ABSTRACT

RIVERS tells us that important totemic features in connection with burial are found in the Shortland Islands. Bones of the dead are thrown into places called keno, each clan having its own keno. It is believed that the bones are swallowed by fishes, animals, or mysterious beings. Sometimes the animals are included in Mr. Wheeler's list of totems of the clan, at other times they may be classed in the same category, for "in each case the dead person is regarded as the 'fabin ' of the animal or other being ". Fabin is a term of relationship reciprocal to tete and tua, terms for grandparents, and also for the totem. The keno is looked upon &s the nanu or soul of the dead man.1