Seven Clans and the Story That May Not Be Told

A number that recurs

In Malind country the number seven recurs. Buti village has seven clans. Kubir village has seven clans. Wasur village has seven clans. And at Wasur, though its people are the Marori Menggey sub-group with a language of their own, those seven great clans are acknowledged as well.

The seven clans are Mahuze, Kaize, Gebze, Ndiken, Samkakai, Balagaize, and Basik-basik.

The creatures that know them

What makes this system more than a list of names is that each clan is known by particular living beings. Yulius Romeo Mahuze named these emblems one by one, not only from among the animals but also from among the plants and from the sea.

The Mahuze clan is known by the dog. Its plant is sago. In the sea, the eeltail catfish, short bodied, whose spine stings when it pierces.

The Gebze clan is known by the bat. Its plant is the coconut, and at the edge, the beach hibiscus.

The Ndiken clan is known by the dik bird, a rare bird, black and white and tall. Its plant is wati.

The Basik-basik clan is known by the pig.

The Balagaize clan is known by the eagle, and below, by the crocodile.

The Samkakai clan is known by the kangaroo, called saham in everyday speech in Merauke.

The Kaize clan is known by the cassowary.

Animals that are protected

Alexander Kaize gave a corresponding account from Wasur, and he explained its practical consequence.

The kangaroo is the totem of the Samkakai clan, and that is the clan of the village head. For that reason, he said, hunting kangaroo at Wasur is strictly forbidden. If daily subsistence must be sought with the bow, then shoot with the bow and bring home only enough to eat.

The cassowary is a clan animal, of the Kaize clan, which is his own. The great sea eagle belongs to the Balagaize clan. The dog belongs to the Mahuze clan.

For Alexander Kaize the conclusion is single. "Those animals are protected."

King, emperor, and war chief

The seven clan system carries its own order of leadership. Within two groupings, Esam and Sosom, there are three great clans, Mahuze, Kaize, and Gebze. Gebze is reckoned as king. Kaize is reckoned as emperor. Mahuze is spoken of as war chief.

Within those two groupings there is a mandate that in the Malind language is called kunamanem. That right belongs to the Kaize clan, and Yulius Romeo Mahuze called it the right of the firstborn from within the womb.

What is striking is the distinction he drew about himself. His office as customary head of a territory can be replaced. "If I do wrong, the Gebze clan can replace me. The Kaize clan can replace me," he said. The head of a grouping, by contrast, cannot be replaced by anyone, because that is the right of the firstborn from birth.

A space being opened

There is one statement by Yulius Romeo Mahuze that takes the form not of a story but of a report on a change under way.

In his account, under customary rule women do not hold the right to speak, and do not hold the right to work in the territory. He said that this prohibition comes from the men.

And he said that this is what he and his colleagues are now working to develop differently, through a women's organisation. He named Marind Iwak for the Merauke area and Buti Iwak for Buti village. To women, he said, they are now giving space.

Who has the right to tell what

The rule about who may tell what is equally firm. Dominggus Bakap explained that the story of a clan's origin can be explained only by that clan itself, because it is attached to its identity and background. As for the story of the sub-group collectively, that is the capacity of the customary institution or the customary head.

And here this story stops

When Alexander Kaize was asked why the Kaize clan took the cassowary as its totem, and whether there was an inherited story about it, he answered briefly. What he could tell he would tell, and what he could not, he could not.

"Because that cannot reach others from us," he said.

The question was not repeated. The answer was not completed. It is part of this story just as much as the names that may be spoken.