TUMBUNA MERI & BRIDE PRICE CEREMONY

 

TUMBUNA MERI & BRIDE PRICE CEREMONY

 

Yangoru/Sausio custom/tumbuna pasin is so strong, pamuk blo yu lo hait by olgeta family sawe na by yu go hait lo where na pamuk?

I believe they have the lowest rate of adultery in the country. Ol meri blo ol sawe work hard tru lo lukautim na banisim man na pikinini blo ol, na too ol man blo ol laik go hait pamuk tasol olgeta brada bloem by sawe na somehow story by leak out yet . Meri too yu tokim em lo go marit gen by hard tru lo go get remarried gen.

 

The bride price ceremony is for a lifetime; it's not a one-off payment. By yu baim igo inap meri dai na yu planim (called spade money received by your wifes brothers). My Mother's bride price was paid after she had her first grandkid—I mean grandkid! (not kid)—just recently. You show olsem you fit lo lukautim family na you Karim Pikini pinis after some 20 years pinis ok bride price ceremony takes place.

Some they decide to do brideprice immediately thats also not a problem, but the thing is you pay for the elder sons wife's bride price first and then go down the line in terms of first born second born etc. You will hold the money and give it in front of everyone; you will say eg; I am putting K500 for the plate of food you gave me when I came to your house back in 2005, another will come and say this K50 is for the sago you gave me and the fish is K20 etc. All the money is given by individuals in front of everyone. The immediate family members especially the sisters carry a torch (called nock/stick/twig) with a certain value/amount say K2000 as agreed to contribute to the brothers wife's bride price. It is a duty that the sister must do.

 

If mipla no bin baim Mama blo me yet na laik go baim Bride Price blo Meri blo big bro blomi, then ol Uncle lain blo me (Moms brothers) can come stopim na kisim olget moni, ol by tok stretim Mama blo yupla (their sister) pastaim. On the other hand if side blo mipla clear na mipla go ahead na baim Bride Price blo meri blo big bro na side blo ol lain blo meri ino stret (lets say ol ino bin baim Mama blo ol yet) then ol Wawo lain (Uncles blo meri blo big bro ya) by kam sanap stap lo Bride Price ceremony na rausim olgeta money lo hands blo mipla na kisim, na by mipla tok wanem? em hevi blo ol, mipla givim tasol igo, at least side blo mipla em clear.

 

Also, one more last thing before you pay your wifes Bride Price, you have to pay the first bride Price igo lo ol lain blo Tumbuna Meri blo yu (thats if you are marrying someone form outside of the clan lineage). Ol disla ol man maritim na baim Bride Price lo ol meri lo outside yah em ol actually stretim ol tumbuna meri blo ol lo ples pinis. By the way they dont really have to marry or have sex with the tumbuna meri, in such situation the tumbuna meri can be married to someone else BUT her bride price will have to be paid by you first before you pay your actually wifes bride price!. I know its hard to understand but ol lain sawe tok Tumbuna man Tumbuna Meri na yupla harim yah,, this is how complex it is!. Anyway hard lo explain too yah so me stop lo here tasol!

** By the way Tumbuna Meri is not someone who you see and admire and fall in love; its someone from the Clan Lineage, some of the Tumbuna Meri ino born yet sampla ol lapun pinis sampla ol dai pinis etc,. its a generation of bloodline lineage; ill explain that more in a later write-up.** so lets get back to the point of this writing.

 

Bride Price here is so complex and ties up the whole generation and tribal lineage that even a divorce is not possible, the whole village will look after you in times of temptation na lusts of the body na kain,,olsem me tok pinis by you go where na pamuk!.lol

 

Anyways, I better stop here, but yeah, the culture is complex and has its own value and thus the YS BRIDE PRICE is something that is not measured by monetary value! I mean it is not really the amount in terms of Kina Toea here but the custom work of blood and cultural lineage that counts as the valuable thing here! ok I know,,I better stop explaining and Thanks for reading!

Tok Tasol!