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Chapter Four. Religious Beliefs and Practices |
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soul of people who had died through an accident; ghosts |
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Apart from the 'yaha' and the 'mio,' there was a third element, which was believed to manifest itself after a man had met a violent death. This was called 'hiba,' and can best be translated as "ghost." When a man was killed in war and his head taken by enemies, the members of his morung assembled at night in the house of the deceased and waited for the return of the ghost. On hearing a crackling or a rustling they clapped their hands together as if catching something floating in the air and shouted, '"Hiba, hiba,"' This belief in the return of a dead man's ghost to his own village and house did not conflict with the belief that the 'yaha' or soul of those killed in war went to the land of the dead. |
