Offerings
The ceremonies which have been described are sacrifices or offerings which occur at regulated intervals. Teutütusthchi is certainly an annual ceremony, and it is probable that erkumptthpimi was also originally an annual ceremony, though now it may be performed several times in the year. Even now, however, there seems to be little doubt that on one occasion in the year this ceremony is regarded as of special importance.
The ceremonies which remain to be described are of a different nature. They are mostly occasions on which offerings are made to avert or remove misfortune. Some are distinctly of the nature of sin offerings, but are only made when an offence which has been committed has brought some misfortune on the offender. In these cases the object of the offering seems to be propitiatory and to bring about the removal of the misfortune.
In other cases the offering may be made with the object of removing a misfortune which is not due to any fault on the part of the sufferer.
The simplest kind of offering is usually spoken of as kwadr kwadrthpimi—i.e., we give kwadr. The word kwadr probably means gift, but seems now to be often used in the sense of ‘fine.’ The kwadr takes the form of a buffalo. When a man gives a buffalo in this way it means that he undertakes not to give or sell the buffalo to anyone and not to kill it at a funeral. The buffalo is to be allowed to die a natural death, but so long as it is alive the owner has the full use of the milk [[293]]given by the animal. The idea of this offering is that the buffalo is given to the gods, according to some, or to the Amatol or people of Amnòdr, according to others. I also heard it spoken of as if the buffalo were given to the man’s father or grandfather (pia)—i.e., as if it was not given to the Amatol in general, but only to the spirit of the giver’s father or grandfather. It is possible that I have confused together two or more separate things, but so far as I could learn these cases resembled one another in that the owner was not allowed to kill or part with the buffalo.
When the man devotes a buffalo in this way he mentions the buffalo by name, saying that he gives it to the gods or to his fathers, and as a sign that he has done so he bows down before an elder and performs the salutation of kalmelpudithti.
This offering was made at the funeral of a child at which I was present, when the diviners found that a buffalo about to be killed was of the wrong kind, and said that Kuriolv, the father of the child, should give a buffalo. In this case the diviners said that a special buffalo called Perov was to be given. Kuriolv made a vow to give this buffalo and performed the kalmelpudithti salutation to Perner, the grandfather of the dead child. Another example of this offering will be mentioned at the end of this chapter.