| Description |
Mgaing and Kaka Singers from Kilalum sung for bride price feast. Mgaing song conducted by Tning and Kaka (Bilolo) song conducted by Paknie, 1977. Em blong feast long baiem meri.
SIDE A:
Women folks from Kilalum village dressed in traditional customary wear, beating kundu drums and singing & dancing to traditional Mgaing songs during customary traditional Bride Price feast ceremony. Mgaieng songs can only be performed during feast ceremonies to invite and command the sacred tumbuan spirit to come out and perform for the public. The songs command very powerful messages to the tumbuan, and each song is carefully selected and chosen to fit into the various stages of mgaieng singing dancing from start to finish. The maieng songs were composed by Kilalum village elderly couple, husband & wife, Wankop and his wife Thning.
The Mgaieng songs were performed by the Kilalum village women during a double traditional Bride Price ceremony for four couples, namely; Tadius Koko and his wife to be Maria Kop and Joseph Yankau and his wife to be Sgur, in the main Kilalum village in East Pomio area.
The recording of the mgaieng songs was done in 1977 during the double traditional bride price ceremony of four couples, namely, Tadius Koko and his wife Maria Kop & Joseph Yankau and his wife Sgur. As a customary tradition and as husbands, with their families and extended families will the ones to pay bride price, the feast ceremony was being held at the husband’s village in Kilalum village. The wives with their families and relatives are therefore invited to travel to Kilalum village to participate in the bride price feast ceremony. The wives families and relatives are also expected to take part in the ceremony by presenting their own dance items as well during the bride price feast ceremony.
The mgaieng songs comprise so many different songs and are composed on so many things, happenings, occasions, events, sea, gardens, birds, relationships, etc. Mgaieng singing and dancing are performed during feasts or ceremonies like this occasion presents an opportunity to introduce and initiate young girls to mgaieng dancing for first time dancers. The Mgaieng songs have to be sung in the right tune and in precise rhythm to the beat of the kundu drums, and the dancing has to be precise and in sync with the beat of the kundu drums. It’s a very artistic and colorful dance to be part of and to watch.
All the mgaieng songs in this file are composed and sung in Sulka tribe language. However, different songs can comprised of two languages, especially the Mengen tribe language, or even be a mixture of songs from both languages.
A lot of the very traditional and original mgaieng songs are dying out and forgotten and or generational Sulka tribe musicians and composers of mgaieng songs is getting scarce by numbers. So it is very important to preserve these songs that are very unique to the Sulka tribe for future generations.
The Mgaieng singing and dancing performances during the day is only perform by women folks during traditional customary feasts, unlike the night mgaieng singing and dancing which men can also participate in the singing and dancing the night before the day of the feast or main ceremony is held. Also, the mgaieng singing and dancing by women only is performed at a very high tempo and speed, called “Sess” meaning, covering a lot of area in speed dancing, in a forward and backwards direction. One side of the mgaieng dancers can push the other side to the limit of their fitness level. So one has to be very fit to take part in mgaieng dancing performed by women during the day. Unlike Mumbrik singing and dancing, another type of women only singing and dancing, which is almost perform at slow motion and at snail pace, if you like.
Women only mgaieng singing and dancing can only be performed in standing position with two opposing sides comprising equal number of women on each side standing face to face, with two to four women leading from the front for each side, and beating kundu drums to lead the dancing group comprise of only women, both young & old. The selection of songs, how many songs to sing, beating of kundu drums and controlling of tempo of the Mgaieng dancing is dictated and guided by the lead women standing in front on each side facing each other. The women standing behind them hold hands in pairs or hands and arms over shoulders in pairs sing and dance to the rhythm of the beating of the kundu drums by the mgaieng dance leaders.
SIDE B:
The young girls of Kilalum village singing and dancing to Bilolo Songs during the 1978 Celebrations of the introduction of the ENBP Provincial Government. Bilolo singing and dancing is a women only dance performed in pairing of ladies standing in two lines side by side. The Bilolo songs were composed by Kilalum village elderly couple, husband & wife, Wankop and his wife Thning and the ochistrator & instructor of singing and dancing was led by another Kilalum village elder by the name of Paknie.
The Bilolo singing and dancing was performed in Kilalum village. It was a new and exciting era to celebrate and therefore a lot of the bilolo songs were composed around PNG achieving independence. The celebrations however was to mark the ENBP achieving Provincial Government status, and East Pomio achieving local level government (LLG) status as well in 1978.
The celebration of the Provincial Government and the East Pomio LLG establishment was in 1978, three years after PNG achieving Independence in 1975. The celebrations were held in Kilalum village because the first ever President to be elected to lead the East Pomio LLG was from Kilalum village, Mr. Paul Anis from the Tling clan. It was a historical moment in time for the Kilalum village and East Pomio as a whole.
Due to and because of the significance of the PNG gaining Independence, ENBP provincial government and the East Pomio LLG celebrations, the Bilolo songs, were mainly composed around these events, even to the extent that the ringing of the bell in Kilalum village every Monday mornings being a so called government day, had a bilolo song composed about just the ringing of the bell every Monday mornings to inform and remind people that its government day.
All the bilolo songs were composed and sung in Sulka tribe language. There is however a few pidgin english words will be heard in the bilolo songs as well.
The main objective is preservation of the songs on one hand but also to remember and share with future generations the history of these very significance events and occasions, namely, PNG gaining independence, ENBP gaining provincial government status and East Pomio gaining LLG status.
Bilolo songs and singing and dancing to bilolo songs is predominantly practiced or done in three main provinces today in PNG, and that is New Ireland, East New Britain and West New Britain. In terms of its origin, Bilolo was first started in New Island, bilas peles. Then adopted by the Tolai tribe of ENBP, and that’s how the Sulka tribe then adopted it from the Tolais. To find out about the real and exact definition of the word Bilolo, we have to talk to the New Islanders and the Tolais. So the bilolo singing and dancing is not native or local to the Sulka tribe but was adopted from the Tolai tribe. That is the reason why you will sometimes hear bilolo songs being sung by Sulka people in both Tolai and New Ireland languages today, like you will hear a bit of mixture of languages in the songs contained in this file.
(Paul Tevlone, May 2021) |
| Cite as |
Steven Gagau (collector), Steven Gagau (data_inputter, depositor, researcher), Paul Tevlone (consultant, translator), Tning (compiler), Paknie (compiler), 1978. Traditional Sulka Mgaing and Kaka (Bilolo) Bride Price Feast songs. MPEG/VND.WAV/JPEG/TIFF. SG1-004 at catalog.paradisec.org.au. https://dx.doi.org/10.26278/8jbn-9z34 |
