Details

Start Date

2008-02-16

End Date

2008-02-16

Chief Nason Haidu is talking about the two totems of the Northern Blanga people: Posamogho (snake) and Khome (crocodile). Totem transmition is matrilineal and, as expected, bearers of the same totem cannot marry each other. Interestingly, Haidu's ancestors decided that in order to avoid marriage between brothers two totems are enough, so they stubbornly opposed the penetration of any other totem. Thus, the Kusa (fish species) totem, original from Kia, and the Eagle totem from Bughotu were assimilaqted into Posamogho and Khome respectively. Khome itself is actually the name of a shell species, but the myth was created that the particular shell had descended from a crocodile (Nasava), so the Khome people consider themselves crocodiles.

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