THE ANDAMAN ISLANDERS
A Study in Social Anthropology
A. R. Brown
Cambridge University Press · Cambridge · 1922 · First Edition
RADCLIFFE-BROWN’S ACCOUNT — p. 136
“In the South Andaman the natives also speak of another class of spirits who live in the sky and are called Mǫroa or Mǫrowin.”
THE SKY AS AN INHABITED REALM
Radcliffe-Brown records several classes of supernatural beings distinguished by where they dwell. Alongside spirits of the forest and sea, the South Andamanese recognized beings whose home was specifically the sky.
RADCLIFFE-BROWN’S ACCOUNT — p. 141
“The Andaman Islanders personify the phenomena of nature with which they are acquainted, such as the sun and the moon.”
“About the sun and moon, the most usual statement in all the tribes is that the sun is the wife of the moon and the stars are their children.”
THE SUN, MOON, AND THEIR CHILDREN
Across the tribes, Radcliffe-Brown notes a common tradition in which the sun and moon are seen as personified beings, and the stars are their children. The exact names and genders differ among traditions, but the concept of a celestial family remains.
RADCLIFFE-BROWN’S ACCOUNT — p. 148
“the notions of the Andamanese as to the direction of the dwelling of Puluga in the sky are very far from vague.”
“The natives all agree that Puluga or Biliku lives in the direction from which the north-east wind blows, really N.N.E.”
PULUGA IN THE SKY
Puluga/Biliku is placed in the sky, with his dwelling associated with a specific direction. Radcliffe-Brown emphasizes that this location was consistently recognized across the Great Andaman tribes.
RADCLIFFE-BROWN’S ACCOUNT — p. 196
“Puluga made the first of the ancestors. He made one man and one woman called Njyali and Irap. He gave them fire, and taught them how to hunt and fish, and how to make bows and arrows and baskets and nets.”
PULUGA CREATES THE FIRST HUMAN PAIR
In this Akar-Bale tradition, humanity begins with a man and woman made directly by Puluga. Their creation is followed by instruction: the same being who brings the first ancestors into existence gives them the skills needed to live.
RADCLIFFE-BROWN’S ACCOUNT — p. 200 “Puluga was always getting angry with the ancestors,”
RADCLIFFE-BROWN’S ACCOUNT — p. 201
“because they dug up yams and ate čahan (Entada scandens) and baratā (Caryota sobolifera). When he was angry he used to destroy their huts and property. So the people sent him out of the world, saying ‘We do not want you here. You are always angry with us.’ Puluga went away to the north-east.”
PULUGA DEPARTS
The source now gives the cause of the conflict. The ancestors repeatedly break food restrictions related to Puluga, provoking destructive punishment until they finally turn against him. Puluga then leaves their world and heads northeast, the same direction previously identified with his dwelling.
RADCLIFFE-BROWN’S ACCOUNT — p. 213
“...they grew disobedient, and as Puluga ceased to visit them, became more and more remiss in their observance of the commands given at the creation. At last Puluga’s anger burst forth, and, without any warning, he sent a great flood that covered the whole land, and destroyed all living.
Four persons (two men, Lora-lola and Pŏi-lola, and two women, Ka-lola and Rima-lola), who happened to be in a canoe when the catastrophe occurred, were able to effect an escape. When the waters subsided, they found themselves near Wota-emi, where they landed and discovered that every living thing on earth had perished; but Puluga re-created the animals, birds, etc.”
DISOBEDIENCE AND THE GREAT FLOOD
The ancestors abandon the commands given at creation until Puluga’s anger results in a flood that destroys all life across the land. Two men and two women survive in a canoe. After the waters recede, they return to a devastated world, and Puluga re-creates its animal life.
RADCLIFFE-BROWN’S ACCOUNT — p. 167
“Dreams are sometimes explained by saying that the sleeper’s double (ot-jūmulo) has left his body and is wandering elsewhere.”
“The natives believe that they can communicate in dreams with the spirits, but the power to do this regularly is the privilege of certain special individuals, known as oko-jūmu (dreamers).”
“When a man or woman dies the double (or as some of the natives explain it, the breath) leaves the body and becomes a spirit (lau or čauga).”
THE DOUBLE LEAVES THE BODY WHILE DREAMING
Dreams could be understood as journeys of a person’s double outside the sleeping body. This same double survives physical death as a spirit, while certain individuals were believed capable of communicating with spirits through dreams.
RADCLIFFE-BROWN’S ACCOUNT — p. 178
“In his dreams he can communicate with the spirits of the dead.”
“By his communication with the spirits, in dreams, or in waking life, the oko-jūmu acquires magical knowledge that he is able to turn to account in curing illness and in preventing bad weather.”
“It is believed that in his dreams he can communicate with the spirits and can persuade them to help him to cure the sick person.”
SUPERNATURAL KNOWLEDGE THROUGH DREAMS
The oko-jūmu occupies a distinct role in Andamanese belief: dreaming becomes an avenue through which information unavailable in ordinary waking experience could be obtained and brought back into everyday life.
