythm with the sound of the wise old tom-toms surround the big-man and assist it in the ultimate ceremony. One whips of good heart the duk-duks using the collars of Kinas offered. The scene occurs in front of the input from the village, under the encouragement of a whole population of papous hilarious. The symbol of this exorcism is intended to protect itself from the spirits malefic represented by the duk-duks. Before does not begin the ceremony, the men prepare the meal which must put a point of organ at the festival. Whole pigs, posed on their bed of sheets of banana tree, cook with the choked heat of a charcoal fire.

The circle swarming with the women and the children sat down around a tomb colored, set up in full center of the village. This burial is that of the precedent big-man deceased it there in six months. To celebrate this large wise one dedicated the ceremony duk-duk to him and a multitude of present was deposited on its last residence. Two or three hundred people of the neighborhoods, arrivals to join people of the village, have patience in front of the monticules of food. One supervises with delight the cutting of the pieces, which advantageously replace the human flesh, consumed in the past by the ancestors. The sharing of the meat will be done according to the numerical importance of the families. More it there with children and more the share will be significant. Let us wish that these rites come from the funds of times, still last several centuries, in order to show at the modern societies that the Community life still has good