ABSTRACT
The events surrounding death and the role of the ancestors in Nusa Penida are deeply interwoven into the issue of reciprocity, for reciprocity encompasses a cycle of complementary obligations not only between humans, but also among humans, their natural environment, their ancestors and the gods. This chapter explores these issues from the perspective of the human–plant relationship and the role plants have in Nusa Penida. It examines the belief that cultigens sprang from the dead body of a young woman, from the yearly agricultural cycle in the village of Sakti, and the role that corpse exhumation, flesh and bones, fertility and ancestors play in the regeneration of plants and cultigens. The relationship between plant reproduction and human death begins with the understanding of the different emphasis locals place on the division of the year into two halves, the hot season and the rainy season.
