How to tell if you're
Dremish
This culture test is for the Dremish,
who were still a culture of Neolithic hunters-gatherers. Agriculture has
started in other parts of the planet, but would not reach this part for
another1000 years. The peaceful peoples that were the Dremish did have some
interesting parallels that are seen in other Neolithic cultures.
The test holds for the early dremish period-- about 6400 B.E. to 6000 B.E.
The spirits know best...
v
The mother
goddess and the great hunter are revered. The spirits are sacred and must be
treated with respect. These two figure prominently in many stories, legends,
and have several shrines, each of which are important.
v
The mother
goddess comes in the form of a ghostly white mammoth in the cold nights of ice
time. She is a signal of strength, resilience, determination, will power and
the need to follow ‘the old ways’. A few times, she has shown herself as a
beautiful maiden dressed in white, as she is seen during a time when a great
and powerful shaman is needed by the people.
v
The Great Hunter
comes in the form of the Cave Bear who shows up during the days of ‘new grass’
and ‘burning sun’ when the game is plentiful and the hunts are good. The Hunter
represents fearlessness, ‘The hunt’, warriors, power, and cunning. Rarely is
the Hunter shown other than a Cave Bear, yet in one legend, he is shown as a
tall, powerfully built warrior riding a bear as he leads starving warriors to a
herd of ox so that they could eat, and bring back extra for the clan.
v
There are many
spirits, spirits as simple as those which occupy a tree, or a rock, or a small
pool of water. Some spirits are good, others are evil. But all must be shown
the respect they deserve.
v
Most spirits
have simple shrines erected and cared for by the medicine men. Drem usually
bring small offerings to ask a favor or appease a spirit. Offerings are usually
small simple food stuffs, or herbs to be burned.
Beliefs about the Environment
v
When there is a
death in the community, the people must move to a new and distant place.
v
The blood shed
during the delivery of a baby causes illness. "Dead blood" (which
smells bad) has greater potential of causing illness than "undead
blood" (which is fresh blood that does not yet smell bad). The group that
has had a baby born into it must move to a new place before the blood is
"dead".
v
If you walk past
a place that make their hair stand on end or that make them feel uncomfortable,
then they cannot settle there. They consider the place haunted by an evil spirit.
v
Places where no
young trees grow are unfit for settlement because a spirit lives there.
v
Areas with
dark-colored termite hills cannot be inhabited because the dark color indicates
the presence of evil spirits there.
v
Living in a
place where a person has died is prohibited because the spirit of the dead
would bring sickness to the people living there.
v
Places where
children are crying, are shocked or ill, must be abandoned because a spirit
might have been following the group when it moved there.
Beliefs about Hygiene, Health and Sanitation
v
Itches and pain
result from attacks by an evil spirit.
v
Stagnant water
along waterways (called "dead water") is unfit for consumption since
it can cause illness,
v
An herb known as
“spirit-bane” keeps spirits from disturbing humans.
v
Sleeping with
the head higher than the feet is healthy.
v
‘Going to the
bathroom’ into waterways and canals is sinful.
v
Walking over
edibles and food is sinful.
v
A sore throat is
the result of a spirit "fishing in the neck".
Beliefs in Natural Phenomena
v
In a distant
land, there lives the Drem spirit of the Moon and the night, which is the wife
of the sun. She has given birth to the first pair of human beings, to animals
and to plants. The first human and animal couple is called the "Original
Father and Mother".
v
In Drem belief,
the great southern plains are full of colonies of bees ruled by the goddess who
used her bees' wax to construct her throne. There is also a river in the east
with a never-ending flow of water, the origin of all waterways. The Spirit of
the
Pregnancy
v
To the Drem, a
pregnant woman is a person of great importance. Once a woman is known to have
conceived, she will not be allowed to engage in heavy work. As here time for
delivery draws closer, the group's care for her intensifies.
Delivery
v
Shortly before
the baby is due, the husband goes into the forest to look for an herb called
‘No pain’ that eases delivery. He then prepares and administers the herb on
instructions from his wife. During this period, the women of the community sit
near the hut where the pregnant woman lives, waiting and ready to help.
Supervising the delivery is the duty of a female elder, generally the wife of
the clan chief. During delivery, the woman in charge runs her hand over the
stomach of the birthing woman. If the birth is difficult, she makes the
mother-to-be chew more ‘no pain’ and sprinkles water on her while reciting
incantations, until the baby is delivered. The husband will instead offer
assistance nearby, e.g. in taking care of the fire, in bringing water and in
going to fetch the medicines required. When the baby has arrived, the senior
woman uses a thin slice of oak to sever the umbilical cord and will hold the
baby until the afterbirth has been disposed of. She also washes and dries the
new-born baby. At the same time, it is the husband's duty to bury the afterbirth
in a hole in the ground, about 2 feet deep, that he had dug up earlier for the
purpose.
Post-delivery Nursing
v
The Drem believe
that loss of blood from the delivery lowers the mother's body temperature.
Thus, after giving birth, the mother has to remain by a fire tended by her
husband. Should the woman feel pain, a coconut sized stone is fire-heated and
wrapped in a piece of cloth and is placed on her body to warm the painful body
parts. Throughout the time when the mother is near the fire, she has to take
boiled herbs to control blood pressure and "nourish her blood". It is
her husband's duty to collect and store these herbs known as ‘no pain’, ‘blood
warm’ and ‘deep sleep’ before delivery. The three ingredients are boiled
together and drunk in hot water as a kind of tea.
v
During this
time, the mother is prevented from eating certain meats, such as squirrel, bat
and deer as these are considered to have a "hot" property that could
increase her blood pressure. The new mother is allowed to eat fish and vegetables
only. Her time of having to be near a fire normally lasts about 7 days. When
she is strong enough for travel, the family abandons camp and moves to a new
place to live. It is believed that the blood shed during the delivery of a
baby, after some days, will bring illness to people living near it.
Childcare
v
The mother pays
close attention to her baby at all times. Initially it is breast-fed, but after
4-6 months, the mother feeds her child with honey, believing that honey helps
digestion. Feeding the baby with honey is called wèd’ulisa.
v
Still later, the
child's parents start feeding their baby with more grown-up foods, such as
pre-chewed, burned roots or nuts, the daily staple of Drem diet. The mother
takes the inside of a burned tuber and blows on it to cool it down. She then
chews it to a mash and feeds it to the infant. During this period, the mother
will alternate between feeding the baby with pre-chewed roots, nuts and
breast-feeding. Women have a duty to go into the forest in search of roots
suitable for babies. As soon as the mother is healthy and strong enough, she
returns to her usual duties around the village. When searching for food in the
forest, she takes her new-born along with her. The baby is placed in a sling
made of a loin-cloth and held around her neck and nestling safely on its’
mother's chest.
v
When not out
hunting and while the mother is cooking, fathers will also look after their
babies. Childcare among the Drem involves holding the baby to one's chest while
embracing it. Holding a baby in this way may be in imitation of the behavior of
whose young always cling to their mothers' chests. Drem babies are also
protected from the harm threatened by evil spirits by the placing of protective
ornaments and amulets that include turtle shell cut into squares and small
animal bones with a hole pierced for a piece of string.
Marriage
v
The Drem social
system does not accept incestuous relationships and is built on the principle
of monogamy. When their children enter puberty, the parents build a new and
separate hut for them to live in. A girl who has started menstruation is
considered marriageable while a boy who has developed facial hair is said to be
ready to take a wife.
v
The first steps
towards selecting a partner among them Drem are left to the young people
themselves. A woman select her marriage partner based primarily on the man's
hunting prowess.
v
However, young
people cannot simply marry once they feel mutual affection for each other and
declare their wish to become a couple. Before marriage, a formal proposal has
to be made and the consent of the girl's parents has to be sought. Should the
parents refuse the union, the two young people cannot marry, no matter how much
they love each other. In such a case, it would be considered bad form for the
young man to show his annoyance at the decision of the girl's parents.
v
The girls that
are looked at by the boys, are usually firm, lean, independent, can think, be
resourceful and able to take care of themselves if the men are away hunting.
v
Note that the
weight is lean muscle as the amount of hard work that is done; neither men nor
women get fat until too old to work hard.
v
A woman that is
clearly unwanted is a woman who whines, is demanding, and cares little for her
man or especially the children. Also women who are a ‘bit slow’ or dependant
are also unwanted.
v
A woman who can
use a spear, bow, and sling is usually looked upon as slightly strange, but is
a welcome sight if the camp is attacked by a rival clan.
v
Since the
average man is roughly 5’7”, 157 lbs and the women are roughly 5’1” 125 lbs,
neither are tall, yet due to their body style, both are muscular, strong, and
able to carry a heavy load.
v
Marriage is for
life, and as life is generally short, children are started early and fairly
often.
v
Marriage is
usually by the time a man or woman is 13, and the person is considered to be
‘old’ once they reach 33.
v
You live with
your extended family. So that brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and grandparents
are all within the same ‘household’ complex.
v
The huts are
fairly small, and all basically surrounding a central cooking area in the
center of the complex.
v
The extended
family depending on rank and size can be a clan by itself, or depending on
circumstances just a man, woman and a child or two.
v
Due to the basic
nomadic lifestyle, a woman will pretty much have only 1 child at a time, and
once the child starts to help out with hunting or cooking, about the age of 5,
then the woman will have another. This keeps the population from growing too
fast in case the hunts are poor.
v
A person who is
very wealthy, usually a tribal chief with a bit of copper and some domesticated
pigs or goats, would be able to have a 2nd or even 3rd wife. This is usually
rare due to jealousy and rivalries that can occur between the wives.
Marriage Proposal
v
When a couple
has fallen in love, a marriage proposal follows when the man asks for the woman
from her parents. The groom personally asks for the bride in a rather informal
proposal in which he simply tells the girls’ father that he loved the girl and
that he would like to marry her. The father of the bride (if he) consented and
thereby finalized the marriage proposal ceremony.
v
Should the
parents of the bride refuse the union, the two young people cannot marry, no
matter how much they love each other. In such a case, it would be considered
bad form for the young man to show his annoyance at the decision of the girl's
parents.
Marriage
v
The parents of
the bride used to ask the groom's side for a dowry in the form of a specified
number of wild boars for the groom to hunt and catch. Later in the proceedings,
he would be helping to eat his catch at his own marriage feast. In the case of
the groom and the bride went ahead to live together first and later, after
having found the required boars, they called the woman's parents and relatives
to join in a delayed wedding party.
v
For the marriage
party, both bride and groom don their most beautiful clothes. Relatives of both
sides sit in front of the couple as they tell them to live well together and
not to fight. After this session of matrimonial advice, all start eating the
boars, as the groom has provided, leaving no leftovers. A few days later,
relatives of the bride say their farewells and go back to their own homes.
Death;
time of sadness
v
Cremation of the
dead together with their worldly possessions. Also found that this practice is
firmly rooted in the Drem belief system.
v
When a clan
member dies, no matter from what causes, the hut in which the dead person had
lived will be closed with leaves. Sometimes a new hut is built specially to
receive the body. Once the deceased has been placed in the hut with his or her
personal possessions, the hut is closed on all sides with leaves and then set
on fire. After the cremation, the members of the village will at once abandon
their village and move to a new location. Before they do so, they will tell the
corpse: "Don't follow us. You stay on your own here and we on our own. You
and we cannot stay together." When moving away, they will keep looking
back in the belief that the dead in the form of an evil spirit would otherwise
follow them.
v
Why the Drem do
not bury the dead is due to know the following. "If we buried the dead and
anyone walked over the corpse, it would be taboo. Also, we do not know whether
a buried dead has died or not". The Drem believe that in the case of a
"real death", bones will be left behind while in the case of an "unreal
death", no bones are left behind. In "unreal death", the dead is
believed to have gone in the direction of
v
Story#1: there was a Drem, a sibling of the chief, who
was running away from a mammoth when he fell into a fireplace and seriously
injured himself. The clan members tried to nurse the man back to health but he
could not be cured. As his condition worsened, the band decided that they could
not continue to support him since they would all starve otherwise. So they all
moved to a new place, leaving the sick man behind. Before departing, they left
some food for him and told him: "You stay here for the time being; if you
get better, and then follow us." The patient died there, alone. About four
months later, clan members came back to find the man's bones. They concluded
that he had had a "real death." Until today, the Drem have never
lived there again, believing that the dead man was still haunting the place of
his death.
Shelter and Housing
v
The Drem are
forest dwellers and nomadic. They are on the move most of the time to hunt and
gather in their forests. It is a way of life that does not need or allow
elaborate buildings. They have only very simple methods of constructing their
shelters which are the in form of huts that are open on the sides, with thick
leaves for roofing. During the rainy season with its heavy rains the Drem also
seek the shelter of caves found in the hills naturally or those dug due to
mining.
Locating a
v
Although the
Drem are nomadic and do not need to establish permanent housing for themselves,
they still must choose a suitable location for their temporary village. For an
appropriate choice, procedures in accordance with their ancient traditions and
beliefs are carried out before a decision is taken:
v
The site must be
on slightly sloping terrain and not within a hollow where rainwater could
gather.
v
The site must be
near a source of fresh flowing water (standing water; which the Drem call
"dead water"; would not be acceptable and is regarded as unhealthy).
The Drem also shun water from a canal or a river or below a waterfall, for fear
of flash floods. The sleeplessness caused by the roaring rivers during the
rainy season as also a reason for shunning such locations. Even if a proper
water source has been found, the taste of the water will also be a
consideration.
v
The site must be
shaded by trees that are big enough to provide cool air and shelter but not so
big that they endanger the Drem and their huts during a storm.
v
There should
have been no human death at the chosen place - and no haunting by evil spirits.
The Drem believe that evil spirits are the cause of sickness and to ensure that
a place is free of such influences they require:
o that the place under consideration does not cause the
hair to rise in fright (i.e. that the area not be "spooky"), but
instead that it gives a feeling of coziness and freedom
o That the place under consideration shows plentiful
secondary growth of young trees. If the area has sparse or no secondary growth,
living people should stay away - an evil spirit must be there that is capable
of causing illness. "When even young trees cannot grow there, how could a
human?"
o That the place under consideration has no white ant
(termite) hills, especially not one of a rather darkish species, as it this
could be the abode of an evil spirit and could cause disease among humans.
v
There must be
abundant food resources in the area under consideration and it must be not too
far from an area where plentiful oaks grow which of course are
a sacred tree to the Drem.
Constructing a Hut
v
After a proposed
location has been found to fulfill all requirements after it has been decided
to set up the village there, the Drem immediately begin constructing their
huts. All available men help the head of the family in cutting down wood and in
collecting large leaves for the roofing. The women and children clear the
ground and gather vines which are used to hold the construction together.
v
A hut is simply
made, a hut with a roofing of leaves. Within it, there is a bed platform, a
multiple-bed hut which is also a status symbol for its owner. A single bed
means that the shack belongs to an unmarried person while a double-bed
signifies a married person. The bed is built at about one arm's length from the
ground on one side, and touches the ground on the other side. The higher side
of the construction is at the back of the hut so that anyone lying would be
facing towards the outside with the feet in the same direction. They believe
that in case of an attack by a wild animal or an enemy, they would still get to
their feet in time for running away. This is also an example of the importance
that they attach to their feet, as "without feet they could not go
anywhere and could not find their food".
Moving to a New Place
v
The Drem are
nomadic which means that they do not live permanently in he same place. Having
to move to a new place is a normal event in Drem life. The decision on whether
to stay put or to move is based on several considerations. The most important
reason for thinking of moving is shrinking productivity of the environment
around the settlement, when animals and wild roots are getting hard to find.
There are other reasons for considering a move, such as:
v
When someone has
died in or near the current location, a move away has to be made quickly.
v
When sickness
strikes a member of the band and persists for some time despite treatment, this
means that an evil spirit haunts the area. The current location has to be
abandoned quickly and a new one found as far away from it as possible.
v
When a child is
born in the band, the Drem believe that the blood shed during birth causes
sickness (especially "dead blood", meaning blood with a strong
smell). The band will then move to a new location as soon as the new mother has
regained her strength, 5-7 days after giving birth.
v
After an
outsider (a non-Drem) has come to their village and asked for their child in a
threatening manner. Such an event is considered a bad omen.
v
When the
decision to move has been taken, the Drem help each other with packing and with
carrying their possessions. The men are responsible for moving heavier items
while the women look after lighter items and the children. Each owner carries
his own bow, spear and other hunting implements. Smaller items (clothing,
knives, salt, etc.) are carried in bags made of wrapped leaves. Lengths of vine
are tied to the bag so that it can be carried over the shoulders like a
backpack.
v
Dry sticks
rubbed on a piece of dry wood are used to make fire - a difficult undertaking.
When moving camp, the Drem had to take a burning piece of wood along with them.
During rains, the fire was sheltered with a cover of broad leaves sewn
together. Immediately before setting out, parents rub ash from the extinguished
camp fire onto the children’s' bodies and faces. This is to protect and hide
the children from evil spirits during the move. The spirits, even if they do
see the child, will not think it human. The Drem believe that if the spirits
recognized a child as human, it would follow it and would later attack it at the
new location.
Food
v
The food eaten
by the Drem is all found growing wild or living in the hilly forests of the
v
Vegetables,
roots, herbs form the staple diet, supplemented often by meat after a
successful hunt.
What is Eaten
Vegetables
v
Vegetables eaten
by the Drem can be classified into two groups: Roots/Tubers and Nuts.
v
The supplemental
diets of starchy roots are derived from plants of the yam family which have
edible underground tubers. Investigation into the types of wild roots and nuts
eaten by the Drem has revealed no less than 5 kinds as follows:
|
Dremish name |
Nearest English gloss |
|
Nd’aag’ise |
Walnut |
|
Nd’aaŋo |
Acorns |
|
Nd’aməl |
Pine Nuts |
|
Nd’oruŋ’ə |
Red yam |
|
Ŋoroŋ’ə |
Radish |
v
nd’oruŋ’ə is the most popular yam among the Drem because the
yam has a firm texture when grilled, besides being more aromatic than other
types.
v
Supplementary
food items include a wide variety of fruit and vegetables. We have been able to
observe the following plants gathered by the Drem:
|
Dremish Name |
Nearest English Gloss |
|
Gbabu |
Blueberry |
|
D’abimesəl |
peas |
|
ŋkagagbeemes |
beans |
|
D’isedage |
Onions (scallions, chives,
shallots) |
|
Ŋ’oluroŋ’ə |
wild purple carrot |
Meat
v
Meat is also a
staple of the Drem. It can be eaten only after a successful hunt; which is
usually every day as hunters hunt easily for 3 hours a day, bringing at least
something home.
v
Non-flying
animals hunted and eaten are:
|
Dremish Word |
Small game |
Dremish word |
Large game |
|
ncima |
snake |
Njáwándòsam |
Mammoth |
|
ncimambogu |
lizard |
njáwáŋinandòsas |
Wild Bison |
|
Njabimbuwandosa |
Soft-shelled turtle |
njáwáŋinandòsaz |
Deer/Elk |
|
mbara |
Field mice, moles |
njáwáagaməndòsaz |
Wild Boar |
|
Mbumbara |
beaver |
Nciraŋinames |
goats |
|
Mbug’isemes |
Freshwater clams |
Njaaŋinandòsames |
Mountain sheep |
|
Ŋam |
Fresh water crabs |
|
|
|
Ŋ’ad |
Crayfish |
|
|
v
Birds that are
hunted and eaten are limited to relatively large species, such as the ducks,
geese and ground birds.
|
Dremish Name |
Nearest English Gloss |
|
B’ombuŋkege |
Goose (waterfowl) |
|
mbuŋkege |
Duck (waterfowl) |
|
ŋkeged’anjә |
Ptarmigan (heather, scrub,
grasslands) |
|
Ŋ’uuŋkege |
Plover (marshes) |
|
Bubaŋkege |
Auk (cliff dweller) |
Hunting and Gathering
v
The distribution
of duties between the sexes among the Drem as is commonly found in other
hunting and gathering societies. Men hunt and are responsible for gathering
fruits and vegetables and for digging up wild roots. Women are thought of as
being inferior to men in hunting ability. They are, instead, responsible for
looking after the children. Breastfeeding and pregnancies also do not allow
long hunting trips to distant places.
v
Your word is
your bond. It you can’t stick to what you said, then you better not of said it.
v
Don’t lie,
people don’t like, trust or respect liars, and your honor will be worthless
then.
v
Choose your
words carefully, the Drem hold people accountable, and have good memories, and
are known for holding grudges.
v
Help from the
clan can come in many ways. If a hunter comes back with nothing that day to
feed his family, he can ask the clan to help him out. Usually the help is some
dried or smoked fish. The clan leader then requires a favor from the hunter
that will usually mean the warrior to do extra hunting and bring back something
for the clans stocks.
v
It is rare for a
whole clan to need help. As the whole clan just picks up and moves to better
feeding grounds to get to better hunting areas.
v
Hunters hunt for
an average of 3 hours a day, and able to bring home a rabbit, quail, or a duck.
Food is plentiful, so there should be no hunger. But never take it for granted.
Disrespect the spirits, and your life can become very hard indeed.
v
Meals are simple
affairs, roast duck, boar, quail, ox, snake, anything one can find, the women
can easily cook up and make a hearty satisfying meal.
v
You want a salad
with that? The only greenstuffs Drem eat are wild rice, medicinal herbs, and
the occasional fruit one can find. Meats are the staple food, as agriculture
doesn’t exist. The men hunt and the women gather what fruits, nuts, and other
greens that can be found. In fact Drem eat as much meat as carnivores like
wolves or the great cats.
v
Mosquitoes are
the Dremish national bird. No matter if living by the ‘swamp of the angry devil
men’ or close out to the great waters, those little pests are everywhere.
During the times of ‘ice’ and ‘dark sun’ one find respite from those annoying
pests, so enjoy the peace while you can.
v
The clan leaders
and the tribal medicine men are quite powerful, and have many friends in their
own way. They deserve respect, but since they are only men, they can make
mistakes, albeit rarely.
v
“Drem never
fight Drem”. Squabbles are settled by the clan elders, never with violence,
since violence begets violence. If an injury has occurred, the wronged party
can get some personal belongings, especially weapons. But never, ever a mate or
a child.
Cooking
v
Outsiders often
think of the Drem as backward and uncivilized when it comes to food. Drem eat
only well-cooked food; they abhor raw food. The Drem explain that "those
who eat raw food are barbarians not friends" and "when the outsiders
visit us and our children are afraid of the visiting grown-ups, we tell them to
fear not, for the villagers eat cooked food just the way we do."
v
When they have
successfully hunted an animal, they cook it the old-fashioned Drem way by
simply throwing the meat into a fire. When they think that the meat is ready,
they pull it out of the fire and eat it immediately. When "cooking"
in this way, the animal is not skinned, but its hairs are merely scorched away.
Before eating, the Drem are adept at removing the last remaining hairs. Next
they cut open up the animal and share out the meat to every family (i.e. every
hut). Usually they burn the meat in an open space, with all family members
around the fire, waiting and eager to finish the food. Should there be
leftovers, they will be shared out to every hut for later consumption. Drem do
not normally store food to consume the following days. Instead they finish all
available meat in one long feast and without wasting thought on whether food
will be available the following days. As long as food is available, eating will
continue until it is finished. The Drem enjoy their eating and they do not observe
specified meal times. .
Food Sharing
v
In Drem society
there is amicability, a feeling of kindness among equals, sharing the results
of hunts and other food among members of the group, regardless of who had
caught or gathered the food and who had not. Those who have food willingly
share with those who do not.
v
Food sharing has
two aspects. "Immediate-Return Subsistence" is a production system
that is found in ecosystems where food plants are abundant and hunting is
possible throughout the year, as in a rainforest climate. Human beings in this
kind of environment need not worry much or often about food because it is
naturally plentiful throughout the year in most years. In such societies, food
sharing is an outstanding characteristic. "We cannot let others starve; if
they find food, they will also share food with us. If we cannot find animals,
they will give food to us.” Food-sharing among members of a group reveals that
people gave others the best part of what they had caught or found. If the food was
a hunted animal, they would share to others the meatiest portions. The hunters
keep for themselves only the head and the back portions with the least meat on
it. "We must share out to others the good cuts; when they give us, they
will also give us the good cuts. If someone caught animals and did not share
them with others, after his death he would be reincarnated as an octopus.
Tools
v
Every adult male
Drem man has his own personal hunting tools: the blowpipe, the hunting spear
and finishing pole. Unlike the blowpipe and the spear, the fishing pole is not
an exclusive male prerogative.
Njeemog’awi - the Blowpipe
v
The blowpipe of
the Drem has a mouthpiece made of wood and a "barrel" made of Njeen’ab, thin stalks of a special Yew wood. The njeemog’awi consists of an inner and an outer part.
v
The outer part
is a long, hollow cylinder with an interior diameter of about 1 in. It is made
of 2 to 3 connecting parts (depending on the length of the hollowed pieces
available) with a total length of about 8 ft. The junction between each section
of bamboo is fastened and sealed by the sap of the Njeen’ab
tree.
v
The inner part,
or "barrel" proper, is made from the same kind of Yew wood, with the
same length as the outer part but with a smaller diameter. The inner part is
inserted into the outer part. A piece of polished wood is fastened to the lower
end of the "barrel" to protect the mouth of the user and to funnel
the burst of air blown into the "barrel" to propel the dart (njeemog’awiŋis).
v
The njeemog’awi is typical of the Drem; one might almost call
it their 'trademark' tool. Some think that the Drem have invented this
sophisticated tool while others doubt it.
Njeemog’awiŋis - The Poison Dart
of the Blowpipe
v
njeemog’awiŋis is the ammunition of the blowpipe; an arrow-like
dart. It is made from a kind of pine wood. To make a blowgun dart, a piece of Njeen’ab wood of 12 in. length and a diameter of around
1/16th in. is cut and sharpened at one end. Counting from the sharp end 1/8th
in. inwards, a cut is made so that when the dart is blown and impacts on an
animal, it the end will break off and remain inside the animal. After making
the cut, the dart is treated with fire to harden it. The other end of the dart
is also sharpened and fitted with a conically shaped piece of sacred oakwood that fits precisely into the blowpipe barrel.
v
Before the dart
is used, its tip is covered with a poison that will kill the animal. The
poison, known to the Drem as Ŋ’aag’aguŋuŋu, is
derived from the saps of two kinds of trees, and the bark of Black Walnut. The tree
sap is mixed with the Ŋ’olund’aag’ise bark in a
leaf, until a sticky, black mixture results. The poison is then smeared on the
tip of the dart and left to dry before the dart is put in the quiver that the
Drem call Ŋkanəŋis.
Ŋkanəŋis - the Quiver
for Keeping Darts
v
The dangerous
poison darts need to be stored and this is done in a cylinder with 4-1/2 in.
diameter and a length of 13-1/2 in. The cylinder is made of sacred Oakwood.
Inside it are several holders, called Ŋkanə,
for encasing the darts, one holder for each dart. The Ŋkanə
are arranged along the inner wall of the Ŋkanəŋis,
leaving the middle portion for putting Ŋiindosaroga,
a fluff affixed to the dart in the blowpipe to help it go further when blown.
XXXX - the Digging Stick
v
The gathering of
fruit and vegetables does not often require the use of a tool beyond the gatherers'
own hands, but digging up roots does. For such work digging sticks called mog’awiŋkag are used
by Drem women. These wooden sticks are usually around 1-1/8 - 2 in thick and
19-1/2 - 23-1/2 in long.
Clothing
v
Drem men
"wear under drawers made of tree bark wrapped around the body with an end
piece covering the front. Women wear short shirts made of grass or
leaves." Drem wore leaves and moss in the form of a sheet. Women wore
skirts reaching down to the knees or half the thighs: they clothe their breasts
or leave them bare. Men wear waist-to-knee-length garments that leave the upper
body bare. Children wear nothing."
Music
v
The
music used in celebrations is simple drums with stretched goat skin over a
hollowed out tree truck, or just a tree itself used with heavy clubs. The drums
are simple with colorful symbols, some sacred, some not. Some drums can be up
to 3 feet tall, while others are just 6 inches tall.
v
Both
men and women use the small drums, but only men use the tree drums as those are
used to communicate between he different camps to call together a tribal
meeting.
v
Tribal
meetings are critical things, used to determine marriages, territory disputes,
trade, and keep in contact with other family members who might have married a
member of a differing clan.
v Drem during the ceremonies are able to
sing quite well. The celebration usually last thru the night for 2 days, are a
constant feast of food, talking and music.