Why the Porcupine Is Not a Bird; Exploration In the Folk Zoology of an Eastern Indonesian People, written by Gregory Forth

‘Living’ in Nage, or the Meaning of ‘Life’ in an Eastern Indonesian Society

“…However, these attributes were not only adduced by people who thought objects were alive but also by many who did not. Despite variations in people's responses, judgments concerning whether something was or was not animate in all cases referred to readily observable empirical qualities, a circumstance consonant with what I have elsewhere described as a pervasive Nage empiricism (Forth ). Reasons for something definitely not being alive thus prominently included the fact that a thing never died, did not bear offspring or in any way proliferate, did not breathe, or that it did not grow or appear to change and always appeared the same (for example, stone – and the sun with regard to form and size).…”

“…As I show, Nage generally consider only humans, non‐human animals, and plants as being ‘alive’ ( muri ), a property which, as their own statements reveal, minimally entails a combination of the ability to reproduce and die and to move or for their condition to visibly change over time. The Nage case is particularly relevant to the question of cross‐cultural variability in concepts of ‘life’ not only by virtue of a socio‐economic profile which includes hunting as a valued activity (Forth :23, 25, 105–06) but also because, by the criteria of recent formulations, some Nage beliefs and practices might indeed be construed as ‘animistic’ – including mythological and ritual depictions of certain inanimate objects as living subjects. Apart from discussing how Nage views on what is and what is not alive might locate them ontologically in relation to similar groups, I consider how this case prospectively contributes to recent discussion of ‘animism’ and, conversely, how newer theories of animism might inform an understanding of Nage thought and practice.…”

“…Regardless of its dietary significance, hunting is a major factor of Nage male identity, and among their most important ritual performances is a collective ceremonial hunt, an annual event articulated with other major rituals – including annual pugilistic competitions held before the hunt and less frequently held large‐scale buffalo‐sacrificing. Moreover, wild animals play an important role in Nage cosmology (Forth :135–48), specifically in their representation of relations between humans and free spirits ( nitu ), and it is also noteworthy that, well into the 20th century, water buffalo, the major sacrificial animal, comprised mostly feral animals especially captured for the kill, while pigs, the second most important sacrifices, formed a continuous breeding population of both wild and nominally ‘domestic’ specimens (Forth :78–79, 92–98). This is not to argue that Nage are essentially hunter‐gatherers like some Amerindian or Siberian ‘animists’.…”

Taboo and Descent in the Articulation of Gender Relations: An Eastern Indonesian Case

“…Although several decades ago some Lio began eating python flesh (as did people elsewhere on Flores; see Forth ), it is unclear whether, prior to this, Lio regularly consumed any kind of snake. As a matter of course, not eating snake is a requirement of people who ‘taboo snakes’ ( tebu nipa ), but in this instance the emphasis is more on killing snakes and holding or touching them .…”

Eastern Sumbanese Bird Classification and Nomenclature: Additions and Revisions

“…3) Tariku, identified as a falcon that flies extremely fast and appears as it were out of nowhere to take chickens (unlike larger raptors whose attacks, informants said, can be anticipated). The further specification that tariku will sometimes just 'cut off the head' of domestic fowls recalls the Nage (central Flores) idea that the falcon they name bele teka, "sharp wing," uses its wing like a sickle to decapitate fowls (Forth 2016). 4) Kapàha, a small falcon, described in Parai Liu as hovering, and eating small chickens and grasshoppers, a characterization that would confirm the bird's earlier identification as the Moluccan kestrel Falco moluccensis (Forth 2000:174).…”