ABSTRACT
Knowledge of the necessary rituals is often passed on from father to son or, in matrilineal societies, from maternal uncle to nephew. In the Fiji group there was a class of hereditary priests who officiated at ancestor cult ceremonies and became possessed. In this state they spoke with the voice of the spirit and were consulted as oracles. Sometimes, as in the Solomon Islands, ancestral spirits are believed to inhabit fish or other animals. Among some tribes, they are believed to inhabit their skulls which are recovered some time after death. They are moulded with coloured resins and clays, then they are collected in men’s houses or placed on a figure modelled in clay and fibre (malekula), or in a special model-hut (New Georgia). The skulls actually represent the deceased persons. Their power is considered to be favourable or harmful according to the proper or improper fulfilling of ethical and ritual duties by their clan heirs.
