Nahnmwarki Festival

Saturday I was offered the opportunity to attend a party for the king!  Nahnmwarki means king in Pohnpei.  There are 5 Nahnmwarkis in Pohnpei for each of the municipalities.  Once a year they have a feast/party/festival for one of the Nahnmwarkis.  This year it was for the Nahnmwarki of Kitti.  Seeing as this was a once in a lifetime opportunity I jumped on the invitation.  The principal of PICS high school where Lori teaches has a high title in Kitti, and he is the one who offered to take us.  By high title I mean that he is in line to be a Nahnmwarki, so the next of these parties might be for him.
So the day began being picked up at 9am to begin a day I'll never forget.  First we had to stop at the school, where we waited in the back of the truck while a tree was chopped down with a machete.  Turns out the tree was for the men we were going with to tie up the pig which would be presented to the Nahnmwarki at the party.

This was no small pig.  Mike was running to the rescue
because that was way too much weight for only 2 men.

Pig loaded and men cleaned up, we were ready to head toward Kitti.  We made it there just in time to be part of the parade of gifts being brought to the Nahnmwarki.  It was great!  The street was filled with people bringing yams, pigs, sakau, and trays of food all dancing and shouting like crazy.

The pigs!

Yam

Cloths and pillows to make the nahs more comfortable.

Sakau plants

Pohnpeian parade

We're going to see the king!

Once we got down to the party everything was stacked and placed around in preparation for presenting it to the Nahnmwarki.  And we were engulfed in the mass of people.  People estimated there were about 1,000 in attendance.  Talk about a party!

This is only a small portion of the food trays brought.

The people!  So many colors and people gathered for a
joyous occasion!

We were adorned with mwaramwars and quite excited
to be there!

 The Nahnmwarki sits at the head of the nahs.  Inside with him are other high titled people and honored guests.  There are also several sakau stones going to make sure there is plenty of sakau to drink.  We stayed just outside the nahs to observe this absolutely fascinating ceremony.

The Nahnmwarki

Pounding the sakau inside the nahs

A speech was given and then the ceremony began.  I watched in utter fascination as organized chaos began to unfold.  I observed that there is quite a process involved.  First, every single food tray is carried into the nahs, presented to the nahnmwarki, and then sent back out to people based on their titles.  The king gets the best tray and the rest are sent back out.

Presenting the trays - they're filled with everything from
local food to boxes of Apple Jacks and Sunny D.

Everyone gets some sort of tray of food and then it's time to eat!

My food tray - not bad for a menwai with no title :)  It
was udahn yo!

I'm excited to eat, Lori is stunned, and Mike just barely
got his nose in. Haha!

 After everyone has full bellies it's time to continue the ceremony.  There are 3 things that you need to be a real man in Pohnpei: yams, pigs, and sakau.  So those are exactly the things that are brought to honor the Nahnmwarki.  Each is again brought into the nahs and presented then sent back out to each person with a title.  I will spare you some of the pictures because they just aren't appropriate, but let's just say the pigs are not alive when presented to the king and they are sent out in pieces to the various titles.  There were 18 pigs!  Again the king gets to keep the biggest yam, biggest pig, and biggest sakau plant.  These are no ordinary yams.  They weigh upwards of 150 pounds.  Here is the process of presenting the sakau plants:

They begin coming in...

and they keep coming and coming...

and piling and piling!

Outside the nahs men and women are chanting and dancing as
they collectively present their gifts.  Can we say sensory
overload?! :)

You may ask yourself, what are the young boys doing.  Oh, why every kids dream is to get one of the pig hearts to tote around to prove your manliness:

He thought it was hilarious to stick it in my face and see me grimace.  I was not so pleased with him and I let him know it :)

The food, yams, pigs, and sakau had all been presented and shared, so it was time to crank up the music and dance!

Lori was the first brave soul to get her groove on

Then I decided I couldn't miss out on the fun

I love all the colors! 

One of my favorite pictures of Salpisio,
having fun with the kids!

Mike was finally convinced to join

and even Andrew and Becca!

The final touch of the occasion is to be slathered in coconut oil and glitter.  We sparkled the whole rest of the day!

And with that the party was over and people began to clear out.  This didn't mean our day and adventure were over however.  We quickly learned that time is no concern.  It was important that we go back to the nahs where Salpisio's family was and hang out there for a few hours.  Then we loaded up and made it to the other side of Kitti where it was once again time to stop and hang out for a few more hours with some important men.  Well into the night we were finally good to go home with a yam, portion of pig, and memories to last a lifetime.

This yam was probably about 150 pounds!

Unforgettable day!  Now let's go home!