Throwing the Firestick

The opening rite of the ritual season is the ‘Throwing of the Firestick’. The direction of this event is one of the special duties and privileges of the Ariki Kafika, the principal chief of the community, and the choice of date rests largely in his hands. When he has finally decided to begin the seasonal ritual he rises early in the morning and proceeds to Uta, the district where the most sacred temples stand. The first-comers to Uta arrived soon after the sun had risen above the shoulder of the mountain. Without waiting for instructions they proceeded to rake out with their fingers the oven in the chief’s kava house, and build a small fire. The women and children of the party were settled in the dwelling hut a few yards inland from the house where the firestick ceremony was held.