Preparations for the Sea Festival (Part 2): Ducks and the Inas Powered by Energizer Batteries
Editor's note: This article continues from the previous one (see here), previously: I received word from Siku jie of the Duli tribe that the tribe was going to hold a sea ritual. Ah, another year had passed. I drove south and arrived at Duli in Chenggong Township, Taitung. In the morning, preparing food for the elders for the sea ritual, I gathered sea snails and sea shells together with the women of the tribe; this action is called Micekiw. Doing the same action as our ancestors of tens of thousands of years—"gathering"—it was as if I were connected to something very important in the memory of life; there was a very simple joy, and I felt moved, and grateful.
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By the time we returned from the seaside to the chief's work hut, it was already around noon.
The Faki (uncle) and Ina (auntie) who stayed at the work hut had already dealt with the pig to be used for the sea ritual that morning. Coastal tribes along the East Coast traditionally almost all have a sea ritual, but the names differ. In Duli, the sea ritual is called "Pafafoy," meaning to offer a pig to the ocean.
Everyone who came today to help with the sea ritual was helping voluntarily. Before this, the tribe had already held three preparatory meetings, and at the last one the division of work was announced, so on the preparation day everyone began working very efficiently.
In the morning, killing the pig, gathering sea shells, and shooting fish; in the afternoon, cooking and making tableware... there was hardly a moment to stop.
Of course, doing these things was all "everyone together"; this is what left the deepest impression on me about the Amis tribe. This "together together" seemed as natural as something dissolved in the blood... I, a child who grew up in the city, in an environment that exalts individualism, kept being amazed again and again.
Ina pulled me over to eat lunch. Lunch included pickled pork, rakkyo, pickled crab... local tribal food. I do not like pork, but I love crab, and this was raw pickled crab. The knowledge in my head and the desire to eat spun around, and in the end I could not resist and ate it anyway.
And so we busied and busied, and an entire afternoon somehow passed. After a simple dinner, everyone finally sat down and took a breather. Siku jie took pork liver, cut it, and strung it on bamboo; this was also material for tomorrow's sea offering.
The ducks in the stream lingered nearby. It turned out it was time for them to go home, and we were blocking their way home, so they were very hesitant about how to get back... So everyone quickly pulled the chairs aside to give them a path home. Last year this same cute scene had played out, with the chief's wife going down into the stream to herd them back to the duck shed.
The ducks went home, and we also got ready to rest, to welcome tomorrow's sea ritual.
*This article is published in sync with the author's blog. To read (the previous part), please click here.