DONNER1987-001 - lexical attestation
Pino, the Gilbertese magic roarer
Solomon Islands - Sikaiana atoll, Malaita Province - Oceania - Polynesian outliers
Sacred / spirit
pino
Source term: bull roarer
pino: a bullroarer used for magic, introduced by Gilbertese (I-Kiribati) settlers.
Late in the nineteenth century a trader landed a party of Gilbertese refugees on Sikaiana, a Polynesian atoll about a hundred miles east of Malaita, and they married into the island. They brought a good deal with them: toddy tapped from the coconut palm, a game of flipping shells at a target, a song with dance actions, a rod for snaring marlin, and spells for love and for catching marlin. They also brought the pino, a bullroarer used for magic. It went out of use with the island's old rituals, after the ritual houses were burned in the late 1920s and the Melanesian Mission arrived in 1929.
a bull roarer used for magic, brought by Kiribati (Gilbertese) in late 19th century.
Donner, Sikaiana Dictionary, p. 237, s.v. pino
- Object
- Bullroarer; its form is not described.
- Function
- Used for magic; abandoned with the other pre-Christian rituals.
- Source
- William W. Donner (compiler), Sikaiana Dictionary (1987), p. 237, s.v. pino; introduction
- Source location
Page references
p. 237; introduction
- Source confidence
- medium
- Location note
- Sikaiana atoll (OSM archipelago point), about 100 miles east of Malaita; atoll-level anchor.
Regions: Melanesia