Local Lore
The home seas, islands, and reefs occupied, used, and criss-crossed by the people of Mabuiag Island for many generations, have been described as follows:
"What first appear to be undifferentiated patches of coral and salt water are Islanders' exclusive marine domains - a vast, intricate water library where history dwells in places, not in time, and all the sea is named. Islands, reefs, channels and the resources they contain belong to .. Mabuiag people because mythical ancestors like Sesere, Zigin, and Wad caught turtles, dugong, or fish there"
The people of Mabuiag Island, for instance, believe their afterworld lies in Kibu to their northwest. It is believed that when an Islander dies, their mari (life spirit) first goes to Boigu, leaves word for the Boigu marimulaimabaigal spirit talkers to report how they dies, and then becomes a markai (heavenly spirit) and sails to Kibu at sundown with the prevailing winds
If the spirit of the deceased cannot join other ancestors at Kibu, they may stay and cause problems among the living. Prior to the arrival of missionaries, when someone died, the people of Mabuiag, as was the case for all other Isaldners and neighburing Papuans, would assist the deceased into Kibu by performing a mortuary ritual consisting of sacred dances and feasting at a particular point a few weeks after the death of the person. The arrangements for the rituals and feast were always carried out by the marigeth spirit-hand, the special term used for the in-laws, whose responsibility this was.
Subsequent to the arrival of missionaries, this original commemoration has been Christianised as the Kulaw Gudpudai tombstone opening. The important pre-Christian tradidions still exist, only those with clearly pagan meaning being disused or disguised in various ways. The role of the marigeth is still very important: "..in-laws dig deep into their pockets to present the deceased's family with an engraved headstone, brought all the way from Brisbane, shrouded in hundreds of yards of colorful cloth and money envelopes .. "
Within Mabuaig Island local lore, families may only exercise control over land and sea rights around Mabuaig Island if children have island residences and if relatives can be guaranteed a proper tombstone opening. Migration away from the island complicates people's ability to carry out these burial practices (above), and makes it difficult for the descendants of people living away from Mabuaig Island to establish legal title to family estates.
Read more about this topic: Mabuiag People
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