ABSTRACT
It is becoming increasingly evident that the hierarchical order of relationships which constitutes the social morphology of various eastern Indonesian societies is revealed above all in rituals. Recent comparative analysis of rituals from various societies has revealed that the meaning and value of these relationships are articulated in the transfer of beings and things and that such transfers, viewed in their totality, constitute systems of circulation (Barraud and Platenkamp 1990; cf. Barraud et al. 1984). Analyses of this kind generally concern rituals which are part of the indigenous traditions of the societies in question. In spite of the fact that most eastern Indonesian societies have been converted or are in the process of being converted to Islam or Christianity, little is known about the impact of such conversions on the rituals in which these circulations are effectuated. This analysis of ritual acts performed by the Tobelo1 in a Christian church setting serves to explore this complex issue.
